The aging population is disproportionally affected by pain and its consequences. Aging is known to affect neurobiological aspects of pain perception and has been associated with a deterioration of descending pain inhibitory mechanisms. However, little is known about whether cognitive pain modulatory mechanisms are preserved in the older age. Here, we present a series of studies on cognitive and situational factors influencing pain processing and the efficacy of cognitive pain modulation on the behavioral and (neuro)physiological level, focusing on underlying neural mechanisms to gain insight in the changes of the aging brain associated with pain processing and pain modulation.
Ana María González Roldán will start presenting data from several electrophysiological studies examining how aging and chronic pain may mutually contribute to enhanced pain perception. Further expanding on chronic pain, Joukje Oosterman will present a study on the underlying neural mechanism of loss of control over pain in aging, a predictor for future chronic pain. She will focus on age-related changes in function and EEG-connectivity in brain circuits involved in pain processing in relation to top-down cognitive modulation of pain control. Turning to distraction from pain as a top-down inhibitory process, Marian van der Meulen will discuss the relationship between functional connectivity during resting state and the distraction effect size in younger and older healthy adults. The role of executive functions and age-related cognitive decline in distraction from pain is addressed by Angelika Dierolf, presenting results of an EEG study. Finally, Sven Philipsen will discuss the impact of acute stress on the efficacy of distraction from pain in young and older adults.