认知与发展心理学研究室知识库

共情指个体对他人心理状态的敏感性，是社会互动中的重要能力，有利于个体生存。疼痛共情是共情中的一种，指个体对他人所遭受疼痛的感同身受。在前人研究中，人类的疼痛共情通常通过量表、行为范式和脑活动记录等方式予以评估，而动物的疼痛共情通常借由疼痛敏感性的变化来衡量。动物共情测量策略的潜在前提是：疼痛敏感性与疼痛共情高度相关。尽管一些行为学和脑影像学研究发现疼痛敏感性和疼痛共情存在共变关系，但疼痛敏感性和疼痛共情如何相互关联尚不清楚。本研究旨在通过三个相互关联的实验探究健康个体疼痛敏感性和疼痛共情的关系及其影响因素。

实验一考察个体的疼痛敏感性与特质共情的关系，以及疼痛相关心理因素在其中的作用。196名被试完成了量表和冷压痛测试。不同量表分别测量了被试的特质共情、疼痛焦虑、抑郁、疼痛灾难化和疼痛恐惧；冷压痛测试中的疼痛阈限和疼痛耐受反映了被试的疼痛敏感性。结果发现疼痛敏感性与共情关注和个人痛苦分数均正相关，而且疼痛焦虑、疼痛灾难化和疼痛恐惧在疼痛敏感性与情绪共情的关系中起中介作用，提示疼痛敏感性越高的个体情绪共情越强，而且疼痛焦虑、疼痛灾难化和疼痛恐惧介导了两者的关系。

实验二考察个体的疼痛敏感性与状态性疼痛共情的关系，以及疼痛相关心理因素在其中的作用。50名被试完成了疼痛相关量表、冷压痛测试和疼痛共情脑电任务。被试在疼痛共情任务中对疼痛图片和非疼图片的疼痛强度、不愉悦度评分，以及事件相关电位波幅的差异反映了其疼痛共情。结果发现疼痛敏感性与疼痛共情任务中的疼痛强度、不愉悦度评分，以及P3、LPP成分的波幅均正相关；而且，疼痛恐惧在疼痛敏感性和疼痛共情脑电响应的关系中起中介作用，表明疼痛敏感性越高的个体疼痛共情越强，而且疼痛恐惧介导了两者的关系。

实验三考察疼痛共情对自身疼痛感知的影响并检验其是否具有模态特异性。38名被试完成了疼痛共情影响感知的脑电实验。该实验以疼痛或非疼图片为启动刺激，以高、低强度的痛觉或听觉刺激为靶刺激，被试需要对靶刺激的强度、不愉悦度和新异性评分。行为结果发现疼痛共情启动提高了被试对高、低强度痛觉刺激，以及高强度听觉刺激的强度评分，但对低强度听觉刺激的强度评分无显著影响；疼痛共情启动还提高了被试对高、低强度刺激的不愉悦度和新异性评分。脑电结果发现疼痛共情启动提高了痛觉相关N2成分的波幅，但对听觉相关N2和P2成分以及痛觉相关N1和P2成分的波幅无显著影响。这些结果说明疼痛共情对后续疼痛和听觉感知均有增强作用，且对疼痛感知的增强作用有一定特异性。

本研究系统地从行为学和电生理层面考察了疼痛敏感性和疼痛共情的关系及其影响因素，发现疼痛敏感性越高的健康个体疼痛共情越强，这可能是因为对自身疼痛和他人疼痛的加工涉及类似的心理表征，这些表征在一定程度上是疼痛模态所特有的。这些结果揭示了疼痛敏感性与疼痛共情的心理联系，支持了共情的共享表征模型，为利用疼痛敏感性量化疼痛共情提供了重要参考。

Empathy refers to one’s sensitivity to others’ mental state. It is an essential ability in social interaction and is conducive to individual survival. As a subgroup of empathy, empathy for pain refers to one’s empathy for the person in pain. In previous studies, empathy for pain in humans is usually assessed by well-validated questionnaires, behavioral paradigms, and brain activity recordings, whereas empathy for pain in animals is typically measured by modulation of pain sensitivity. The underlying premise of the measurement strategy for animal empathy is that pain sensitivity is highly correlated with empathy for pain. Although some behavioral and neuroimaging studies have supported the covariant relationship between pain sensitivity and empathy for pain, it is still unclear how pain sensitivity and empathy for pain are related. The purpose of this study was to investigate the detailed relationship between pain sensitivity and empathy for pain and its influence factors in healthy participants through three interrelated experiments.

Experiment 1 investigated the relationship between individual pain sensitivity and trait empathy, as well as the role of pain-related psychological factors in this relationship. One hundred and ninety-six participants completed questionnaires developed to assess trait empathy, pain-related anxiety, depression, pain catastrophizing, and pain-related fear, and performed a cold pressor test that assesses pain sensitivity by pain threshold and pain tolerance. The results showed that pain sensitivity was positively correlated with empathic concern and personal distress scores; the relationship between pain sensitivity and emotional empathy was mediated by pain-related anxiety, pain catastrophizing, and pain-related fear. These findings suggest that individuals with higher pain sensitivity have stronger emotional empathy, and pain-related anxiety, pain catastrophizing, and pain-related fear play a mediating role in it.

Experiment 2 examined the relationship between individual pain sensitivity and state empathy for pain, as well as the role of pain-related psychological factors in this relationship. Fifty participants completed pain-related questionnaires, the cold pressor test, and an empathy for pain task with their brain activity recorded by electroencephalography (EEG). Participants’ empathy for pain was quantified via differences in subjective ratings and event-related potentials (ERPs) amplitudes between painful and non-painful conditions in the empathy for pain task. The results showed that pain sensitivity was positively correlated with pain intensity ratings, unpleasantness ratings, and amplitudes of empathic P3 component and the late positive potential; the relationship between pain sensitivity and empathic ERP responses was mediated by pain-related fear. These findings suggest that individuals with higher pain sensitivity have stronger empathy for pain, and pain-related fear plays a mediating role in it.

Experiment 3 explored the effect of empathy for pain on self-pain perception and examined whether the effect is modality-specific. Thirty-eight participants completed an EEG experiment in which painful or non-painful pictures were presented as prime stimuli, and painful or auditory stimuli were delivered as target stimuli. Participants were required to rate the intensity, unpleasantness, and salience of the target stimulus. The behavioral results showed that empathy for pain increased intensity ratings of high-intensity and low-intensity painful stimuli, as well as high-intensity auditory stimuli, while its effect on intensity ratings of low-intensity auditory stimuli was not significant. Besides, empathy for pain increased unpleasantness and salience ratings of high-intensity and low-intensity stimuli. The EEG results showed that while empathy for pain exaggerated the amplitude of laser-evoked N2 component, it had no significant effect on the amplitudes of auditory-related N2 and P2 components as well as laser-evoked N1 and P2 components. These findings suggest that empathy for pain has enhancement effects on both subsequent pain and auditory perception, and the enhancement effect on pain perception is specific to some extent.

This study systematically investigated the relationship between pain sensitivity and empathy for pain and its influence factors at both behavioral and electrophysiological levels. Healthy individuals with higher pain sensitivity show stronger empathy for pain, which can be explained by the involvement of similar psychological representations in the processing of self-pain and others’ pain. These representations are, to a certain extent, specific to the pain modality. These findings reveal the psychological connections between pain sensitivity and empathy for pain, support the shared-representation model of empathy, and provide important insights into using pain sensitivity to quantify empathy for pain.