title: Crossmodal bias of visual input on pain perception and pain-induced beta activity.
abstract: In our environment, acute pain is often accompanied by input from other sensory modalities, like visual stimuli, which can facilitate pain processing. To date, it is not well understood how these inputs influence the perception and processing of pain. Previous studies on integrative processing between sensory modalities other than pain have shown that multisensory response gains are strongest when the constituent unimodal stimuli are minimally effective in evoking responses. This finding has been termed the principle of inverse effectiveness (IE). In this high-density electroencephalography study, we investigated the influence of Gabor patches of low and high contrast levels on the perception and processing of spatially and temporally aligned painful electrical stimuli of low and high intensities. Subjective pain ratings, event-related potentials (ERPs) and oscillatory responses served as dependent measures. In line with the principle of IE, stronger crossmodal biasing effects of visual input on subjective pain ratings were found for low compared to high intensity painful stimuli. This effect was paralleled by stronger bimodal interactions in right-central ERPs (150-200ms) for low compared to high intensity pain stimuli. Moreover, an enhanced suppression of medio-central beta-band activity (12-24Hz, 200-400ms) was found for low compared to high intensity pain stimuli. Our findings possibly reflect a facilitation of stimulus processing that serves to enhance response readiness of the sensorimotor system following painful stimulation. Taken together, our study demonstrates that multisensory processing between visual and painful stimuli follows the principle of IE and suggests a role for beta-band oscillations in the crossmodal modulation of pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité University Medicine Berlin, St. Hedwig Hospital, Große Hamburger Str. 5-11, 10115 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: ulrich.pomper@charite.de.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Pomper
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité University Medicine Berlin, St. Hedwig Hospital, Große Hamburger Str. 5-11, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Höfle
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany; Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hauck
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Rudower Chaussee 18, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kathmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité University Medicine Berlin, St. Hedwig Hospital, Große Hamburger Str. 5-11, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Senkowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001611:Beta Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D058748:Pain Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: EEG; Event-related potentials; Gamma-band; Multisensory; Neural synchrony; Oscillations