Abstract:

Pain is a complex, subjective and multidimensional experience, in which attention plays a crucial role. Pain interrupts attention, and conversely, attention reshapes experiences of pain. Moreover, attention is related to the development of chronic pain and cognitive deficits in pain patients. Investigating the neural underpinnings of the two-way effects between pain and attention would further reveal the brain mechanism of pain perception and pain modulation, which in turn helps improve treatment and facilitate rehabilitation of chronic pain.