Cognitive psychology and neuropsychology of nociception and pain

Abstract

For a long time, pain research has focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying the unpleasant experience generated by a nociceptive stimulus. Cognitive theories emphasize the functional aspects of nociception by defining it as a warning process. Nociceptive inputs are processed in a multisensory processing system that prioritizes stimuli that are meaningful for the integrity of the body and integrates them into multi-frame representations of the body and the proximal space. The ultimate purpose of this multisensory system is to guide defensive behaviors. Recent experimental evidence supports the role that cognitive functions such as selective attention, spatial perception, and motor preparation play in nociceptive processing. In addition, the cognitive approach of pain offers new clinical perspectives by providing a framework for the treatment of chronic pain based on neuropsychological rehabilitation.