Endogenous spatial attention directed to intracutaneous electrical stimuli on the forearms involves an external reference frame

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

“…This observation extends the earlier findings of studies with visual stimuli (e.g., see [ 10 – 12 ]) to somatosensory stimuli. An interesting observation is that this reduction in power in the transient spatial attention conditions seems to extend to occipital sites (see Fig 5 ), which may point to the additional involvement of an external (visually based) reference frame while directing attention (for more direct support see [ 23 ]), which may be due to the use of visual cues. Major differences between the two conditions suggest that the electrophysiological correlate of orienting was more pronounced in the transient than in the sustained spatial attention condition.…”

“…To correct for a Type I error, we used an adjusted critical p -value for two successive time windows of 0.01 ( p crit = √ (0.05/(5 [time windows-1] × 64 [tests per window] = 0.0125)); see [ 30 ]). This corrected critical p -value implies that effects are only considered significant when the critical p -value is crossed for two successive time windows (for comparable procedures, see [ 9 , 23 , 30 , 31 ]). We additionally examined the influence of Individual Training Time by including this variable as a covariate in analyses per MBSR Group and Session.…”

“…We expected effects of attention condition (transient vs. sustained), but most importantly, group-related attentional differences in the first session but not in the second session. In our previous studies [ 9 , 16 , 23 ] we observed an enlarged late positive component for unattended high intensity stimuli (P3a or P340) that we interpreted as a “call for attention” (see [ 25 ]). This effect on the P3a might be substantially reduced in the first session for the post-post2 group as they already took part in the MBSR training and therefore may be less distracted [ 4 ], while this group difference might disappear in the second session due to stable changes in attentional control.…”

“…We expected that effects of the MBSR training will be reflected in the results of a questionnaire that examined the subjective experience of mindfulness [ 22 ]. The training might also modulate pain tolerance thresholds, intensity ratings of the electrical stimuli and the common reduction of these ratings in the course of the experiment (e.g., see [ 9 , 20 , 23 ]. An increased ability to focus attention may be reflected in improved perceptual sensitivity, assessed with d' , a measure derived from signal detection theory [ 24 ].…”

Does Hand Posture Affect the Reliability and Reproducibility of Measures of Brain Function?

“…Further research is required to confirm this mapping. Current EEG studies also showed the difference of brain activities between "parallel" and "crossed" hands positions [15,16].…”