Pain influence on cognitive processing: an implicit emotional Go/NoGo task on an event-related potential study

Abstract

[eng] The facial expression of pain is unique and distinct from the expression of basic emotions and its recognition has clear survival and communicative value. Distinct facial expressions of pain can warn others of imminent danger and elicit helping and emphatic behavior towards the individual experiencing pain. Contrary to the extensive research on facial expressions of basic emotions, little is known about brain processing of pain expressions. The present study aimed to unravel the modulating role of pain facial expressions on cognitive processing by using an emotional Go/NoGo task. For this purpose, eighteen healthy female volunteers (40-60 years, mean = 50.89 years, SD = 6.17) participated in a study, in which pain, happy and neutral faces were presented. Subjects were asked to press a button when they viewed a male face (Go trials), and to inhibit their response when a female face was presented (NoGo trials). Results indicated that pain faces elicited more commission errors and faster reaction times (RTs) than happy and neutral faces. Furthermore, it was shown that pain faces elicited larger N200 and reduced NoGo-P300 amplitudes than happy faces. Moreover, pain and neutral faces elicited larger NoGo-N200 amplitudes than happy faces. These findings suggest that pain faces were able to elicit empathic and arousal brain responses; and modulate both, response execution and inhibition.