Can preconscious attention for itch stimuli be modified?

Subliminal attention bias modification (ABM) training for itch: a proof-of-principle study

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

NL-OMON

Registry ID

NL-OMON24574

Enrollment

164

Registered

2018-10-16

Start date

2018-10-16

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2024-02-28

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

attention

Interventions

In line with previously applied attentional bias modification (ABM) trainings for pain using a modified dot-probe task (e.g., Dehghani et al., 2004

Haggman et al., 2010

Heathcote et al., 2018

McGowan et al., 2009

Sharpe et al., 2010, 2012, 2014

Van Ryckeghem et al., 2018), we developed an ABM training for itch using subliminal presentation of stimuli to investigate modification of preconscious processing. For every trial in this task, firs

Eligibility

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Volunteers aged between 18 and 35 years with normal vision (wearing contact lenses is allowed)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: - A medical diagnosis, such as eczema eczema, rheumatoid arthritis or heart disease. - a (history of) psychiatric diagnosis, such as major depression or AD(H)D. - Colour blindness - Dyslexia - Reduced vision or dependence on glasses - regular recreative drug use, e.g., cannabis, MDMA

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
The difference between the average reaction time for incongruent trials (at the location of the neutral stimulus) and congruent trials (at the location of the itch stimulus) during the post-ABM training dot-probe task will be the primary outcome measure. This outcome measure will be compared across the three conditions, while taking into account the respective reaction times during the pre-ABM dot-probe task.	—

Measure

Time frame

The difference between the average reaction time for incongruent trials (at the location of the neutral stimulus) and congruent trials (at the location of the itch stimulus) during the post-ABM training dot-probe task will be the primary outcome measure. This outcome measure will be compared across the three conditions, while taking into account the respective reaction times during the pre-ABM dot-probe task.

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Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Secondarily, self-ratings of experienced itchiness of the cowhage stimulus on a visual analogue scale (VAS) will be compared post-training between the three conditions, while taking into account the VAS itch scores of the cowhage stimulus pre-training. Thirdly, the reaction times for congruent and incongruent trials at baseline (pre-ABM training) will be compared within the entire group. Eye-movements towards pictorial itch and neutral stimuli will be exploratively compared. The ABM training effect will be exploratively associated with individual characteristics.	—

Measure

Time frame

Secondarily, self-ratings of experienced itchiness of the cowhage stimulus on a visual analogue scale (VAS) will be compared post-training between the three conditions, while taking into account the VAS itch scores of the cowhage stimulus pre-training. Thirdly, the reaction times for congruent and incongruent trials at baseline (pre-ABM training) will be compared within the entire group. Eye-movements towards pictorial itch and neutral stimuli will be exploratively compared. The ABM training effect will be exploratively associated with individual characteristics.

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Contacts

Public ContactA.I.M. van Laarhoven

Leiden University - Health, Medical, and Neuropsychology unit

a.vanlaarhoven@fsw.leidenuniv.nl+31715276634

Outcome results

None listed

Source: NL-OMON (via WHO ICTRP)