Cognitive shifts in pain perception under moral enhancement conditions: Evidence from an EEG study

IF 2.2 3区心理学 Q3 NEUROSCIENCES

Brain and Cognition Pub Date : 2025-02-21 DOI:10.1016/j.bandc.2025.106273

He Wang , Yifei Zhong , Shuyu Jia , Yujia Meng , Xiaohua Bian , XiuJun Zhang , Yingjie Liu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In social life, empathy and morality are often viewed as inseparable and mutually reinforcing. Pain empathy is a key form of empathy, and understanding how social moral factors affect pain empathy is an important challenge. This study uses various EEG analysis methods to explore the cognitive and neural mechanisms by which moral enhancement affects pain empathy. Behavioral results showed significantly higher ratings for painful stimuli compared to non-painful ones. ERP analysis revealed that, under moral enhancement, pain stimuli elicited more negative N1 amplitudes and more positive P3 amplitudes. Time-frequency analysis indicated that moral enhancement inhibited theta band activity in response to painful stimuli. Functional connectivity analysis showed stronger connections in the frontal, right temporal, and occipital regions under moral enhancement and in the frontal, right temporal, and parietal regions when viewing painful stimuli. Additionally, machine learning results indicated that functional connections between the right temporal and parietal regions have significant negative predictive power for moral enhancement during painful stimuli. This study reveals the complex effects of moral enhancement on pain-related stimuli, demonstrating that it not only increases adaptability to pain but also enhances moral judgment, offering new insights into the interaction between moral cognition and emotional responses with significant theoretical and practical implications.

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道德增强条件下疼痛感知的认知转变：来自脑电图研究的证据

在社会生活中，同理心和道德常常被认为是不可分割、相辅相成的。疼痛共情是共情的一种重要形式，理解社会道德因素如何影响疼痛共情是一个重要的挑战。本研究采用多种脑电图分析方法，探讨道德增强影响疼痛共情的认知和神经机制。行为学结果显示，与非疼痛刺激相比，疼痛刺激的评分明显更高。ERP分析显示，在道德增强条件下，疼痛刺激诱发更多的负N1波幅和正P3波幅。时间-频率分析表明，道德增强抑制了疼痛刺激下的θ波活动。功能连通性分析显示，在道德增强时，大脑额叶、右颞叶和枕叶区域的连接更强；在观看痛苦刺激时，大脑额叶、右颞叶和顶叶区域的连接更强。此外，机器学习结果表明，在痛苦刺激期间，右颞叶和顶叶区域之间的功能连接对道德增强具有显著的负预测能力。本研究揭示了道德增强对疼痛相关刺激的复杂影响，表明道德增强不仅增强了对疼痛的适应性，而且增强了道德判断，为道德认知与情绪反应的相互作用提供了新的见解，具有重要的理论和实践意义。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Brain and Cognition 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： Brain and Cognition is a forum for the integration of the neurosciences and cognitive sciences. B&C publishes peer-reviewed research articles, theoretical papers, case histories that address important theoretical issues, and historical articles into the interaction between cognitive function and brain processes. The focus is on rigorous studies of an empirical or theoretical nature and which make an original contribution to our knowledge about the involvement of the nervous system in cognition. Coverage includes, but is not limited to memory, learning, emotion, perception, movement, music or praxis in relationship to brain structure or function. Published articles will typically address issues relating some aspect of cognitive function to its neurological substrates with clear theoretical import, formulating new hypotheses or refuting previously established hypotheses. Clinical papers are welcome if they raise issues of theoretical importance or concern and shed light on the interaction between brain function and cognitive function. We welcome review articles that clearly contribute a new perspective or integration, beyond summarizing the literature in the field; authors of review articles should make explicit where the contribution lies. We also welcome proposals for special issues on aspects of the relation between cognition and the structure and function of the nervous system. Such proposals can be made directly to the Editor-in-Chief from individuals interested in being guest editors for such collections.