Acute Itch Induces Attentional Avoidance of Itch-related Information

Autor: Sarah Etty, David N. George, Antoinette I.M. van Laarhoven, Henning Holle
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Acta Dermato-Venereologica, Vol 102 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0001-5555
1651-2057
DOI: 10.2340/actadv.v102.1626
Popis: Attention is known to modulate itch intensity. In contrast, the reverse relationship, i.e. the degree to which the presence of an acute itch affects attention, is currently not well understood. The aims of this study were to investigate whether acute itch induces an attentional bias towards or away from visual itch-related stimuli, and if so, whether it occurs in the early or later stages of processing. A volunteer sample of 60 healthy individuals were subjected to a skin prick (either histamine or placebo), followed by completion of a spatial cueing paradigm using itch-related and neutral words as cues, in order to obtain reaction time estimates of attentional bias. The results suggest that experience of acute itch induces attentional avoidance of visual itch threats. This attentional avoidance occurs at a later processing stage in the form of facilitated disengagement of attention from itch and/or delayed disengagement from neutral information.
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