Is Pain Rewarding? Proposal for a Current Stimulator

这项提案是要求获得资金，以获得当前的刺激器，这是一种适合与人类使用的非侵入性疼痛刺激设备。该设备将使克莱·霍罗伊德博士能够扩展他对奖赏处理的大脑机制的研究计划，将疼痛回避的神经机制的工作包括在内。霍罗伊德博士提出了一个非常有影响力的理论，即意外奖励--比如在赌博任务中赢了一小笔钱--会引发一种名为“奖励积极性”的脑电波。该理论还认为，损失和错误(无论这些是预期的还是意外的)都不会引发奖励的正性。这一理论已经在世界各地的众多实验室中进行了测试，而且证据确凿。然而，最近的研究发现，意想不到的身体惩罚也会引发积极的奖励。这些发现对这一理论提出了严重的挑战，因为该理论预测，奖励的正性应该只由意想不到的积极事件引发。如果真的像声称的那样，疼痛刺激引发了这种脑电波，那么这个神经系统的标准理论就是不正确的。霍罗伊德博士计划利用疼痛刺激器来研究这个问题。

This proposal is a request for funds to acquire a current stimulator, which is a non-invasive pain stimulation device suitable for use with humans. The apparatus would enable Dr. Clay Holroyd to extend his research program on the brain mechanisms of reward processing to include work on the neural mechanisms of pain avoidance. Dr. Holroyd has proposed a highly influential theory that unexpected rewards - such as winning a small amount of money in a gambling task - elicit a brainwave called the "reward positivity". The theory also holds that losses and errors (whether these are expected or not) do not elicit the reward positivity. The theory has been tested in numerous laboratories worldwide and the evidence for it is strong. However, recent studies have found that unexpected physical punishments also elicit the reward positivity. These findings present a serious challenge to the theory, because the theory predicts that the reward positivity should only be elicited by unexpected positive events. If in fact pain stimuli elicit this brainwave, as claimed, then the standard theory of this neural system is incorrect. Dr. Holroyd plans to utilize the pain stimulator to investigate this issue.