• Chee Wan Koh and Peter D Drummond.
• School of Psychology, Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch, Perth, WA 6150, Australia.
• Clin Neurophysiol. 2006 Apr 1;117(4):851-4.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of psychological arousal on pain ratings and the R2 component of the electrically evoked blink reflex to a 'pure' noiciceptive stimulus.MethodsPain ratings and R2 to a noiciceptive stimulus (pulse width 0.3ms, 2mA, delivered from a concentric electrode attached to the supraorbital region of the forehead) were investigated in 16 healthy participants before and during a serial subtraction task, and in 16 control participants who sat quietly during nociceptive stimulation.ResultsPain ratings decreased whereas R2 amplitude increased during the serial subtraction task.ConclusionsSupra-spinal rather than spinal mechanisms inhibited pain perception during psychological arousal. Moreover, psychological arousal facilitated the R2 component of the blink reflex to a nociception-specific stimulus.SignificanceSupra-spinal influences need to be considered during clinical evaluation of the trigeminal nociceptive blink reflex.

29 keywords...

hide…