| Popis: |
Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterised by chronic widespread pain, in addition to fatigue, sleep disturbances, and autonomic disturbances (Sarzi-Puttini et al., 2020). Peripersonal space (PPS) refers to the space in the immediate vicinity of the body or the space within reach (Serino, 2019). Any stimuli that occur within the PPS are processed in a markedly different way to those outside the PPS boundary. An emerging body of literature indicates that the PPS is flexible, for example it can be enlarged to incorporate tool use (e.g., Canzoneri et al., 2013; Farnè & Làdavas, 2000), and enlarges during pregnancy (Cardini et al., 2019). One theory of the PPS is that it represents a protective and defensive zone around the body (Graziano & Cooke, 2006). Within this theory, response times to stimuli may be quicker within the PPS, where a potentially dangerous stimulus has a high likelihood of making physical contact with the body and injuring it. For example, research has indicated that the PPS increases in size in response to threatening stimuli, such as the approaching sound of a dog barking (Taffau & Viaud-Delmon, 2014) or the looming image of feared animals (Vagnoni et al., 2012). In both of the aforementioned studies, the findings were most pronounced for participants with a high level of phobia towards the stimuli. It has also been demonstrated that the time-to-collision (i.e., the timepoint at which a stimulus would hypothetically make contact with the body) is underestimated for threatening stimuli in comparison to neutral stimuli (e.g., Brendel et al., 2012, 2014), indicating an expansion of the observer’s PPS boundaries only in the presence of a threatening stimulus. In the present study, we aim to examine PPS in fibromyalgia. Previous qualitative research suggests that pain experiences in fibromyalgia might be associated with subjective differences in the perception of PPS, with participants reporting an enlarged body size and a reduction of the space surrounding the body during pain flares (Valenzuela-Moguillansky, 2013). We predict that people with fibromyalgia will exhibit a larger PPS, which may reflect the sense of vulnerability in patients with fibromyalgia, driven by the fear of threats from the physical or social environment and constant guarding against bodily pain. We also expect that the size of PPS will be positively correlated with ratings of pain intensity and fear of physical harm. |
