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Visual attention to pain cues for impending touch versus impending pain: An eye tracking study
Author(s) -
Ling Ying,
Yang Zhou,
Jackson Todd
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
european journal of pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.305
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1532-2149
pISSN - 1090-3801
DOI - 10.1002/ejp.1428
Subject(s) - eye tracking , psychology , sensory cue , medicine , neuroscience , computer science , computer vision
Background In this eye tracking study, we evaluated pain‐related biases in orienting and maintenance of gaze within impending touch versus impending pain tasks and examined features of pain resilience as individual difference influences on potential biases. Methods Gaze preferences of healthy adults (25 women and 39 men) were assessed during standardized pain‐neutral (P‐N) image pair presentations (2,000 ms) of an impending touch task versus an impending pain task whereby image pair offsets were followed by potential non‐painful touch and potential pain stimulation, respectively. Results Within each task, participants were significantly more likely to fixate first upon pain images in P‐N pairs and maintain gaze on these images for longer overall durations during trials. Between task comparisons indicated pain‐related biases in orienting and maintenance were significantly stronger when image pairs signalled potential pain rather than impending touch. Finally, within the impending pain task, higher scores on the behaviour perseverance dimension of pain resilience were related to shorter first fixation durations and overall gaze durations towards pain images. Conclusions Supporting specific threat interpretation model premises, comparatively more threatening external pain cues for impending pain were characterized by gaze biases reflecting pronounced early attentional capture and subsequent prolonged vigilance. However, elevations in self‐reported behavioural perseverance in spite of pain corresponded to an increased capacity to disengage from pain images that signalled potential pain. Significance Gaze biases were assessed within a comparatively benign “impending touch” paradigm versus a higher threat, impending pain task. Early capture and maintenance of gaze towards pain images were more pronounced on the latter task, although pain resilient participants were able to disengage more easily from pain images signalling possible pain.