Study title

Attentional biases have been demonstrated by individuals with chronic pain, who show a selective preference for pain-related information (ie words and pictures) compared to neutral information. This bias is not usually shown in pain-free individuals. For both theoretical and clinical reasons, it is important to understand the time-course of attentional biases (ie how quickly they arise; how long they are maintained for; whether they are voluntary or involuntary), although little research has addressed this issue. The aim of the current research is to therefore clarify the time-course of attentional bias in chronic pain. In order to achieve this, eye-tracking technology will be used to record chronic pain and healthy participants' eye movements during 4 separate computer experiments. This methodology will provide a naturalistic and continuous measure of attention, and will also demonstrate whether patterns of visual engagement and avoidance vary across time, whether bias is driven by deficiencies in attentional control, and whether bias is maintained in the presence of concurrent emotional information. Clarification of these issues will allow for the formulation of a comprehensive theoretical account of attentional bias in chronic pain, fully accounting for the time-course and patterns of such bias.