H. Yamasaki et al., Effects of distraction on pain-related somatosensory evoked magnetic fields and potentials following painful electrical stimulation, COGN BRAIN, 9(2), 2000, pp. 165-175
We aimed to compare the effects of distraction on pain-related somatosensor
y evoked magnetic fields (pain SEF) following painful electrical stimulatio
n with simultaneous recordings of evoked potentials (pain SEP). Painful ele
ctrical stimuli were applied to the right index finger of eleven healthy su
bjects. A table with 25 random two-digit numbers was shown to the subjects,
who were asked to add 5 numbers of each line in their mind (calculation ta
sk) or to memorize the numbers (memorization task) during the recording. In
the SEF recording, 3 short-latency components within 50 ms of the stimulat
ion were generated in the primary sensory cortex (SI) of the hemisphere con
tralateral to the stimulated finger. Middle-latency components between 100
and 250 ms after the stimuli were recorded from the secondary somatosensory
cortex (SII) in the bilateral hemispheres or the cingulate cortex. No SEF
components were significantly affected by either task. In the SEP recording
, the middle-latency components (N140 and P230) were identified as being ma
ximal around the vertex. Amplitudes of the N140 and P230 were not affected
by each task, but the peak-to-peak amplitude (N140-P230) was significantly
decreased by both the calculation and memorization tasks, particularly by t
he former. Subjective pain rating was decreased in both the calculation and
memorization tasks, particularly in the former. We concluded that distract
ion tasks reduced activities in the limbic system, in which the middle-late
ncy EEG component probably generated, while neither the short-latency SEF c
omponents generated in SI nor the primary pain-related SEF components gener
ated in SII-insula are affected. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights
reserved.