Pattern-Induced Visual Discomfort and Anxiety in Migraineurs: Their Relationship and the Effect of Colour
In migraineurs, coloured lenses were found to reduce the visual stress caused by an aversive pattern known to trigger migraines by 70%, but do such patterns also produce a low-level anxiety/fear response? Is this response lessened by colour? We sought to investigate this in a study comprising a broa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Vision |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5150/6/1/1 |
| _version_ | 1798031512705171456 |
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| author | Trevor J. Hine Yolande B. Z. White |
| author_facet | Trevor J. Hine Yolande B. Z. White |
| author_sort | Trevor J. Hine |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In migraineurs, coloured lenses were found to reduce the visual stress caused by an aversive pattern known to trigger migraines by 70%, but do such patterns also produce a low-level anxiety/fear response? Is this response lessened by colour? We sought to investigate this in a study comprising a broad screening component followed by a dot-probe experiment to elicit attentional biases (AB) to aversive patterns. Undergraduate psychology students completed headache and visual discomfort (VD) questionnaires (<i>N</i> = 358), thereby forming a subject pool from which 13 migraineurs with high visual discomfort and 13 no-headache controls with low visual discomfort, matched on age and sex, completed a dot-probe experiment. Paired stimuli were presented for 500 ms: aversive achromatic 3 cpd square wave gratings vs control, scrambled patterns. These conditions were repeated using the colour that was most comfortable for each participant. VD was greater in the more severe headache groups. On all measures, the migraineurs were more anxious than the controls, and a positive relationship was found between VD and trait anxiety. The 3 cpd gratings elicited an aversive AB in the migraine group which was somewhat reduced by the use of colour, and this was not seen in the controls. The results suggest a new role for colour in reducing visual stress via anxiety/fear reduction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T19:57:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fe00b4aa6e61468b8dfb5d6f986d6d7d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2411-5150 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T19:57:35Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Vision |
| spelling | doaj.art-fe00b4aa6e61468b8dfb5d6f986d6d7d2022-12-22T04:05:55ZengMDPI AGVision2411-51502021-12-0161110.3390/vision6010001Pattern-Induced Visual Discomfort and Anxiety in Migraineurs: Their Relationship and the Effect of ColourTrevor J. Hine0Yolande B. Z. White1School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University Mt Gravatt Queensland Australia, Mount Gravatt, QLD 4122, AustraliaSchool of Applied Psychology, Griffith University Mt Gravatt Queensland Australia, Mount Gravatt, QLD 4122, AustraliaIn migraineurs, coloured lenses were found to reduce the visual stress caused by an aversive pattern known to trigger migraines by 70%, but do such patterns also produce a low-level anxiety/fear response? Is this response lessened by colour? We sought to investigate this in a study comprising a broad screening component followed by a dot-probe experiment to elicit attentional biases (AB) to aversive patterns. Undergraduate psychology students completed headache and visual discomfort (VD) questionnaires (<i>N</i> = 358), thereby forming a subject pool from which 13 migraineurs with high visual discomfort and 13 no-headache controls with low visual discomfort, matched on age and sex, completed a dot-probe experiment. Paired stimuli were presented for 500 ms: aversive achromatic 3 cpd square wave gratings vs control, scrambled patterns. These conditions were repeated using the colour that was most comfortable for each participant. VD was greater in the more severe headache groups. On all measures, the migraineurs were more anxious than the controls, and a positive relationship was found between VD and trait anxiety. The 3 cpd gratings elicited an aversive AB in the migraine group which was somewhat reduced by the use of colour, and this was not seen in the controls. The results suggest a new role for colour in reducing visual stress via anxiety/fear reduction.https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5150/6/1/1migrainevisual discomforthypervigilanceavoidancedot-probe tasksanxiety |
| spellingShingle | Trevor J. Hine Yolande B. Z. White Pattern-Induced Visual Discomfort and Anxiety in Migraineurs: Their Relationship and the Effect of Colour Vision migraine visual discomfort hypervigilance avoidance dot-probe tasks anxiety |
| title | Pattern-Induced Visual Discomfort and Anxiety in Migraineurs: Their Relationship and the Effect of Colour |
| title_full | Pattern-Induced Visual Discomfort and Anxiety in Migraineurs: Their Relationship and the Effect of Colour |
| title_fullStr | Pattern-Induced Visual Discomfort and Anxiety in Migraineurs: Their Relationship and the Effect of Colour |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pattern-Induced Visual Discomfort and Anxiety in Migraineurs: Their Relationship and the Effect of Colour |
| title_short | Pattern-Induced Visual Discomfort and Anxiety in Migraineurs: Their Relationship and the Effect of Colour |
| title_sort | pattern induced visual discomfort and anxiety in migraineurs their relationship and the effect of colour |
| topic | migraine visual discomfort hypervigilance avoidance dot-probe tasks anxiety |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5150/6/1/1 |
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