Acute itch induces attentional avoidance of itch-related information

Etty, Sarah; George, David N.; van Laarhoven, Antoinette; Holle, Henning

Abstract

Attention is known to modulate itch intensity. In contrast, the reverse relationship, i.e. the degree to which the presence of an acute itch affects attention, is currently not well understood. The aims of this study were to investigate whether acute itch induces an attentional bias towards or away from visual itch-related stimuli, and if so, whether it occurs in the early or later stages of processing. A volunteer sample of 60 healthy individuals were subjected to a skin prick (either histamine or placebo), followed by completion of a spatial cueing paradigm using itch-related and neutral words as cues, in order to obtain reaction time estimates of attentional bias. The results suggest that experience of acute itch induces attentional avoidance of visual itch threats. This attentional avoidance occurs at a later processing stage in the form of facilitated disengagement of attention from itch and/or delayed disengagement from neutral information.

Citation

Etty, S., George, D. N., van Laarhoven, A., & Holle, H. (2022). Acute itch induces attentional avoidance of itch-related information. Acta Dermato-Venereologica, 102, adv00691. https://doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v102.1626

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 9, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Mar 31, 2022
• Publication Date: Apr 7, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 11, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 11, 2022
• Journal: Acta dermato-venereologica
• Print ISSN: 0001-5555
• Electronic ISSN: 1651-2057
• Publisher: Society for Publication of Acta Dermato-Venereologica
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 102
• Pages: adv00691
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v102.1626
• Keywords: Attention; Pruritus; Histaminergic; Agonist
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3945762