• Danièle Anne Gubler, Christian Rominger, HoltforthMartin GrosseMG0000-0003-0674-8741Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland., Niklaus Egloff, Frank Frickmann, Benjamin Goetze, Michael Harnik, Konrad Streitberger, Stephan Zeiss, and Stefan Johannes Troche.
• Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
• Eur J Pain. 2022 Sep 1; 26 (8): 1768-1780.

BackgroundAttentional deficits in patients with chronic pain are common and well studied. Yet, few studies have examined the effects of chronic pain on more complex cognitive abilities that rely on well-functioning attentional systems. With the current study, we aimed to investigate whether the impact of chronic pain on attention affects creative ideation as measured with an adaptation of the alternate uses task (AUT).MethodsPerformance in the AUT was compared between 33 patients suffering from chronic pain and 33 healthy matched controls. While solving the task, EEG was recorded to measure the degree of internally directed attention assessed by means of task-related power (TRP) changes.ResultsThe results revealed that patients with chronic pain generated less creative ideas than healthy controls. This lack of performance was accompanied by lower event-related synchronization (ERS), especially in right parietal sites. Furthermore, these ERS differences explained one-third of the inter-group variance in AUT performance.ConclusionsThese results suggest that performance decrements in creative ideation in patients with chronic pain may be at least partly attributable to attentional impairments associated with chronic pain.SignificanceChronic pain negatively affects attention and more complex cognitive abilities. However, the underlying psychophysiological mechanisms and the role of attention as a source of these impairments in more complex abilities are poorly understood. By analyzing task-related power changes in the EEG, the role of internal attention in creative ideation could be determined, revealing the functional relationship between chronic pain, attention, and a more complex cognitive ability.© 2022 The Authors. European Journal of Pain published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Pain Federation - EFIC ®.

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