Assessing the effect of pain on demands for attentional resources using ERPs

• Published in: International journal of psychophysiology Vol. 51; no. 2; pp. 181 - 187
• Main Authors: Houlihan, Michael E., McGrath, Patrick J., Connolly, John F., Stroink, Gerhard, Allen Finley, G., Dick, Bruce, Phi, Tan-Trao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier B.V 2004; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Attention; Attention - physiology; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Electroencephalography; Electrophysiology; Event-related potentials; Evoked Potentials - physiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Learning. Memory; Male; Memory; Memory, Short-Term - physiology; Pain; Pain - physiopathology; Photic Stimulation; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time - physiology; Event-related potentials; Pain; Memory; Attention; Short term; Human; Vigilance; Electrophysiology; Thermal stimulus; Cognition; Experimental study; Learning; Acquisition process; Acoustic stimulus; Information processing; Problem solving; Event evoked potential
• ISSN: 0167-8760; 1872-7697
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2003.08.001

Event-related potentials were used as an adjunct to behavioral and self-report measures to examine the impact of pain in a short-term memory-scanning task. P3 amplitude was reduced and a frontal slow wave was increased during pain regardless of the number of items in memory. Results are discussed in terms of pain affecting an attention-switch mechanism.