Unimodal and crossmodal extinction of nociceptive stimuli in healthy volunteers

Abstract

Nociception, the physiological mechanisms specifically processing information about noxious and potentially painful stimuli, has the double function to warn about potential body damages (interoception) and about the cause of such potential damages (exteroception). The exteroceptive function is thought to rely on multisensory integration between somatic and extra-somatic stimuli, provided that extra-somatic stimuli occur near the stimulated body area. To corroborate this hypothesis, we succeeded to show in healthy volunteers that the perception of nociceptive stimuli applied on one hand can be extinguished, as compared to single presentation, by the simultaneous application of nociceptive stimuli on the opposite hand, as well as by the presentation of visual stimuli near the opposite hand. On the contrary, visual stimuli presented near the same stimulated hand facilitated the perception of nociceptive stimuli. This nociceptive extinction phenomenon indicates that the perception of noxious events does not merely rely on the specific activation of the nociceptive system, but also depends on other sensory experiences about the body and the space around it.