Facial imitation is considered a behavioral indicator of emotional empathy.
This study was the first to study the association between facial muscle activity and pain empathy through facial EEG (EMG)
Recording when an observer watches a video depicting the real
Painful events in life
Three visual stimuli were used: Complete pain scene and armonly (
Needle injection)and face only (
Expression of pain)scenes.
The wrinkled eyebrow muscle of enhanced EMG activity (CS)
And big (ZM)
When observers observe others in pain, they find muscles that support a unique expression of pain that is different from the expression of basic emotions.
Under the condition of complete video stimulation, CS activity and empathy focus scores were positively correlated with ZM activity, suggesting that facial imitation mediated empathy for pain.
Cluster analysis of facial EMG responses revealed significantly different patterns between stimulus types, including reaction categories, ratios, and time dynamics, indicating that compared to partial scenarios, complete scenes have greater ecological effectiveness in triggering painful empathy.
This study was the first to quantitatively describe pain empathy from facial EMG data.
This may provide important evidence for facial imitation as a behavioral indicator of pain empathy.
A total of 170 participants participated in the study. Fifty-one subjects (
15 males and 36 females; mean age 21. 57u2009±u20092. 17 years)
Recruited to generate empathy
In the video, they act as empathetic targets and are stimulated by pain.
50 other subjects (
24 males and 26 females; mean age 23. 04u2009±u20092. 06 years)
Recruited to assess the emotional efficacy and attractiveness of the faces described in the video.
The remaining 69 subjects (
23 males and 46 females; mean age 21. 05u2009±u20092. 02 years)
Participated in the formal experiment.
All subjects are Chinese graduate or undergraduate students from neighboring universities.
Normal or correctedto-
Normal vision, no current or previous medical history of chronic pain or neurological or mental illness (self-reported).
All participants provide written informed consent prior to participation and receive monetary rewards after the experiment.
The study was approved by the research ethics committee of the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Recorded and edited a video clip of everyone accepting pain needles.
Subjects were asked to wear lights before recording
Color clothes and face without makeup, push the hair back from the forehead.
People with a history of heart disease or needle phobia are excluded for health reasons.
Each subject received. 1-
Injection of normal saline ml into skin (NS)
Through the left forearm 27-
More than 15 seconds of gauge
Shoot video clips from the front using a digital color camera (LEGRIA HF R18; Canon Inc. , Tokyo, Japan)
Subjects are seated.
5 m away, the left arm extends out and holds the right hand.
Subjects were instructed to pay attention to the injection and express their emotions through facial reactions.
The entire recording process lasted about 1 minute, including before recording
Baseline injection, Q-
Tip and NS injection.
After the recording, the subjects were asked to evaluate the intensity and unpleasant degree of their pain experience on the visual analog scale, with 0 indicating "no pain" and 10 indicating "the most severe pain imaginable ".
A total of 51 video clips (
Full version, 1440 pixel for 1080 pixel)were produced.
Due to individual differences in pain sensitivity and responsiveness, only 19 of 51 subjects (seven men)
A clear facial expression showing pain (
Expressed according to the "core" of the concept of pain;
The remaining 32 subjects had neutral expression during the injection.
Therefore, video clips are divided into two groups to reflect pain (=u200919)and no pain (=u200932)
, Description of subjects injected and touched by Q
Prompt separately.
Using Windows filmmaker 12 (Microsoft Inc.
Seattle, Washington, USA)
And trim to the required length (
Pain Video 15 s, no video 7 spain videos).
Pain and no
The pain video was further divided into two groups for a shorter period of time
Parallel clip (
854 u2009 × u2009 480 pixel each)
Only facial and injection or Q-
Use the crop tool in the Leawo Video Converter software to touch the forearm separately (Leawo Inc.
Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China). Using a seven-
The scale range of Likert is 1 (
Very unattractive)to 7 (Very attractive)
, 50 participants rated the attractiveness of each target face after watching the faceonly videos.
After matching according to age, gender, length of education and facial attractiveness, 10 pain and 10 No. pain videos (
Each group depicts four men and six women)
Was selected as a stimulus for the formal experiment ().
8 out of 20 armsonly clips (
Four pain, four painless)
Used as a stimulus because the arm is less recognizable than the face and repeated presentation can lead to habits.
So the last complete set of video clips and faces-
Only fragments from 20 target objects and arms
Fragments of only 8 target objects (see ). Sixty-
Nine subjects were randomly assigned to Group (
Full scene stimulation)and B (face-only and arm-only stimuli).
The whole process is described in.
The attendees sat in a voice-
Attenuation and temperature-controlled (22–24°C)room.
After providing informed consent, they were instructed on the task.
Measure physiological signals using Biopac MP150 equipment (
Biopac Systems Inc.
Santa Barbara, California, USA).
Electrodes are attached after cleaning the site (
Facial muscles and fingers)
Cotton swab with alcohol
During the course of the experiment, participants were asked to minimize physical movement.
Display task instructions and video stimuli on the projection screen (60u2009×u200970u2009cm)
It is located in front of the participants about 2 CUCM.
The production and presentation of stimuli, as well as the recording of reactions, are electronically controlled by the use of personal computers. Prime Software (version 2. 0;
Tools for psychology
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA).
Participants in Group A conducted 10 trials in two groups (
Five pain, five No.
Pain stimulation, presented in random order).
The participants in Group B made three blocks: Two face Video blocks (
10 times per trial, 5 pain, 5 no
Pain stimulation in random order)
Inserted by a single arm video block (
Eight trials, four pains, four No.
Pain stimulation in random order).
The interval between blocks is 1 min.
Prior to the start of the experiment and after the presentation instructions, the participants completed four practice trials to familiarize themselves with the task.
Each trial starts with a red fixed Cross displayed in the center of the screen for a duration of 500 ms.
The video clip, which then shows, can ask for the degree of pain on the target and his/her own adverse reactions once.
From "not at all" to "very" point scale.
"Subjects received an unlimited amount of time to complete the rating, but most completed the rating within
