First, we investigate the attention-bias for pain signals that chronic pain patients (CPP) are suggested to have. Second, we investigate whether the chronicity of pain is related to faster learning and slower *unlearning* of new associations between…
ID
Source
Brief title
Condition
- Joint disorders
- Peripheral neuropathies
Synonym
Research involving
Sponsors and support
Intervention
Outcome measures
Primary outcome
Eye movement behaviour such as saccade accuracy and saccade latency (as a
measure of attentional pulling capacity) towards or away from visual targets
that have become associated with the pain stimulus, reaction time to these
visual stimuli and the speed of learning (and unlearning) are the main
parameters.
Secondary outcome
does not apply
Background summary
Pain captures attention which allows us to learn which events are associated
with pain. By learning we are able to predict painful consequences and execute
appropriate defensive behavior. In some occasions, acute pain does not subside,
even though the underlying physiological damage has been recovered. It has been
suggested that such chronic pain is associated with a persistent negative
prediction of the pain signal.
Study objective
First, we investigate the attention-bias for pain signals that chronic pain
patients (CPP) are suggested to have. Second, we investigate whether the
chronicity of pain is related to faster learning and slower *unlearning* of new
associations between pain signals (small electrical current) and visual events,
as compared to healthy control participants and patients with acute pain.
Finally, we investigate whether learning is dependent upon the spatial
proximity of the pain signal and the visual stimulus, and whether this
dependence is different for CPP.
Study design
The proposed study has a quasi-experimental design encompassing various within-
and between-subjects factors that are investigated using a computerized visual
search task, with three different experimental conditions. A classical
conditioning paradigm is used to investigate learning principles.
Study burden and risks
Participants may experience negative emotions during the study, although the
used methods are low on invasiveness. The knowledge gained with the present
research has implications for improving treatment and/ or diagnostic
approaches: the benefits clearly outweigh the costs.
Heidelberglaan 2
Utrecht 3584 CS
NL
Heidelberglaan 2
Utrecht 3584 CS
NL
Listed location countries
Age
Inclusion criteria
All participants will be between 18 and 75 years of age, capable of speaking and reading Dutch, and have pain in either their back, or their hand, for more than three months or when the pain lasts longer than is expected on basis of the tissue damage. Or hand pain that is acute (since two days) and directly related to tissue damage. Control participants will be healthy and pain-free as determined by self-report.
Exclusion criteria
Participants will be excluded when they have a severe neurological or psychiatric condition, known cognitive disorders, a cardiac pacemakers, Diabetes, unless on a stable dose current use of sedative psychotropic drugs such as benzodiazepines, barbiturates, tricyclic antidepressants, anticonvulsants sedatives, and classical antihistaminics, acute or chronic pain in other areas than the target area (hand or back), bilateral hand pain, serious injury to both hands, or current participation in another research protocol.
Design
Recruitment
Followed up by the following (possibly more current) registration
No registrations found.
Other (possibly less up-to-date) registrations in this register
No registrations found.
In other registers
| Register | ID |
|---|---|
| CCMO | NL43018.041.12 |