Current biology : CB
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Current biology : CB · Feb 2015
Reducing social stress elicits emotional contagion of pain in mouse and human strangers.
Empathy for another's physical pain has been demonstrated in humans [1] and mice [2]; in both species, empathy is stronger between familiars. Stress levels in stranger dyads are higher than in cagemate dyads or isolated mice [2, 3], suggesting that stress might be responsible for the absence of empathy for the pain of strangers. We show here that blockade of glucocorticoid synthesis or receptors for adrenal stress hormones elicits the expression of emotional contagion (a form of empathy) in strangers of both species. ⋯ In familiar, but not stranger, pairs, dyadic testing was associated with increased pain behaviors or ratings compared to isolated testing. Pharmacological blockade of glucocorticoid synthesis or glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors enabled the expression of emotional contagion of pain in mouse and human stranger dyads, as did a shared gaming experience (the video game Rock Band) in human strangers. Our results demonstrate that emotional contagion is prevented, in an evolutionarily conserved manner, by the stress of a social interaction with an unfamiliar conspecific and can be evoked by blocking the endocrine stress response.
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At the end of the year that saw Ebola virus disease dominate the news, experts warn that other zoonoses also pose serious threats. To prepare for disease outbreaks and avoid global epidemics, health services and researchers may have to adopt a broader perspective, known as the 'One Health' paradigm, which links the health of people, domestic and wild animals, and the ecosystems they inhabit. Michael Gross reports.
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Technology developed for chronic pain management has been fast evolving and offers new stand-alone prospects for the diagnosis and treatment of pain, rather than simply addressing the limitations of pharmacology-based approaches. There are two central challenges to be tackled: developing objective measures that capture the subjectivity of pain experience, and providing technology-based interventions that offer new approaches for pain management. Here we highlight recent developments that hold promise in addressing both of these challenges.
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Current biology : CB · Mar 2014
Automatic decoding of facial movements reveals deceptive pain expressions.
In highly social species such as humans, faces have evolved to convey rich information for social interaction, including expressions of emotions and pain [1-3]. Two motor pathways control facial movement [4-7]: a subcortical extrapyramidal motor system drives spontaneous facial expressions of felt emotions, and a cortical pyramidal motor system controls voluntary facial expressions. The pyramidal system enables humans to simulate facial expressions of emotions not actually experienced. ⋯ However, a computer vision system that automatically measures facial movements and performs pattern recognition on those movements attained 85% accuracy. The machine system's superiority is attributable to its ability to differentiate the dynamics of genuine expressions from faked expressions. Thus, by revealing the dynamics of facial action through machine vision systems, our approach has the potential to elucidate behavioral fingerprints of neural control systems involved in emotional signaling.