Abstract
Background
Clinical and experimental evidence advocates a structural and functional link between the vestibular and other sensory systems. For instance, visuo‐vestibular and vestibular‐somatosensory interactions have been widely reported. However, whether visual inputs carrying vestibular information can modulate pain is not yet clear. Recent evidence using natural vestibular stimulation and moving visual stimuli points at an unspecific effect of distraction.
Methods
By using immersive virtual reality (VR), we created a new way to prompt the vestibular system through the vision of static visual cues, studying the possible interaction with pain. Twenty‐four healthy participants were visually immersed in a virtual room which could appear with five different degrees of rotation in the sagittal axis, either toward the right, left or with no rotation. Participants’ heat pain thresholds and subjective reports of perceived body rotation, sense of presence and attention were measured.
Results
‘Being’ in a tilted room induced the sensation of body rotation in our participants, even though they were always in an upright position. Importantly, we also found that rotating the visual scenario can modulate the participants’ pain thresholds, determining a significant increase when a left tilt is displayed. Additionally, positive correlations between the perceived body midline rotation and pain threshold were found, and all VR conditions were equally distractive.
Conclusions
Vestibular information present in static visual cues can modulate experimental pain according to a side‐dependent manner and bypassing supramodal attentional mechanisms. These findings may help refining pain management approaches based on multimodal stimulation.
from Wiley: European Journal of Pain: Table of Contents https://ift.tt/2Wg1uLt
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