Brain responses to the vicarious facilitation of pain by facial expressions of pain and fear

Ali Khatibi*, Mathieu Roy, Jen-I Chen, Louis-Nascan Gill, Mathieu Piche, Pierre Rainville

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Observing pain in others facilitates self-pain in the observer. Vicarious pain facilitation mechanisms are poorly understood. We scanned 21 subjects while they observed pain, fear and neutral dynamic facial expressions. In 33% of the trials, a noxious electrical stimulus was delivered. The nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR) and pain ratings were recorded. Both pain and fear expressions increased self-pain ratings (fear>pain) and the NFR amplitude. Enhanced response to self-pain following pain and fear observation involves brain regions including the insula (pain>fear in anterior part), amygdala, MCC, PCL, PCUN, SMA and precentral gyrus. These results are consistent with the motivational priming account where vicarious pain facilitation involves a global enhancement of pain-related responses by negatively valenced stimuli. However, a PPI analysis centered on the left insula revealed increased functional connectivity with the aMCC in response to the painful stimulus following pain observation compared to fear. The opposite connectivity pattern (fear>pain) was observed in the fusiform gyrus, cerebellum (I-IV), Lingual Gyrus and thalamus, suggesting that pain and fear expressions influence pain-evoked brain responses differentially. Distinctive connectivity patterns demonstrate a stronger effect of pain observation in the cingulo-insular network that may reflect partly overlapping networks underlying the representation of pain in self and others.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbernsac056
JournalSocial Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
Volume18
Issue number1
Early online date6 Oct 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press.

Keywords

  • Emotional Facial Expression
  • Pain
  • Vicarious facilitation
  • Nociceptive Flexion Reflex
  • fMRI

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