This chapter gives an overview of the current state of the neuroscientific basis of empathy and the experience of vicarious pain; that is, an explicit sensory experience of pain when observing another in pain. We summarise the central and autonomic …
Empathy is a critical social process that involves both affective and cognitive components. Several studies have found that women have superior trait empathy compared with men, and there may be a biological basis for these differences. We …
BACKGROUND: There is evidence that sensitivity to noxious stimuli differs between the sexes and across the body, but few studies have investigated differences in the perception and experience of acute pain stimuli across the body in healthy …
Both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are involved in regulating pain states. The activity of these systems seems to become disturbed in states of chronic pain. This disruption in autonomic balance can be measured through the …
In an acute environment pain has potential protective benefits. However when pain becomes chronic this protective effect is lost and the pain becomes an encumbrance. Previously unheralded substances are being investigated in an attempt to alleviate …