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To respond or not to respond: exploring empathy-related psychological and structural brain differences between placebo analgesia responders and non-responders

INTRODUCTION: Placebo responsiveness is highly variable across individuals. In the domain of pain, it may range from pronounced hypoalgesia to no response at all. Which factors predict such variation awaits clarification, as the available literature is characterized by mixed and inconclusive results...

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Autores principales: Hartmann, Helena, Banwinkler, Magdalena, Riva, Federica, Lamm, Claus
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10577216/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37849473
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1257522
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author Hartmann, Helena
Banwinkler, Magdalena
Riva, Federica
Lamm, Claus
author_facet Hartmann, Helena
Banwinkler, Magdalena
Riva, Federica
Lamm, Claus
author_sort Hartmann, Helena
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Placebo responsiveness is highly variable across individuals. In the domain of pain, it may range from pronounced hypoalgesia to no response at all. Which factors predict such variation awaits clarification, as the available literature is characterized by mixed and inconclusive results. Particularly interesting in this case are social factors such as empathy or prosocial behavior, as prior work has stressed the connection between feeling pain yourself and empathizing with pain observed in others. METHODS: In a mixed confirmatory and exploratory approach, this study investigated potential psychological and structural brain differences between placebo responders and non-responders in the domain of pain. We aggregated data of four behavioral and neuroimaging studies that had been designed to investigate the effects of placebo analgesia on empathy. RESULTS: Analyses comparing groups of placebo responders and non-responders showed significant group differences in trait characteristics, with responders reporting increased helping behavior and lower psychopathic traits compared to non-responders. Uncorrected results further showed higher pain-related empathic concern in responders vs. non-responders. These results were accompaniedby tentative group differences in brain structure: placebo analgesia non-responders exhibited increased gray matter volume in left inferior temporal and parietal supramarginal cortical areas, and an increased cortical surface area in bilateral middle temporal cortex. DISCUSSION: Together, our findings suggest that modifiability of one’s pain perception by means of placebo effects is linked to personality traits characterizing social emotions and behavior. They also hint that these psychological as well as brain structural characteristics might be beneficial for the identification of placebo responders. At the same time, they stress the importance of considering contextual factors such as the study setting or paradigm when investigating the association between individual characteristics and placebo responding.
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spelling pubmed-105772162023-10-17 To respond or not to respond: exploring empathy-related psychological and structural brain differences between placebo analgesia responders and non-responders Hartmann, Helena Banwinkler, Magdalena Riva, Federica Lamm, Claus Front Psychol Psychology INTRODUCTION: Placebo responsiveness is highly variable across individuals. In the domain of pain, it may range from pronounced hypoalgesia to no response at all. Which factors predict such variation awaits clarification, as the available literature is characterized by mixed and inconclusive results. Particularly interesting in this case are social factors such as empathy or prosocial behavior, as prior work has stressed the connection between feeling pain yourself and empathizing with pain observed in others. METHODS: In a mixed confirmatory and exploratory approach, this study investigated potential psychological and structural brain differences between placebo responders and non-responders in the domain of pain. We aggregated data of four behavioral and neuroimaging studies that had been designed to investigate the effects of placebo analgesia on empathy. RESULTS: Analyses comparing groups of placebo responders and non-responders showed significant group differences in trait characteristics, with responders reporting increased helping behavior and lower psychopathic traits compared to non-responders. Uncorrected results further showed higher pain-related empathic concern in responders vs. non-responders. These results were accompaniedby tentative group differences in brain structure: placebo analgesia non-responders exhibited increased gray matter volume in left inferior temporal and parietal supramarginal cortical areas, and an increased cortical surface area in bilateral middle temporal cortex. DISCUSSION: Together, our findings suggest that modifiability of one’s pain perception by means of placebo effects is linked to personality traits characterizing social emotions and behavior. They also hint that these psychological as well as brain structural characteristics might be beneficial for the identification of placebo responders. At the same time, they stress the importance of considering contextual factors such as the study setting or paradigm when investigating the association between individual characteristics and placebo responding. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-10-02 /pmc/articles/PMC10577216/ /pubmed/37849473 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1257522 Text en Copyright © 2023 Hartmann, Banwinkler, Riva and Lamm. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Hartmann, Helena
Banwinkler, Magdalena
Riva, Federica
Lamm, Claus
To respond or not to respond: exploring empathy-related psychological and structural brain differences between placebo analgesia responders and non-responders
title To respond or not to respond: exploring empathy-related psychological and structural brain differences between placebo analgesia responders and non-responders
title_full To respond or not to respond: exploring empathy-related psychological and structural brain differences between placebo analgesia responders and non-responders
title_fullStr To respond or not to respond: exploring empathy-related psychological and structural brain differences between placebo analgesia responders and non-responders
title_full_unstemmed To respond or not to respond: exploring empathy-related psychological and structural brain differences between placebo analgesia responders and non-responders
title_short To respond or not to respond: exploring empathy-related psychological and structural brain differences between placebo analgesia responders and non-responders
title_sort to respond or not to respond: exploring empathy-related psychological and structural brain differences between placebo analgesia responders and non-responders
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10577216/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37849473
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1257522
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