Beyond metaphor: contrasting mechanisms of social and physical pain.

Iannetti, Gian Domenico;Salomons, Tim V.;Moayedi, Massieh;Mouraux, André;davis, Karen D.
(2013) Trends in Cognitive Sciences — Vol. 17, n° 8, p. 371-378 (2013)

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Authors
  • Iannetti, Gian DomenicoUniversity College London, Physiology and Parmacology, UK
    Author
  • Salomons, Tim V.University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
    Author
  • Moayedi, MassiehUniversity College London, Physiology and Parmacology, UK
    Author
  • Mouraux, Andréorcid-logoUCLouvain
    Author
  • davis, Karen D.Toronto Western Research Institute and University of Toronto, Canada
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Abstract
Physical pain can be clearly distinguished from other states of distress. In recent years, however, the notion that social distress is experienced as physically painful has permeated the scientific literature and popular media. This conclusion is based on the overlap of brain regions that respond to nociceptive input and sociocultural distress. Here we challenge the assumption that underlies this conclusion – that physical pain can be easily inferred from a particular pattern of activated brain regions – by showing that patterns of activation commonly presumed to constitute the ‘pain matrix’ are largely unspecific to pain. We then examine recent analytical advances that may improve the specificity of imaging for parsing pain from a broad range of perceptually unique human experiences.
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Iannetti, G. D., Salomons, T. V., Moayedi, M., Mouraux, A., & davis, K. D. (2013). Beyond metaphor: contrasting mechanisms of social and physical pain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 17(8), 371-378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2013.06.002 (Original work published 2013)