The impact of executive functioning and age-related cognitive decline on distraction from pain

Dierolf, Angelika; van der Meulen, Marian; Miltner, Wolfgang

Reference : The impact of executive functioning and age-related cognitive decline on distraction ...


	Document type :	Scientific congresses, symposiums and conference proceedings : Paper published in a book
	Discipline(s) :	Social & behavioral sciences, psychology : Neurosciences & behavior Social & behavioral sciences, psychology : Theoretical & cognitive psychology Social & behavioral sciences, psychology : Treatment & clinical psychology
	To cite this reference:	http://hdl.handle.net/10993/55339

Title :	The impact of executive functioning and age-related cognitive decline on distraction from pain
Language :	English
Translated title :	[en] The impact of executive functioning and age-related cognitive decline on distraction from pain
Author, co-author :	Dierolf, Angelika [University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) > Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (DBCS) >]
	van der Meulen, Marian [University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) > Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (DBCS) >]
	Miltner, Wolfgang [Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena > Klinische Psychologie]
Publication date :	21-Jun-2023
Main document title :	Abstracts of the 65th TeaP
Translated title :	[en] Abstracts of the 65th TeaP
Author, co-author :	Merz, Simon
	Frings, Christian
	Leuchtenberg, Bettina
	Moeller, Bettina
	Mueller, Stefanie
	Pastötter, Bernhard
	Pingen, Leah
	Schiu, Gabriel
Publisher :	ZPID
Peer reviewed :	Yes
Audience :	International
City :	Trier
Country :	Germany
Event name :	65th TeaP, the annual meeting of the General Psychology section of the German Psychological Society (DGPs)
Event date :	26 - 29 March, 2023
Event organizer :	University of Trier, Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID) and the Department of General Psychology at the Trier University
Event place (city) :	Trier
Event country :	Germany
Keywords :	[en] aging ; pain modulation ; distraction from pain ; executive functions ; age-related cognitive decline ; EEG, ERP
Abstract :	[en] Older people, suffering from pain and its consequences more often than younger people, would benefit significantly from non-pharmacological pain treatment. So far, little is known about how age affects psychological pain modulation strategies. Preliminary findings hint towards a less efficient pain inhibition through cognition-based pain modulation strategies, as cognitive distraction from pain. Here, executive functions (EFs) have been considered a key factor in the age – pain relationship, with age-related cognitive decline in EFs being associated with reduced pain relief through distraction in older adults. We investigated influence of four core EFs on distraction from pain in aging. In a two-session design, healthy young (18-30 years) and older participants (60+ years) performed a Go-Nogo task, the Stroop-Color-Word-Task, the Sternberg-Task, and the Attentional Network Task. Afterwards, participants performed a pain distraction task, namely a n-Back working memory task with low and high cognitive load, during which participants received individually adjusted transdermal electrical pulse trains in non-painful and moderately painful intensities to the inner forearm. Ratings of intensity and unpleasantness were collected and stimulus-related (EF tasks) and pain-related evoked potentials were recorded with a 64-channel EEG. Unexpectedly, first analyses on the currently small sample suggest a more efficient pain relief through distraction under low relative to high cognitive load in older adults. The distraction effect was related to EFs, some of which showed age-related cognitive impairment. Our findings could lead to a better understanding how to adapt pain treatments in this population by including selective cognitive trainings and optimizing distraction task difficulty.
Funders :	Fonds National de la Recherche - FnR
Name of the research project :	Cognitive Modulation Of Pain In Aging – Impact Of Stress And Executive Functions – A Psychophysiological Approach
Target :	Researchers
Permalink :	http://hdl.handle.net/10993/55339
Other URL :	https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.12945
FnR project :	FnR ; FNR14672835 > Angelika Dierolf > PAGES > Cognitive Modulation Of Pain In Aging – Impact Of Stress And Executive Functions – A Psychophysiological Approach > 01/09/2021 > 29/02/2024 > 2020

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	File	Commentary	Version	Size	Access
Open access	Abstract_Teap2023_AD.pdf		Publisher postprint	421.28 kB	View/Open

Additional material(s):

	File	Commentary	Size	Access
Open access	Program_TeaP_2023.pdf		3.16 MB	View/Open
Open access	BookOfAbstract_TeaP_2023.pdf	Book of Abstracts Teap2023	4.25 MB	View/Open

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