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The Neuroimaging of Vicarious Pain

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Neuroimaging of Pain

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Abstract

The similarities between self-experienced and vicarious pain have led research to suggest that both experiences may be facilitated by shared neural representations. Indeed, neuroimaging evidence demonstrates an overlap in neural patterns during self- and other-pain. Such comparable brain activity may facilitate an empathic understanding of the current state of the individual in pain by stimulating relevant pain associations in the own sensory, affective and cognitive systems. However, research further shows the distinct contributions of neural activity during vicarious pain processing, in particular in brain regions related to perspective-taking, attention and top-down response regulation. Likewise, such activity may underpin response formation to the observed pain, such as empathic or withdrawal behaviors. This chapter reviews 31 fMRI, six EEG/MEG and four TMS studies exploring the neural correlates of vicarious pain in healthy individuals. Both shared and distinct neural contributions to stimulus and response processing during vicarious pain are discussed. Notably, an integrative model of vicarious pain is introduced which brings such contributions together in a comprehensive manner. Moreover, the chapter highlights inconsistencies and research gaps in current literature with the aim of stimulating further scientific investigation. This is pertinent to the detection of neurobiological markers and intervention targets for empathic deficits which characterize a wide variety of clinical health issues.

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Abbreviations

IFG:

Inferior Frontal Gyrus

IPL:

Inferior Parietal Lobule

SI, SII:

Primary Somatosensory Cortex, Secondary Somatosensory Cortex

PFC:

Prefrontal Cortex

INS:

Insula

aINS, mINS, pINS:

Anterior Insula, Mid-Insula, Posterior Insula

CC, ACC, PCC:

Cingulate Cortex, Anterior Cingulate Cortex, Posterior Cingulate Cortex

sgACC, rACC:

subgenual ACC, rostral ACC

MCC, aMCC:

Midcingulate Cortex, Anterior MCC

dlPFC, dmPFC, mPFC, rlPFC:

dorsolateral PFC, dorsomedial PFC, medial PFC, rostrolateral PFC

SMA:

Supplementary Motor Area

fMRI:

functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

EEG:

Electroencephalography

MEG:

Magnetoencephalography

TMS:

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

PAM:

Perception Action Model

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the May Endowed Professorship of The University of Hong Kong, the Research Grants Council Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship (Ref: HKU703-HSS-13). The funders have no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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  1. Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong SAR

    Esslin L. Terrighena & Tatia M. C. Lee

  2. Laboratory of Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong SAR

    Esslin L. Terrighena & Tatia M. C. Lee

  3. The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong SAR

    Tatia M. C. Lee

  4. Institute of Clinical Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Rm 656, The Jockey Club Tower, Pokfulam Road, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong SAR

    Tatia M. C. Lee

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    Luca Saba

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Terrighena, E.L., Lee, T.M.C. (2017). The Neuroimaging of Vicarious Pain. In: Saba, L. (eds) Neuroimaging of Pain. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48046-6_16

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