Assessing the effect of pain on demands for attentional resources using ERPs

Event-related potentials were used as an adjunct to behavioral and self-report measures to examine the impact of pain in a short-term memory-scanning task. P3 amplitude was reduced and a frontal slow wave was increased during pain regardless of the number of items in memory Results are discussed in terms of pain affecting an attention-switch mechanism. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.