INFLUENCE OF EYE ORIENTATION ON PAIN AS A FUNCTION OF ANXIETY

The effect of eye orientation on pain was investigated as a function o f the stimulus intensity and the subjects' anxiety. Right-handed femal e subjects received sequences of electric shocks gradually increasing in intensity. Unpleasantness threshold, pain threshold, tolerance thre shold and pain range were obtained when eyes were directed towards a t arget LED situated in the direction of, or away from, the source of st imulation, in the ipsi- or contralateral hemispace. Directing the eyes ipsilaterally to the stimulated hand yielded a lower unpleasantness t hreshold when the right hand was stimulated. No significant effect was observed in high trait anxiety subjects. These results are interprete d in terms of hemispatial attention bias. Moreover, an ipsilateral eye orientation increased pain range but this effect reversed in the high est state anxiety subjects. These latter observations could reflect th e interacting influences of both spatial attention and state anxiety i n selecting the processing mode of painful stimuli.