Emotional facial expressions modulate pain-induced beta and gamma oscillations in sensorimotor cortex.
Standard
Emotional facial expressions modulate pain-induced beta and gamma oscillations in sensorimotor cortex. / Senkowski, Daniel; Kautz, Janine; Hauck, Michael; Zimmermann, Roger; Engel, Andreas K.
In: J NEUROSCI, Vol. 31, No. 41, 41, 2011, p. 14542-14550.Research output: SCORING: Contribution to journal › SCORING: Journal article › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Emotional facial expressions modulate pain-induced beta and gamma oscillations in sensorimotor cortex.
AU - Senkowski, Daniel
AU - Kautz, Janine
AU - Hauck, Michael
AU - Zimmermann, Roger
AU - Engel, Andreas K.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Painful events in our environment are often accompanied by stimuli from other sensory modalities. These stimuli may influence the perception and processing of acute pain, in particular when they comprise emotional cues, like facial expressions of people surrounding us. In this whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) study, we examined the neuronal mechanisms underlying the influence of emotional (fearful, angry, or happy) compared to neutral facial expressions on the processing of pain in humans. Independent of their valence, subjective pain ratings for intracutaneous inputs were higher when pain stimuli were presented together with emotional facial expressions than when they were presented with a neutral facial expression. Source reconstruction using linear beamforming revealed pain-induced early (70-270 ms) oscillatory beta-band activity (BBA; 15-25 Hz) and gamma-band activity (GBA; 60-80 Hz) in the sensorimotor cortex. The presentation of faces with emotional expressions compared to faces with neutral expressions led to a stronger bilateral suppression of the pain-induced BBA, possibly reflecting enhanced response readiness of the sensorimotor system. Moreover, pain-induced GBA in the sensorimotor cortex was larger for faces expressing fear than for faces expressing anger, which might reflect the facilitation of avoidance-motivated behavior triggered by the concurrent presentation of faces with fearful expressions and painful stimuli. Thus, the presence of emotional cues, like facial expressions from people surrounding us, while receiving acute pain may facilitate neuronal processes involved in the preparation and execution of adequate protective motor responses.
AB - Painful events in our environment are often accompanied by stimuli from other sensory modalities. These stimuli may influence the perception and processing of acute pain, in particular when they comprise emotional cues, like facial expressions of people surrounding us. In this whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) study, we examined the neuronal mechanisms underlying the influence of emotional (fearful, angry, or happy) compared to neutral facial expressions on the processing of pain in humans. Independent of their valence, subjective pain ratings for intracutaneous inputs were higher when pain stimuli were presented together with emotional facial expressions than when they were presented with a neutral facial expression. Source reconstruction using linear beamforming revealed pain-induced early (70-270 ms) oscillatory beta-band activity (BBA; 15-25 Hz) and gamma-band activity (GBA; 60-80 Hz) in the sensorimotor cortex. The presentation of faces with emotional expressions compared to faces with neutral expressions led to a stronger bilateral suppression of the pain-induced BBA, possibly reflecting enhanced response readiness of the sensorimotor system. Moreover, pain-induced GBA in the sensorimotor cortex was larger for faces expressing fear than for faces expressing anger, which might reflect the facilitation of avoidance-motivated behavior triggered by the concurrent presentation of faces with fearful expressions and painful stimuli. Thus, the presence of emotional cues, like facial expressions from people surrounding us, while receiving acute pain may facilitate neuronal processes involved in the preparation and execution of adequate protective motor responses.
KW - Adult
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Female
KW - Young Adult
KW - Pain Measurement
KW - Time Factors
KW - Electroencephalography
KW - Brain Mapping
KW - Biological Clocks/physiology
KW - Brain Waves/physiology
KW - Cerebral Cortex/physiopathology
KW - Emotions
KW - Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory/physiology
KW - Facial Expression
KW - Magnetoencephalography
KW - Pain/pathology
KW - Spectrum Analysis
KW - Adult
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Female
KW - Young Adult
KW - Pain Measurement
KW - Time Factors
KW - Electroencephalography
KW - Brain Mapping
KW - Biological Clocks/physiology
KW - Brain Waves/physiology
KW - Cerebral Cortex/physiopathology
KW - Emotions
KW - Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory/physiology
KW - Facial Expression
KW - Magnetoencephalography
KW - Pain/pathology
KW - Spectrum Analysis
M3 - SCORING: Journal article
VL - 31
SP - 14542
EP - 14550
JO - J NEUROSCI
JF - J NEUROSCI
SN - 0270-6474
IS - 41
M1 - 41
ER -