TY - JOUR
T1 - Contact heat evoked potentials to painful and non-painful stimuli
T2 - Effect of attention towards stimulus properties
AU - Le Pera, Domenica
AU - Valeriani, Massimiliano
AU - Niddam, David
AU - Chen, Andrew C.N.
AU - Arendt-Nielsen, Lars
N1 - Funding Information:
* Laboratory for Experimental Pain Research, Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark. +Department of Neurology, Università Cattolica del S. Cuore, Rome, Italy. # Department of Neurology, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, IRCCS, Rome, Italy. ^ Department of Motor Rehabilitation, Casa di Cura S. Raffaele-Pisana, Tosinvest-Sanità, Roma, Italy. Accepted for publication: October 10, 2002. The present study was supported by the Danish Technical Research Council. Correspondance and reprint requests should be addressed to Dr.Domenica Le Pera, Istituto di Neurologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, L.go A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy. Fax: +39 06 35501909 E-mail: [email protected] Copyright © 2002 Human Sciences Press, Inc.
PY - 2002/12
Y1 - 2002/12
N2 - The study aim was to evaluate the effect of different attentional tasks on the amplitudes and latencies of painful and non-painful contact heat evoked potentials (CHEPs). CHEPs were recorded in 12 healthy subjects during two experimental conditions, in which attention was oriented towards the intensity and the distress caused by the stimuli and were compared with CHEPs recorded during a neutral condition. The painful heat stimulation produced a negative potential at Cz vertex with a latency around 540 ms (Cz/N540), a positive peak at Cz electrode around 730 ms (Cz/P730) and, lastly, a positive peak around 1000 ms (Pz/P1000) in the Pz traces. The Cz/P730 wave was significantly higher in amplitude only during the painful stimulation and is probably related to coding the nociceptive activity. Varying the attentional target towards different properties of the stimulus did not cause any significant change in CHEP responses amplitude and latencies compared with the neutral condition. Our results suggest that CHEPs represent a reliable functional measure of the nociceptive pathways and that they are generated by the activation of different cerebral areas involved in pain processing. The high activation level of each of these area or their spatial neighbouring might explain the strong similarity of CHEP components recorded during different attentional manipulations.
AB - The study aim was to evaluate the effect of different attentional tasks on the amplitudes and latencies of painful and non-painful contact heat evoked potentials (CHEPs). CHEPs were recorded in 12 healthy subjects during two experimental conditions, in which attention was oriented towards the intensity and the distress caused by the stimuli and were compared with CHEPs recorded during a neutral condition. The painful heat stimulation produced a negative potential at Cz vertex with a latency around 540 ms (Cz/N540), a positive peak at Cz electrode around 730 ms (Cz/P730) and, lastly, a positive peak around 1000 ms (Pz/P1000) in the Pz traces. The Cz/P730 wave was significantly higher in amplitude only during the painful stimulation and is probably related to coding the nociceptive activity. Varying the attentional target towards different properties of the stimulus did not cause any significant change in CHEP responses amplitude and latencies compared with the neutral condition. Our results suggest that CHEPs represent a reliable functional measure of the nociceptive pathways and that they are generated by the activation of different cerebral areas involved in pain processing. The high activation level of each of these area or their spatial neighbouring might explain the strong similarity of CHEP components recorded during different attentional manipulations.
KW - Attention
KW - Evoked potential
KW - Heat stimulation
KW - Pain
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=12244309489&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1023/A:1021472524739
DO - 10.1023/A:1021472524739
M3 - Article
C2 - 12537307
AN - SCOPUS:12244309489
SN - 0896-0267
VL - 15
SP - 115
EP - 123
JO - Brain Topography
JF - Brain Topography
IS - 2
ER -