We challenge the pessimistic conclusion of a recently published paper by Hoeppli et al that fMRI-BOLD measures are useless in predicting interindividual differences in pain perception. By conducting a re-analysis of publicly available data of their study, we propose an alternative analysis approach that addresses the issue of interindividual variance differences in BOLD readouts, aiming to enhance the predictive power of fMRI-based measures. Instead of using absolute values of both, pain ratings and BOLD measures, we make use of robust intraindividual differences between the two experimental conditions in their study. Our findings demonstrate a statistically significant positive linear relationship between the neurologic pain signature (NPS) score, a multivariate pain classifier based on BOLD fMRI, and individual differences in perceived pain ratings. This relationship is driven by individuals that report pain sensitivity to both experimental conditions and can clearly distinguish between the two. Our results provide evidence for the potential of fMRI-BOLD measures in predicting interindividual differences in pain perception and allow for a more optimistic conclusion regarding the ongoing debate whether fMRI can be used as an objective measure for pain perception.
Abstract. We investigated sensitivity for the vertical meaning of the German particle ab by means of stimulus–response compatibility effects. In German, the particle ab is ambiguous and can take on a vertical meaning (downward) as in Auf und Ab (engl. up and down), but it can also take on nonvertical or nonspatial meanings as in Ab und An (engl. from time to time). We show that the particle ab only creates a spatial compatibility effect relative to the German particle auf (Experiment 1) but not relative to the particle an (Experiment 2). Furthermore, as participants executed upward versus downward responses in both Experiments 1 and 2, the mere vertical antagonism of the responses was insufficient to instill a verticality-based compatibility effect. In addition, the compatibility effect was restricted to the transparent version of the particle. If a letter sequence corresponding to the particles was presented in a semantically and morphologically opaque way (e.g., the letters ab were embedded in the German word kn ab e, engl. boy), no compatibility effect was found, underlining that the effect was due to word meanings rather than visual features. The results underscore the boundary conditions for using compatibility effects in investigating lexical and semantic spatial processing in humans.
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