Effects of explicit cueing and ambiguity on the anticipation and experience of a painful thermal stimulus.

ABSTRACT: Many factors can influence the way in which we perceive painful events and noxious stimuli, but less is known about how pain perception is altered by explicit knowledge about the impending sensation. This study aimed to investigate the impact of explicit cueing on anxiety, arousal, and pain experience during the anticipation and delivery of noxious thermal heat stimulations. Fifty-two healthy volunteers were randomised to receive explicit instructions about visual cue-stimulus temperature pairings, or no explicit instructions about the cue-stimulus pairs. A pain anxiety task was used to investigate the effects of explicit cueing on anticipatory anxiety, pain experience and electrophysiological responses. Participants who received explicit instructions about the cue-stimulus pairs (i.e., th

SUBMITTER: Tracy LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5568281 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature