Abstract
Background
Pain‐related cues are evolutionarily primed to capture attention, although evidence of attentional biases towards pain‐related information is mixed in healthy individuals. The present study explores whether healthy individuals show significantly different eye‐movement behaviours when viewing real‐world pain‐related scenes compared to neutral scenes. The effect of manipulating via written information the threat value of the pain‐related scenes on eye‐movement behaviours was also assessed.
Methods
Participants were randomized to threatening (n = 28) and non‐threatening (n = 27) information conditions. All completed a free‐viewing task with real‐world pain‐related and neutral images while their eye movements were recorded.
Results
Participants made significantly fewer fixations of significantly longer duration when viewing pain‐related images compared to neutral images. No significant differences were found between threatening and non‐threatening information groups in their pattern of eye movements.
Conclusions
This study shows that healthy individuals demonstrate attentional biases to pain‐related real‐world complex images compared to neutral images. Future research is needed to establish the implications of these biases, particularly in the context of acute pain, on the onset and/or subsequent maintenance of chronic pain conditions.
Significance
Healthy individuals show different eye‐movement behaviours when viewing pain‐related scenes than neutral scenes, supporting evolutionary accounts of pain. Implications for the onset and/or maintenance of chronic pain need to be explored.
from Wiley: European Journal of Pain: Table of Contents http://bit.ly/2P9cJQb
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