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Related Concept Videos

Synesthesia01:27

Synesthesia

Synesthesia is a remarkable condition where stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with synesthesia experience a blending or crossing of their senses, such as sight and sound, leading to cross-modal sensations. In this condition, the stimulation of one sense, such as hearing a number or musical note, triggers an experience of another sense, like sensing a specific color, taste, or smell. People...
Empathy02:34

Empathy

Some researchers suggest that altruism operates on empathy. Empathy is the capacity to understand another person’s perspective, to feel what he or she feels. An empathetic person makes an emotional connection with others and feels compelled to help (Batson, 1991). Empathy can be expressed in several ways, including cognitive, affective, and motor.
Pain01:20

Pain

Pain serves as a critical warning signal that alerts the body to potential or actual harm. When mechanical pressure on the skin is intense, such as from a sharp pinch, the sensation transitions from touch to pain. Similarly, extreme temperatures, like a hot pot handle, convert the sensation of heat into pain. Pain can also result from overstimulation of other senses, such as blinding light, loud noise, or the intense heat from habañero peppers. This ability to sense pain is essential for...
Nociception01:44

Nociception

Nociception—the ability to feel pain—is essential for an organism’s survival and overall well-being. Noxious stimuli such as piercing pain from a sharp object, heat from an open flame, or contact with corrosive chemicals are first detected by sensory receptors, called nociceptors, located on nerve endings. Nociceptors express ion channels that convert noxious stimuli into electrical signals. When these signals reach the brain via sensory neurons, they are perceived as pain. Thus, pain helps the...
Sympathetic Activation01:16

Sympathetic Activation

The sympathetic division can influence tissues and organs by releasing norepinephrine at peripheral synapses and distributing epinephrine and norepinephrine through the bloodstream. In times of crisis or stress, sympathetic activation occurs, which is regulated by sympathetic centers in the hypothalamus. As a result, sympathetic activation prepares the body for physical exertion, rapid ATP production, and heightened alertness, allowing individuals to respond effectively to challenging or...
Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.

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Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color
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Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color

Published on: February 20, 2014

Shared pain: from empathy to synaesthesia.

Bernadette M Fitzgibbon1, Melita J Giummarra, Nellie Georgiou-Karistianis

  • 1Experimental Neuropsychology Research Unit, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Clayton, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia. Bernadette.fitzgibbon@med.monash.edu.au

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
|October 28, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study explores pain empathy and a rare condition called synaesthesia for pain, where individuals feel others' pain intensely. It suggests mirror system disinhibition due to trauma may cause this unique empathy.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology
  • Pain Research

Background:

  • Empathy for pain involves understanding another's pain.
  • Synaesthesia for pain is a newly documented form where individuals experience observed pain as their own.
  • Mirror systems are neural networks active during both observation and personal experience.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review literature on empathy for pain.
  • To explore the phenomenon of synaesthesia for pain.
  • To propose a neural mechanism for synaesthesia for pain.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of current research on empathy for pain.
  • Examination of neural mechanisms, including mirror systems.
  • Discussion of proposed theory in context of specific patient groups.

Main Results:

  • Synaesthesia for pain involves experiencing observed pain as one's own.
  • Mirror systems are implicated in empathy for pain and potentially synaesthesia for pain.
  • Disinhibition in mirror systems due to trauma is proposed as a cause.

Conclusions:

  • Synaesthesia for pain may arise from disinhibited mirror systems following painful or traumatic experiences.
  • This theory is supported by observations in amputees with phantom limb pain.
  • Further research is needed to fully understand the neural basis of synaesthesia for pain.