Expectation violation and attention to pain jointly modulate neural gain in somatosensory cortex

Fardo, Francesca; Auksztulewicz, Ryszard; Allen, Micah; Dietz, Martin J.; Roepstorff, Andreas; Friston, Karl J.

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.03.041

Expectation violation and attention to pain jointly modulate neural gain in somatosensory cortex

The neural processing and experience of pain are influenced by both expectations and attention. For example, the amplitude of event‐related pain responses is enhanced by both novel and unexpected pain, and by moving the focus of attention towards a painful stimulus. Under predictive coding, this …