Neurophysiological and neurobiological aspects of pain have become an extensive focus of research in the last decades. Studies on pain processing have suggested that the experience of pain can be separated into a sensory-discriminative and an affective-motivational dimension. The sensory-discriminative dimension of pain, which has been mainly associated with processing in the primary and secondary somatosensory cortex (SI and SII, respectively), encompasses the perceived intensity, location, and quality of painful. The affective-motivational dimension of pain, on the other hand, reflects the perceived unpleasantness of a painful event. This dimension usually involves processing in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insular cortex (IC), and prefrontal cortex. Psychological, motivational, and higher cognitive factors like the demand level of a task and empathy for pain have been related to the affective-motivational dimension of pain. However, it is thus far not well understood how sensory inputs from other modalities may influence the different dimensions of pain processing. Several of our current studies focus on the neural mechanisms underlying the multisensory processing of pain.
Key Publications
Senkowski D, Kautz J, Hauck M, Zimmermann R, Engel AK (2011). Emotional facial expression modulate early pain-induced beta and gamma oscillations in sensorimotor cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 31: 14542-14550. (Abstract)
Hofle M, Hauk M, Engel AK, Senkowski D (2010). Pain processing in multisensory environments. e-Neuroforum 1: 23-28. (PDF)
Support by the German Research Foundation (DFG) is gratefully acknowledged (SE 1859/1-1 and SE 1859/1-2).
Perception of emotional events influences pain processing of simultaneously presented painful stimuli. Our current studies include, among other stimuli, the presentation of needles pricking a hand clips.