Neural and behavioral markers of observed pain of older adults

Abstract

To contribute to better understanding of empathy of younger adults for the pain of older adults, this study examined whether brain responses and behavioral ratings of young adult participants to the observed physical pain of older people differed from that to younger people. fMRI was used to measure participants’ brain responses to seeing younger and older people receiving a painful compared with non-painful touch, while they rated both the level of perceived pain observed and their own level of personal discomfort from observing the painful touch. The young participants showed greater brain activation when observing younger versus older people receiving painful stimuli, and they rated the needle-touch to the younger people to appear more painful and more personally distressing. Furthermore, those participants reporting a greater level of contact with older adults at work showed less brain activation in the left insula cortex, a typical neural marker for observed pain, when observing painful touch to the older people. These have implications for understanding both the emotional responses and perception of pain of young adults when observing pain in the elderly.