Examinando por Autor "Fernandes-Magalhaes, Roberto"

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Neural correlates of the attentional bias towards pain-related faces in fibromyalgia patients: An ERP study using a dot-probe task
(Elsevier, 2021) Fernandes-Magalhaes, Roberto; Ferrera, David; Peláez, Irene; Martín-Buro, María Carmen; Carpio, Alberto; Lahoz, María Eugenia de; Barjola, Paloma; Mercado, Francisco
Background One of the major cognitive deficits in fibromyalgia has been linked to the hypervigilance phenomenon. It is mainly reflected as a negative bias for allocating attentional resources towards both threatening and pain-related information. Although the interest in its study has recently grown, the neural temporal dynamics of the attentional bias in fibromyalgia still remains an open question. Method Fifty participants (25 fibromyalgia patients and 25 healthy control subjects) performed a dot-probe task. Two types of facial expressions (pain-related and neutral) were employed as signal stimuli. Then, as a target stimulus, a single dot replaced the location of one of these two faces. Event-related potentials (ERP) in response to facial expressions and target stimulation (i.e., dot) were recorded. Reaction time (RT) and accuracy measures in the experimental task were collected as behavioural outcomes. Results Temporal dynamics of brain electrical activity were analysed on two ERP components (P2 and N2a) sensitive to the facial expressions meaning. Pain-related faces elicited higher frontal P2 amplitudes than neutral faces for the whole sample. Interestingly, an interaction effect between group and facial expressions was also found showing that pain-related faces elicited enhanced P2 amplitudes (at fronto-central regions, in this case) compared to neutral faces only when the group of patients was considered. Furthermore, higher P2 amplitudes were observed in response to pain-related faces in patients with fibromyalgia compared to healthy control participants. Additionally, a shorter latency of P2 (at centro-parietal regions) was also detected for pain-related facial expressions compared to neutral faces. Regarding the amplitude of N2a, it was lower for patients as compared to the control group. Non-relevant effects of the target stimulation on the ERPs were found. However, patients with fibromyalgia exhibited slower RT to locate the single dot for incongruent trials as compared to congruent and neutral trials. Conclusions Data suggest the presence of an attentional bias in fibromyalgia that it would be followed by a deficit in the allocation of attentional resources to further process pain-related information. Altogether the current results suggest that attentional biases in fibromyalgia might be explained by automatic attentional mechanisms, which seem to be accompanied by an alteration of more strategic or controlled attentional components.
Pain E-motion Faces Database (PEMF): Pain-related micro-clips for emotion research
(Springer, 2022) Fernandes-Magalhaes, Roberto; Carpio, Alberto; Ferrera, David; Ryckeghem, Dimitri Van; Peláez, Irene; Barjola, Paloma; Lahoz, María Eugenia De; Martín-Buro, María Carmen; Hinojosa, José Antonio; Damme, Stefaan Van; Carretié, Luis; Mercado, Francisco
A large number of publications have focused on the study of pain expressions. Despite the growing knowledge, the availability of pain-related face databases is still very scarce compared with other emotional facial expressions. The Pain E-Motion Faces Database (PEMF) is a new open-access database currently consisting of 272 micro-clips of 68 diferent identities. Each model displays one neutral expression and three pain-related facial expressions: posed, spontaneous-algometer and spontaneous-CO2 laser. Normative ratings of pain intensity, valence and arousal were provided by students of three diferent European universities. Six independent coders carried out a coding process on the facial stimuli based on the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), in which ratings of intensity of pain, valence and arousal were computed for each type of facial expression. Gender and age efects of models across each type of micro-clip were also analysed. Additionally, participants’ ability to discriminate the veracity of pain-related facial expressions (i.e., spontaneous vs posed) was explored. Finally, a series of ANOVAs were carried out to test the presence of other basic emotions and common facial action unit (AU) patterns. The main results revealed that posed facial expressions received higher ratings of pain intensity, more negative valence and higher arousal compared with spontaneous pain-related and neutral faces. No diferential efects of model gender were found. Participants were unable to accurately discriminate whether a given pain-related face represented spontaneous or posed pain. PEMF thus constitutes a large open-source and reliable set of dynamic pain expressions useful for designing experimental studies focused on pain processes.
Working memory dysfunction in fibromyalgia is associated with genotypes of the catechol- O-methyltransferase gene: an event-related potential study
(Springer, 2022) Ferrera, David; Gómez-Esquer, Francisco; Peláez, Irene; Barjola, Paloma; Fernandes-Magalhaes, Roberto; Carpio, Alberto; Lahoz, María Eugenia De; Martín-Buro, María Carmen; Mercado, Francisco
Recent fndings have associated diferent COMT genotypes with working memory capacity in patients with fbromyalgia. Although it is thought that the COMT gene may infuence neural correlates (P2 and P3 ERP components) underlying working memory impairment in this chronic-pain syndrome, it has not yet been explored. Therefore, the aim of the present research was to investigate the potential efect of the COMT gene in fbromyalgia patients on ERP working memory indices (P2 and P3 components). For this purpose, 102 participants (51 patients and 51 healthy control participants) took part in the experiment. Event-related potentials and behavioral responses were recorded while participants performed a spatial n-back task. Participants had to decide if the stimulus coincided or not in the same location as the one presented one (1-back condition) or two (2-back condition) trials before. Genotypes of the COMT gene were determined through a saliva sample from all participants. Present results signifcantly showed lower working memory performance (p<0.05) in patients with fbromyalgia as compared to control participants (higher rate of errors and slower reaction times). At neural level, we found that patients exhibited enhanced frontocentral and parieto-occipital P2 amplitudes compared to control participants (p<0.05). Interestingly, we also observed that only fbromyalgia patients carrying the Val/Val genotype of the COMT gene showed higher frontocentral P2 amplitudes than control participants (p<0.05). Current results (behavioral outcomes and P2 amplitudes) confrmed the presence of an alteration in working memory functioning in fbromyalgia. The enhancement of frontocentral P2 could be refecting that these patients would manifest an inefcient way of activating executive attention processes, in carriers of the Val/Val genotype of COMT. To our knowledge, the present fndings are the frst linking neural indices of working memory dysfunctions and COMT genotypes in fbromyalgia. Applying a subgroup of patient’s strategy based on this genetic marker could be useful to establish more tailored therapeutical approaches.