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van de Burgt EWT, van der Mijn R, Fabbri S, Lorist MM. Environmental influences on induction of itching and scratching using immersive virtual reality. Sci Rep 2023; 13:16767. [PMID: 37798390 PMCID: PMC10556052 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42322-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic itching is a serious and uncomfortable condition. The scratch response might result in a vicious cycle of alternating itching and scratching. To develop psychological interventions for people suffering from chronic itching and to break the vicious itch-scratching-itch cycle, it is important to elucidate which environmental factors trigger itch sensations. Virtual reality (VR) techniques provide a useful tool to examine specific content characteristics in a three-dimensional (3D VR) environment and their influences on itch sensations and scratching behaviour. This article describes two experiments in which we focused on the effects of environmental information on itching and scratching behaviour. Additionally, in the second experiment, we examined the influence of having a chronic skin condition on sensitivity to itch induction. We found evidence for the importance of the content of audio-visual materials for the effectiveness in inducing feelings of itch in the observers. In both experiments, we observed significantly higher levels of perceived itch in the itch-inducing conditions than in the control condition. Moreover, the results showed that elevated levels of perceived itch were associated with an increase in scratching behaviours, which was especially salient in the contagious itch condition, in which perceived itch was accompanied by a significant increase in the number of scratches. Experiment 2 additionally showed increased perceived itch levels in participants who reported having a chronic skin condition, reflecting higher sensitivity to itch-inducing audio-visual stimuli in this group than in participants without a chronic skin condition. Based on the results we concluded that directing attention towards itch- or scratch aspects of related information in the environment and to the consequences for one's own skin are effective tools to induce itch sensations and scratching behaviour. This knowledge provides tools for developing novel strategies in advising and treating people suffering from chronic itching and breaking the vicious itch-scratching-itch cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmy W T van de Burgt
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
- University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Robbert van der Mijn
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sara Fabbri
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Monicque M Lorist
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
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2
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Becker JM, Holle H, van Ryckeghem DML, Van Damme S, Crombez G, Veldhuijzen DS, Evers AWM, Rippe RCA, van Laarhoven AIM. No preconscious attentional bias towards itch in healthy individuals. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0273581. [PMID: 36054102 PMCID: PMC9439194 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Rapidly attending towards potentially harmful stimuli to prevent possible damage to the body is a critical component of adaptive behavior. Research suggests that individuals display an attentional bias, i.e., preferential allocation of attention, for consciously perceived bodily sensations that signal potential threat, like itch or pain. Evidence is not yet clear whether an attentional bias also exists for stimuli that have been presented for such a short duration that they do not enter the stream of consciousness. This study investigated whether a preconscious attentional bias towards itch-related pictures exists in 127 healthy participants and whether this can be influenced by priming with mild itch-related stimuli compared to control stimuli. Mild itch was induced with von Frey monofilaments and scratching sounds, while control stimuli where of matched modalities but neutral. Attentional bias was measured with a subliminal pictorial dot-probe task. Moreover, we investigated how attentional inhibition of irrelevant information and the ability to switch between different tasks, i.e., cognitive flexibility, contribute to the emergence of an attentional bias. Attentional inhibition was measured with a Flanker paradigm and cognitive flexibility was measured with a cued-switching paradigm. Contrary to our expectations, results showed that participants attention was not biased towards the itch-related pictures, in facts, attention was significantly drawn towards the neutral pictures. In addition, no effect of the itch-related priming was observed. Finally, this effect was not influenced by participants’ attentional inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Therefore, we have no evidence for a preconscious attentional bias towards itch stimuli. The role of preconscious attentional bias in patients with chronic itch should be investigated in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer M. Becker
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
- * E-mail:
| | - Henning Holle
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom
| | - Dimitri M. L. van Ryckeghem
- Department of Experimental- Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Section Experimental Health Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Research Unit INSIDE, Institute of Health and Behavior, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Stefaan Van Damme
- Department of Experimental- Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Geert Crombez
- Department of Experimental- Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Dieuwke S. Veldhuijzen
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Andrea W. M. Evers
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Medical Delta professor Heatlhy Society, Leiden University, TU Delft, Erasmus Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ralph C. A. Rippe
- Research Methods and Statistics, Institute of Education and Child Studies, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Antoinette I. M. van Laarhoven
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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3
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Najafi P, Dufor O, Ben Salem D, Misery L, Carré JL. Itch processing in the brain. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2020; 35:1058-1066. [PMID: 33145804 DOI: 10.1111/jdv.17029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2019] [Revised: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Itch is a sensation defined as the urge to scratch. The central mechanisms of itch are being increasingly studied. These studies are usually based on experimental itch induction methods, which can be classified into the following categories: histamine-induced, induction by other non-histamine chemicals (e.g. cowhage), physically induced (e.g. electrical) and mentally induced (e.g. audio-visual). Because pain has been more extensively studied, some extrapolations to itch can be proposed and verified by experiments. Recent studies suggest that the itch-processing network in the brain could be disrupted in certain diseases. This disruption could be related to the implication of new regions or the exclusion of already engaged brain regions from itch-processing network in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - O Dufor
- LIEN, Univ Brest, Brest, France.,LabISEN Yncréa Ouest ISEN, Brest, France
| | - D Ben Salem
- Univ Brest, LaTIM, INSERM, UMR 1101, Brest, France.,University Hospital of Brest, Brest, France
| | - L Misery
- LIEN, Univ Brest, Brest, France.,University Hospital of Brest, Brest, France
| | - J-L Carré
- LIEN, Univ Brest, Brest, France.,University Hospital of Brest, Brest, France
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Kamber MS, Sutter M, Navarini A, Mueller SM. Contagious itch and disgust during a lecture on ectoparasitic infestations: Two co‐activated complementary parasite defense systems? Dermatol Ther 2020; 33:e14456. [DOI: 10.1111/dth.14456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2020] [Revised: 10/10/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Marise S. Kamber
- Department of Dermatology University Hospital Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Mia Sutter
- Department of Dermatology University Hospital Basel Basel Switzerland
| | | | - Simon M. Mueller
- Department of Dermatology University Hospital Basel Basel Switzerland
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5
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van Laarhoven AIM, Holle H. Optimizing audiovisual itch induction: the role of attention and expectancy. Br J Dermatol 2019; 182:1088-1089. [PMID: 31777059 PMCID: PMC7318705 DOI: 10.1111/bjd.18596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Linked Article: Marzell et al. Br J Dermatol 2020; 182:1253–1261.
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Affiliation(s)
- A I M van Laarhoven
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.,Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - H Holle
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, U.K
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