Functional connectivity across dorsal and ventral attention networks in response to task difficulty and experimental pain

• Published in: Neuroscience letters 2023-01, Vol.793, p.136967-136967, Article 136967
• Main Authors: Fairclough, Stephen H., Stamp, Kellyann, Dobbins, Chelsea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attention; Brain Mapping; Dorsal attention network; fNIRS; Frontal Lobe - physiology; Functional connectivity; Granger; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Pain; Parietal Lobe - physiology; Ventral attention network
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2022.136967

•Pain associated with bottom-up activation from Ventral Attention System.•Task demand increased top-down activation on frontoparietal network.•Top-down activation increased when pain combined with high task demand.•Right inferior frontal gyrus implicated as hub for interhemispheric connectivity. The dorsal and ventral attention networks (DAN & VAN) provide a framework for studying attentional modulation of pain. It has been argued that cognitive demand distracts attention from painful stimuli via top-down reinforcement of task goals (DAN), whereas pain exerts an interruptive effect on cognitive performance via bottom-up pathways (VAN). The current study explores this explanatory framework by manipulating pain and task demand in combination with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and Granger Causal Connectivity Analyses (GCCA). Twenty-one participants played a racing game at low and high difficulty levels with or without experimental pain (administered via a cold pressor test). Six channels of fNIRS were collected from bilateral frontal eye fields and intraparietal sulci (DAN), with right-lateralised channels at the inferior frontal gyrus and temporoparietal junction (VAN). Our first analysis revealed increased G-causality from bottom-up pathways (VAN) during the cold pressor test. However, an equivalent experience of experimental pain during gameplay increased G-causality in top-down (DAN) pathways, with the left intraparietal sulcus serving a hub of connectivity. High game difficulty increased G-causality via top-down pathways and implicated the right inferior frontal gyrus as an interhemispheric hub. Our results are discussed with reference to existing models of both networks and attentional modulation of pain.