Expertise Modulates the Perception of Pain in Others

Yawei Cheng, Ching Po Lin, Ho Ling Liu, Yuan Yu Hsu, Kun Eng Lim, Daisy Hung, Jean Decety*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

399 Scopus citations

Abstract

Perceiving the pain of others activates a large part of the pain matrix in the observer [1]. Because this shared neural representation can lead to empathy or personal distress [2, 3], regulatory mechanisms must operate in people who inflict painful procedures in their practice with patient populations in order to prevent their distress from impairing their ability to be of assistance. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging MRI study, physicians who practice acupuncture were compared to naive participants while observing animated visual stimuli depicting needles being inserted into different body parts, including the mouth region, hands, and feet. Results indicate that the anterior insula somatosensory cortex, periaqueducal gray, and anterior cingulate cortex were significantly activated in the control group, but not in the expert group, who instead showed activation of the medial and superior prefrontal cortices and the temporoparietal junction, involved in emotion regulation and theory of mind.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1708-1713
Number of pages6
JournalCurrent Biology
Volume17
Issue number19
DOIs
StatePublished - 9 Oct 2007

Keywords

  • SYSNEURO

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