Cortical processing of pain : a bridge between experimental findings and clinical implications

Pain is a subjective experience. This means that not only psychical factors, but also psychological, cognitive, social and environmental factors influence the way pain is perceived. This subjective character makes direct measurement of pain impossible. Pain Event-Related Potentials (pain-ERP) represent the cortical response to pain and are thought to be a more objective measure compared to self-report measures such as Visual Analogue Scales. However, the pain-ERP is a rather complex measure which contains considerable variability. This variability most probably is caused by other (pain-related) information which needs to be identified.
This thesis discusses the use of Event-Related Potentials in pain research. More specifically, it discusses methodological concerns and ideas about unravelling the pain-ERP.