Expertise Modulates Students' Perception of Pain From a Self-Perspective: Quasi-Experimental Study

Yekta-Michael SS, Schueppen A, Gaebler AJ, Ellrich J, Koten JW (2019)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2019

Journal

Journal of Medical Internet Research Journal of Medical Internet Research / Gunther Eysenbach

Book Volume: 21

Pages Range: e10885-

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.2196/10885

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Perception of stimuli presented in a virtual dentistry environment affects regions of the brain that are related to pain perception. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether neural correlates of virtual pain perception are affected by education in dentistry. METHODS: In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, a sample of 20 dental students and 20 age-matched controls viewed and listened to video clips presenting a dental treatment from the first-person perspective. An anxiety questionnaire was used to assess the level of dental anxiety. Neural correlates of pain perception were investigated through classic general linear model analysis and in-house classification methods. RESULTS: Dental students and naïve controls exhibited similar anxiety levels for invasive stimuli. Invasive dentistry scenes evoked a less affective component of pain in dental students compared with naïve controls (P<.001). Reduced affective pain perception went along with suppressed brain activity in pain matrix regions including the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and basal ganglia. Furthermore, a substantial reduction of brain activity was observed in motor-related regions, particularly the supplementary motor area, premotor cortex, and basal ganglia. Within this context, a classifier analysis based on neural activity in the nucleus lentiformis could identify dental students and controls on the individual subject level in 85% of the cases (34 out of 40 participants, sensitivity=90%, specificity=80%). CONCLUSIONS: Virtual dental treatment activates pain-related brain regions in controls. By contrast, dental students suppress affective and motor-related aspects of pain. We speculate that dental students learn to control motoric aspects of pain perception during their education because it is a prerequisite for the professional manual treatment of patients. We discuss that a specific set of learning mechanisms might affect perceived self-efficacy of dental students, which in turn might reduce their affective component of pain perception.

Authors with CRIS profile

Jens Ellrich Medizinische Fakultät

Involved external institutions

Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen DE Germany (DE) Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz AT Austria (AT)

How to cite

APA:

Yekta-Michael, S.S., Schueppen, A., Gaebler, A.J., Ellrich, J., & Koten, J.W. (2019). Expertise Modulates Students' Perception of Pain From a Self-Perspective: Quasi-Experimental Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(1), e10885-. https://dx.doi.org/10.2196/10885

MLA:

Yekta-Michael, Sareh Said, et al. "Expertise Modulates Students' Perception of Pain From a Self-Perspective: Quasi-Experimental Study." Journal of Medical Internet Research 21.1 (2019): e10885-.

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