Pain

Question 1

PRESTON & DE WAAL (2002)

Answer 1

• empathy helps us understand feelings/inner states of others’ minds & share experiences/needs/beliefs/goals
• current neuroscientific empathy models postulate that given motor/perceptual/emotional individual state activates corresponding representations in another individual observing it

Question 2

GALLESE ET AL. (1996); RIZZOLATI ET AL. (2001)

Answer 2

• single-cell recording studies in monkeys show premotor neurons becoming active during given action execution & observation of same action performed in another human/monkey aka. mirror neurons

Question 3

WICKER ET AL. (2010)

Answer 3

• studies in humans demonstrate observing other individuals acting/being touched/showing facial emotions induces activity in neural networks also activated when observer acts/is touched/displays same emotions
• aka. empathy = based on “mirror-matching” others’ states

Question 4

TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATION (TMS)

Answer 4

HALLETT (2007)
- non-invasive stimulation technique for human brain; produced via generating brief high-intensity magnetic field by passing electric current through magnetic coil to excite/inhibit small brain area
- made w/flux lines passing perpendicularly to coil plane usually placed tangential to scalp
- aka. bringing magnet near something conductive to generate electricity in magnetic field
- brain neurons use tiny electricity amounts to send/relay info through brain; bringing magnet close influences brain’s electrical activity

Question 5

MOTOR EVOKED POTENTIALS (MEPs)

Answer 5

• TMS interferes w/cognitive/motor performance via stimulating targeted brain area to study specific function involvement; used to stimulate motor cortex eliciting focal muscle twitch aka. MEPs
• stimulated motor cortex makes electrical signal then detected at other body points
• stimulating nervous system/measuring muscle response offers unique opportunity to interrogate motor system function; performed via stimulating motor cortex/recording muscle activity w/electromyography (EMG)

Question 6

AVENATI ET AL. (2005): PROCEDURE

Question 7

AVENATI ET AL. (2005): EXP I PROCEDURE

Question 8

AVENATI ET AL. (2005): EXP I RESULTS

Question 9

AVENATI ET AL. (2005): EXP II PROCEDURE

Question 10

AVENATI ET AL. (2005): EXP II RESULTS

Question 11

AVENATI ET AL. (2005): EXP III PROCEDURE

Question 12

AVENATI ET AL. (2005): EXP III RESULTS

Question 13

AVENATI ET AL. (2005): VAS RESULTS

Question 14

SENSORIMOTOR EMPATHY: OVERALL FINDINGS (AVENATI ET AL. (2005))

Answer 14

• highlight sensorimotor side of empathetic pain via consistent reduction of hand muscle excitability during observation of “flesh & bone” painful stimuli delivered to model aka. needle entering body:
  1. specific for hand; absent for feet/non-corporeal objects
  2. confined to pain observation; absent in harmless tactile stimulation observation
  3. selective for MEPs recorded from hand muscle underlying skin region penetrated; absent for MEPs recorded from nearby hand muscle
  4. clearly relates to observer’s subjective empathetic rating of sensory NOT affective qualities of pain ascribed to model

Question 15

AVENATI ET AL. (2010)

Answer 15

• aimed to determine if neurophysiological/autonomic reactivity indices to others’ pain = modulated by racial membership/bias
• focused on v basic interpersonal activity form (sensorimotor contagion) indexed by automatic corticospinal excitability reduction of onlookers observing painful stimuli delivered to stranger
• explored excitability changes of corticospinal body representations in White-Caucasian/black-African pps w/TMS; asked to watch/pay attention to clips depicting:
  1. needles penetrating right first dorsal interosseus (FDI)
  2. Q-tip gently touching same hand muscle of stranger black/white models

Question 16

AVENATI ET AL. (2010): STIMULI

Question 17

AVENATI ET AL. (2010): PROCEDURE

Question 18

AVENATI ET AL. (2010): RESULTS

Question 19

AVENATI ET AL. (2010): ADDITIONAL RESULTS

Question 20

PAIN X RACE: OVERALL FINDINGS (AVENATI ET AL. (2010)

Answer 20

• clear sensorimotor contagion in response to stranger pain in same racial group & unfamiliar (NOT racially grouped) strangers’ pain
• no sensorimotor contagion in response to culturally marked outgroup (colour basis) of non-facial body part w/o specific emotion expression
• lack of empathetic brain response in outgroup member pain; provided neural foundation for notion of race-related prejudices shaping social categorisation -> dehumanised perception of dif others