Neurogastroenterology & Motility. 2018;e13402. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nmo | 1 of 10 https://doi.org/10.1111/nmo.13402 © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Received: 23 February 2018 | Accepted: 28 May 2018 DOI: 10.1111/nmo.13402 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Effect of attention bias modification on event-related potentials in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: A preliminary brain function and psycho-behavioral study J. Tayama 1 | T. Saigo 2 | S. Ogawa 3 | A. Takeoka 3 | T. Hamaguchi 4 | K. Inoue 5 | H. Okamura 6 | J. Yajima 7 | K. Matsudaira 8 | S. Fukudo 9 | S. Shirabe 3 Abbreviations: ABM, attention bias modification; CBT, cognitive-behavioral therapy; ERP, event-related potentials; HPA, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; IBS, irritable bowel syn- drome; QOL, quality of life; UMACL, The University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology Mood Adjective Checklist. 1 Graduate School of Education, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan 2 School of Psychological Science, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Sapporo, Japan 3 Center for Health and Community Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan 4 Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Social Services, Saitama Prefectural University, Saitama, Japan 5 Center for the Study of Higher Education and Global Admissions, Osaka University, Suita, Japan 6 Cognitive and Molecular Research Institute of Brain Diseases, Kurume University, Kurume, Japan 7 Faculty of Literature, Beppu University, Beppu, Japan 8 Department of Medical Research and Management for Musculoskeletal Pain, 22nd Century Medical and Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo-Hospital, Tokyo, Japan 9 Department of Behavioral Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan Correspondence Jun Tayama, Graduate School of Education, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan. Email: jtayama@nagasaki-u.ac.jp Funding information This study was supported by the Graduate School of Education, the Center for Health and Community Medicine, and Nagasaki University. Abstract Background: Attention bias modification normalizes electroencephalographic abnor- malities in alpha and beta power percentages related to attention in patients with ir - ritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Yet, it is unknown whether ABM contributes to the normalization of event-related potentials (ERP) in these patients. We hypothesized that ERP related to attention deficit would be normalized after ABM implementation in individuals with IBS. Methods: Thirteen patients with IBS and 10 control subjects completed a 2-month intervention that included five ABM sessions. Each session included 128 trials, re- sulting in a total of 640 trials during the study period. Event-related potentials were measured at the first and fifth sessions. As per the international 10-20 system for electroencephalographic electrode placement, right parietal P4 was evaluated to measure the attention component of facial expression processing. Key Results: A group comparison of P100 latency at P4 revealed that latencies were significantly different between groups in session 1 (IBS vs control, 108 ± 8 vs 97 ± 14; t = −2.51, P = .0203). This difference was absent in session 5 (94 ± 11 vs 93 ± 11, re- spectively; t = −0.397, P = .6954, r = .09), indicating an effect of ABM in the IBS group. Conclusions and inferences: Attention bias modification may have clinical utility for normalizing brain function and specifically attentional abnormalities in patients with IBS. KEYWORDS attentional bias, electroencephalography, evoked potentials, irritable bowel syndrome