Do nociception and pain affect the perception of peripersonal space ? Studies in healthy volunteers and patients with complex regional pain syndrome

Abstract

This thesis has been articulated around the question whether nociceptive stimuli and pain can impact the perception of the visual space around the body. This was investigated in healthy volunteers by experimentally applying brief nociceptive stimuli, and in patients suffering from chronic pain in one limb. In healthy participants, we showed that nociceptive stimuli can actually facilitate the processing of visual stimuli. Crucially, such crossmodal facilitation is more efficient when visual stimuli occur in close proximity to the hand on which the nociceptive stimuli are applied. We furthermore showed that patients suffering from upper-limb complex regional pain syndrome paid less attention to visual stimuli occurring in the immediate vicinity of their affected limb. This suggests that the way we perceive and represent our near visual surrounding is influenced by somatic, e.g. nociceptive, sensations and that pain is processed according to a representation of the body that is not limited to its physical boundaries.(PSYE - Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation) -- UCL, 201