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Attentional modulation of perceived pain intensity in capsaicin-induced secondary hyperalgesia

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Abstract

Perceived pain intensity is modulated by attention. However, it is not known that how pain intensity ratings are affected by attention in capsaicin-induced secondary hyperalgesia. Here we show that perceived pain intensity in secondary hyperalgesia is decreased when attention is distracted away from the painful pinprick stimulus with a visual task. Furthermore, it was found that the magnitude of attentional modulation in secondary hyperalgesia is very similar to that of capsaicin-untreated, control condition. Our findings, showing no interaction between capsaicin treatment and attentional modulation suggest that capsaicin-induced secondary hyperalgesia and attention might affect mechanical pain through independent mechanisms.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Csaba Nemes for his help in developing the stimulus presentation program. This research was partly supported by the Richter Gedeon Ltd. These experiments were realised using Cogent Graphics developed by John Romaya at the LON at the Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MR Research Center, Szentágothai J. Knowledge Center, Semmelweis University, 1083, Budapest, Hungary

    István Kóbor, Viktor Gál & Zoltán Vidnyánszky

  2. Neurobionics Research Group, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Semmelweis University, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Tűzoltó u. 58, 1094, Budapest, Hungary

    Viktor Gál & Zoltán Vidnyánszky

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  1. István Kóbor
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  2. Viktor Gál
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  3. Zoltán Vidnyánszky
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Correspondence to Zoltán Vidnyánszky.

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Kóbor, I., Gál, V. & Vidnyánszky, Z. Attentional modulation of perceived pain intensity in capsaicin-induced secondary hyperalgesia. Exp Brain Res 195, 467–472 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-009-1799-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-009-1799-0

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