Attentional modulation of visceral and somatic pain
Abstract
Abstract A better understanding of the cortical processes underlying attentional modulation of visceral and somatic pain in health are essential for interpretation of future imaging studies of hypervigilance towards bodily sensations which is considered to be an aetiologically important factor in the heightened pain reported by patients with irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia. Twelve healthy subjects were recruited for this study. Simultaneous trains of electrical pulses (delivered to either the rectum or lower abdomen) and auditory tones lasting 6 s were delivered to the subjects during a whole‐brain functional scan acquisition. Subjects were instructed to attend to the auditory tones (distracter task) or electrical pulses (pain task). Pain intensity ratings were significantly lower during the distraction task compared with the pain task (P < 0.01) in both sensory modalities. The left primary somatosensory cortex increased in activity with increasing pain report, during attention to visceral pain. Bilateral anterior insula (aIns) cortex activity increased with increasing somatic pain report independent of the direction of attention. Conversely, the primary and secondary auditory cortices significantly increased in activation with decreased pain report. These results suggest that pain intensity perception during attentional modulation is reflected in the primary somatosensory cortex (visceral pain) and aIns cortex activity (somatic pain).
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Physical and psychological stress, cognition, and early life experience can affect intestinal sensory perception.
“For example, it has been shown that physical and psychological stress (112), cognition (e.g., attention vs. distraction to aversive stimulus) (55), and early life experience (e.g., sexual and physical abuse) (39, 149) can affect intestinal sensory perception.”
From Intestinal microbiota and immune function in the pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (2013) · cites this paper as [55]
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- Authors
- Dunckley, P., Aziz, Q., Wise, R. G., Brooks, J., Tracey, I., & Chang, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Corresponding author
- Tracey, I.
- Venue
- Neurogastroenterology & Motility
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2007-06-21
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 569-577
- ISSN
- 1350-1925 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2982
- OpenAlex
- W2026896852
- Cited by
- 72
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 3.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neurogastroenterology & Motility (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (067037)
- National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (AR-41622)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Keywords
- attentional modulation of pain, visceral pain, somatic pain, primary somatosensory cortex, anterior insula, auditory cortex, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, hypervigilance, functional MRI
- MeSH terms
- Acoustic Stimulation, Adult, Anxiety, Attention, Electric Stimulation, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Psychophysics, Rectum, Somatosensory Cortex, Pain Threshold, Visceral Afferents
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