Social Exclusion Amplifies Behavioral Responses to Physical Pain via Insular Neuromodulation

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Pain Research
• Social Psychology

Background:

• The Pain Overlap Theory suggests social and physical pain share neural systems.
• The insular cortex is implicated in this overlap, but mechanisms remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the mechanistic link between social exclusion and physical pain perception.
• To determine if social pain impacts nociceptive responses via electrical or chemical signals.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel Social Exclusion paradigm (Fear of Missing Out Task) in mice.
• Assessed physical pain responses, valence encoding, and neural representations of nociceptive stimuli.
• Utilized biosensors to analyze endocannabinoid and oxytocin signaling in the insular cortex.

Main Results:

• Socially-excluded mice showed increased physical pain sensitivity and impaired neural processing of pain.
• Endocannabinoid and oxytocin signaling in the insular cortex exhibited opposing responses to social exclusion.
• Blocking oxytocin signaling in the insular cortex exacerbated the impact of social exclusion on physical pain.

Conclusions:

• Social exclusion alters physical pain perception through neuromodulatory signaling in the insular cortex.
• Distinct neuromodulatory substrates underlie different states of social exclusion.
• Findings provide mechanistic insights into the interaction between social pain and physical pain.