Comparing the effects of sustained and transient spatial attention on the orienting towards and the processing of electrical nociceptive stimuli

Does mindfulness training modulate the influence of spatial attention on the processing of intracutaneous electrical stimuli?

“…A positive value of the LPS indicates that contralateral power (p) in a specific frequency band ( ω ) at a specific moment in time ( t ) is smaller than ipsilateral power, while a negative value suggests the opposite. In the study of Van der Lubbe et al [ 9 ], positive values were observed, which indicates that power in both the α and β bands was reduced above contralateral somatosensory areas, in line with Kerr et al’s study [ 8 ]. Activity in the α band has been viewed as an inhibitory rhythm that filters out irrelevant activity.…”

“…Recently, Van der Lubbe et al [ 9 ] used another paradigm that can be used to examine local changes above somatosensory areas while anticipating painful stimuli. This paradigm can be considered as a variant of the paradigm employed by Worden et al [ 10 ] with somatosensory instead of visual target stimuli.…”

“…The cued side and the side of the electrical stimulus were unrelated, but participants had to press a foot pedal when the stimulus occurred on the attended side and when the intensity of this stimulus (low or high) was defined as task relevant. Van der Lubbe et al revealed that EEG activity in the α and beta (β) band (~ 12–20 Hz) during the orienting phase, thus while participants anticipated the electrical stimuli, was selectively reduced above contralateral relative to ipsilateral somatosensory areas [ 9 ]. They used so-called lateralized power spectra (LPS; see [ 11 ]), which are normalized power differences between contra- and ipsilateral sites for a specific frequency band that correct for overall differences between participants and hemispherical differences.…”

“…One possibility, explored in the current paper, is that the MBSR training facilitates the ability to keep attention consistently focused on a relevant side for a longer time, which accords with the findings reported by Lutz et al [ 3 ]. This may be examined with a sustained spatial attention modulation (see [ 9 ]). Another possibility, also explored here, is that the MBSR training specifically facilitates the switching of attention from side to side, which might show up in a transient spatial attention paradigm (e.g., see [ 16 ]).…”

“…However, the later positive anterior component (P260) was now enlarged for unattended stimuli of high intensity, which was interpreted as a “call for attention”. The study of Van der Lubbe et al [ 9 ] revealed that this effect (now on the P340, so slightly later, likely due to more selective processing along nociceptive pathways) was also present when attention was consistently directed to one side (i.e., sustained spatial attention), which led to the conclusion that task relevance of the stimuli plays a crucial role in the enlarged P340 component to unattended stimuli.…”