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Description: Cognitive factors, such as attention, play an important role in the modulation of pain and in the development of pain chronicity. We attempt to replicate one such effect found in a previous study conducted by Filbrich et al., 2020, which shows how the experimental induction of central sensitization, a key factor in the development of secondary hyperalgesia, can indeed be modulated by selective spatial attention. Secondary hyperalgesia occurs after tissue injury. It refers to a condition of increased sensitivity to mechanical stimuli within the injured area and the surrounding skin. It is hypothesized that the intense and sustained activation of peripheral nociceptors enhances the responsiveness of the neurons in the central nervous system. This causes the phenomenon known as central sensitization which is considered to play a key role in the development of chronic pain. As in Filbrich (2020), we will manipulate the impact of selective spatial attention by asking healthy volunteers to selectively focus their attention on target stimuli applied on one of the two forearms while we apply high frequency stimulation on both forearms. To assess the effect of the manipulation, we will measure perceived intensity to mechanical pinprick stimuli on both arms at three different moments: at T0, before applying high-frequency stimulation (HFS), at T1, immediately after having applied HFS in combination with the selective attention task, and finally at T2, 20 minutes after the whole procedure. Moreover, at T2, we will estimate the extent of the area of secondary hyperalgesia on both arms by applying mechanical pinprick stimulation along two axes: (1) medial-later, and (2) proximal-distal. References 1)Filbrich, L., van den Broeke, E. N., Legrain, V., & Mouraux, A. (2020). The focus of spatial attention during the induction of central sensitization can modulate the subsequent development of secondary hyperalgesia. Cortex, 124, 193-203