Pain

Question 1

What may empathy be based on?

Answer 1

‘Mirror matching’ stimulation of others’ state

Question 2

What is TMS?

Answer 2

• Non invasive stimulation technique of the human brain
• Stimulation produced by high intensity magnetic field through magnetic coil
• Brain’s neurons use tiny amounts of electricity to send/relay info through brain and body

Question 3

What are Motor Evoked Potentials (MEPs)

Answer 3

Focal muscle twitch in motor cortex, stimulated by TMS

Question 4

What did Avenanti (2005) find using TMS?

Answer 4

• Similar reduction of corticospinal excitability when Ps saw someone else recieving a painful stimulus

Question 5

What was Avenanti (2005) Experiment 1?

Answer 5

• Right handed Ps (N=12)
• MEPs recorded, Ps watched different video clips
• Needed penetrates hand, Q tip touches hand, needle penetrates tomato

Question 6

What was Avenanti (2005) Experiment 2?

Answer 6

• N=8
• Same as E1 procedure
• Ps watch video of needle penetrating right foot and q tip touching R foot

Question 7

What was Avenanti (2005) Experiment 3?

Answer 7

• Same as E1/E2
• Video of needle penetrating right hand and foot

Question 8

What were the results of Avenanti E1?

Answer 8

• Significant main effect condition for MEPs from the FDI muscle, where painful or touch stimuli were delivered
• No modulation of MEPs recorded from the ADM muscle which was not involved in pain/touch

Question 9

What were the results of Avenanti E2?

Answer 9

There was no signif. modulation of MEP amplitude recorded from FDI or ADM muscles

Question 10

What were the results of Avenanti E3?

Answer 10

• Consistent results with E1 and E2
• MEPs recorded from the ADM muscle during the observation of the ‘Needed in ADM’ were signif. lower with respect to corresponding baseline and ‘Needle in foot’

Question 11

What is VAS?

Answer 11

Pain rating scale (1921)

Question 12

What were the VAS results for Avenanti?

Answer 12

• Comparisons of subjective ratings showed that painfulness of the observed stimuli didn’t differ between hand/foot stimulations

Question 13

What was the first evidence of sensorimotor empathy?

Answer 13

• Specific for the observation of a needle entering the hand and absent during the observation of a needle entering feet
• Confined to the observation of pain and absent during the tactile stimulation
• Selective for MEPs recorded from the hand muscle underlying the skin region penetrated by the needle, and absent for the MEPs recorded from a nearby hand muscle

Question 14

What was the basis of Avenanti (2010)?

Answer 14

• ## Sought to determine whether neurophysiological and autonomic indices of reactivity to others’ pain are modulated by racial membership and racial bias

Question 15

What was the procedure of Avenanti (2010)?

Answer 15

• Black and white Ps, right handed
• Shown video clips of: Q-tip touching the skin of right FDI muscle of white models hand, needle penetrating same hand
• And the same 2 conditions for black models
• TMS took place also

Question 16

What were the results of Avenanti (2010)?

Answer 16

• No main interaction - black and white Ps showed the same MEP modulation
• Statistical difference in inhibition between in group and outgroup

Question 17

What were the overall findings for sensorimotor empathy, pain and race?

Answer 17

• People showed brain responses to the pain of same-race or unfamiliar individuals, but not to those culturally marked as outgroup. This suggests racial bias can reduce empathy and promote dehumanized perception of others.

Question 18

What was Minio-Paluello (2008) procedure?

Answer 18

• 16 RH men with Aspergers
• Same clips as Avenanti study (2006)

Question 19

What were the results of Minio-Paluello (2008) study?

Answer 19

• Participants with AS showed no change in their motor system when observing others in pain, suggesting a lack of embodied empathic response or sensorimotor contagion.