Paper Info
Title
Neural dynamics of pain expression processing: Alpha-band synchronization to same-race pain but desynchronization to other-race pain
Abstract
Both electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have revealed enhanced neural responses to perceived pain in same-race than other-race individuals. However, it remains unclear how neural responses in the sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective subsystems vary dynamically in the first few hundreds of milliseconds to generate racial ingroup favoritism in empathy for pain. We recorded magnetoencephalography signals to pain and neutral expressions of Asian and white faces from Chinese adults during judgments of racial identity of each face. We found that pain compared to neutral expressions of same-race faces induced early increased alpha oscillations in the precuneus/parietal cortices followed by increased alpha-band oscillations in the left anterior insula and temporoparietal junction. Pain compared to neutral expressions of other-race faces, however, induced early suppression of alpha-band oscillations in the bilateral sensorimotor cortices and left insular cortex. Moreover, decreased functional connectivity between the left sensorimotor cortex and left anterior insula predicted reduced subjective feelings of other-race suffering. Our results unraveled distinct patterns of modulations of neural dynamics of sensorimotor, affective, and cognitive components of empathy by interracial relationships between an observer and a target person, which provide possible brain mechanisms for understanding racial ingroup favoritism in social behavior.
Year
DOI
Venue
2021
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117400
NeuroImage
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Empathy,MEG,Alpha oscillation,Race, Pain expression
Journal
224
ISSN
Citations 
PageRank 
1053-8119
0
0.34
References 
Authors
10
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Yuqing Zhou100.34
Shihui Han213218.96