Brain pathways of pain empathy activated by pained facial expressions: a meta-analysis of fMRI using the activation likelihood estimation method

• Published in: Neural regeneration research Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 172 - 178
• Main Authors: Xiong, Ruo-Chu, Fu, Xin, Wu, Li-Zhen, Zhang, Cheng-Han, Wu, Hong-Xiang, Shi, Yu, Wu, Wen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01.01.2019; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Clinical Medicine, First Clinical Medicine School, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China%Department of Rehabilitation Мedicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Мedical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Analysis; Brain research; Coordinate transformations; Data analysis; Emotions; Empathy; Facial expression; Magnetic resonance imaging; Meta-analysis; Methods; nerve regeneration; facial expression; pain empathy; functional magnetic resonance imaging; GringleALE; activation likelihood estimation; brain function imaging; anterior cingulate cortex; anterior central gyrus; fusiform gyrus; insula; neural regeneration; Pain; Paradigms; Software; Systematic review; fusiform gyrus; facial expression; neural regeneration; anterior central gyrus; pain empathy; brain function imaging; nerve regeneration; activation likelihood estimation; insula; GringleALE; anterior cingulate cortex; functional magnetic resonance imaging
• ISSN: 1673-5374; 1876-7958
• DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.243722

Objective: The objective of this study is to summarize and analyze the brain signal patterns of empathy for pain caused by facial expressions of pain utilizing activation likelihood estimation, a meta-analysis method. Data Sources: Studies concerning the brain mechanism were searched from the Science Citation Index, Science Direct, PubMed, DeepDyve, Cochrane Library, SinoMed, Wanfang, VIP, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and other databases, such as SpringerLink, AMA, Science Online, Wiley Online, were collected. A time limitation of up to 13 December 2016 was applied to this study. Data Selection: Studies presenting with all of the following criteria were considered for study inclusion: Use of functional magnetic resonance imaging, neutral and pained facial expression stimuli, involvement of adult healthy human participants over 18 years of age, whose empathy ability showed no difference from the healthy adult, a painless basic state, results presented in Talairach or Montreal Neurological Institute coordinates, multiple studies by the same team as long as they used different raw data. Outcome Measures: Activation likelihood estimation was used to calculate the combined main activated brain regions under the stimulation of pained facial expression. Results: Eight studies were included, containing 178 subjects. Meta-analysis results suggested that the anterior cingulate cortex (BA32), anterior central gyrus (BA44), fusiform gyrus, and insula (BA13) were activated positively as major brain areas under the stimulation of pained facial expression. Conclusion: Our study shows that pained facial expression alone, without viewing of painful stimuli, activated brain regions related to pain empathy, further contributing to revealing the brain's mechanisms of pain empathy.