Maintaining performance under pain is effortful: experimental and computational evidence
Thomas, M.; Monti, I.; Marcotte, M.; Baudry, S.; Roy, M.; Rainville, P.; Pageaux, B.
Show abstract
Pain creates a competing demand on attention, though its impact on performance remains debated. Motivational-intensity theory predicts that resource reallocation can preserve output until motivational or capacity limits are reached. Forty adults took part in two preregistered experiments. They completed parallel cognitive (choice-reaction, n=20) and motor (isometric hand-grip, n=20) tasks at three difficulty levels while receiving warm, low, or high-pain heat stimulation on the opposite forearm. Across both domains, participants maintained performance despite painful stimulation. This preservation, however, relied on increased effort mobilization: perceived effort rose with pain intensity, while pain perception decreased during motor and cognitive task execution. Trial-wise computational modelling revealed that perceived effort was better predicted by subjective pain experience than by stimulus temperature, supporting a compensatory regulatory mechanism. Thus, maintained performance under pain reflects active resource allocation via effort, generalizable across cognitive and motor domains, but achieved at the cost of increased perceived effort.
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