Behavioral neuroscience of human pain communication: The meaning of pain expression and vicarious pain responses

人类疼痛交流的行为神经科学：疼痛表达和替代疼痛反应的意义

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-06799
• 负责人: Rainville, Pierre
• 金额: $ 6.85万
• 依托单位: Université de Montréal
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=765803
• 关键词: Behavioral; neuroscience; human; pain; communication

Darwin's legacy includes a detailed description of the reliable behavioral patterns produced to communicate emotions and the proposal that such responses provide unique adaptive advantages to social species. In this context, the communication of pain constitutes a fundamental process that may have at least two distinct functions. First, pain expression signals potential threats in the immediate environment of the bystanders (i.e. vicarious pain signals) and may allow them to predict and anticipate potential harm, prevent and avoid self-exposure to the source of nociception, and/or trigger or facilitate self-defensive or protective responses to reduce the risk or the extent of injury. The second function of pain communication concerns the elicitation of solicitous behaviours with the corollary assumption that these may reduce the risk of further injury and/or the suffering of the person expressing pain. Based on communication models one can distinguish three phases in this process reflecting the encoding or « communication as action », decoding or « communication as interaction », and the ensuing social regulatory processes or « communication as transaction ». In neuropsychological terms, encoding involves the activation of a representation of pain triggered by a painful event and expressed or « encoded » in various output channels including facial expression. Decoding requires the perception of vicarious pain signals and is thought to involve the activation in the observer of a partly shared neural/mental representation of the nociceptive event and the corresponding pain state. Finally, transaction reflects the potential impact of the information exchanged on the observer and the expresser's neurophysiological and psychological state. Here, we propose to explore the neural mechanisms underlying these three stages of pain communication using experimental approaches, psychophysiology and functional brain imaging in healthy human.

达尔文的遗产包括对用于交流情感的可靠行为模式的详细描述，以及这样的反应为社会物种提供独特的适应优势的建议。在这种情况下，疼痛的交流构成了一个基本的过程，可能至少有两个不同的功能。首先，疼痛表达在旁观者的直接环境中发出潜在威胁的信号(即替代的疼痛信号)，并可能允许他们预测和预期潜在的伤害，防止和避免自我暴露于伤害的来源，和/或触发或促进自卫或保护性反应，以减少伤害的风险或程度。疼痛交流的第二个功能与引发关心行为有关，由此推论，这些行为可能会减少进一步受伤的风险和/或表达疼痛的人的痛苦。根据沟通模型，可以区分这一过程的三个阶段，即编码或“沟通即行动”、解码或“沟通即互动”，以及随后的社会监管过程或“沟通即交易”。在神经心理学术语中，编码涉及由痛苦事件触发的疼痛表征的激活，并在包括面部表情在内的各种输出渠道中表达或编码。解码需要感知不同的疼痛信号，并被认为涉及观察者对伤害性事件和相应疼痛状态的部分共享的神经/心理表征的激活。最后，交易反映了信息交换对观察者和表现者的神经生理和心理状态的潜在影响。在这里，我们建议使用实验方法、心理生理学和脑功能成像方法来探索健康人这三个阶段疼痛交流的神经机制。