Mental imagery-induced attention modulates pain perception and cortical excitability.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mental imagery is a powerful method of altering brain activity and behavioral outcomes, such as performance of cognition and motor skills. Further, attention and distraction can modulate pain-related neuronal networks and the perception of pain. This exploratory study examined the effects of mental imagery-induced attention on pressure pain threshold and cortical plasticity using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). This blinded, randomized, and parallel-design trial comprised 30 healthy right-handed male subjects. Exploratory statistical analyses were performed using ANOVA and t-tests for pain and TMS assessments. Pearson's correlation was used to analyze the association between changes in pain threshold and cortical excitability.

Results

In the analysis of p

SUBMITTER: Volz MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4387598 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature