Open AccessProbing the role of the right inferior frontal gyrus during Pain‐Related empathy processing: Evidence from fMRI and TMS
Author(s) -
Li Yun,
Li Wenjuan,
Zhang Tingting,
Zhang Junjun,
Jin Zhenlan,
Li Ling
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.25310
Subject(s) - empathy , psychology , functional magnetic resonance imaging , transcranial magnetic stimulation , audiology , inferior frontal gyrus , neuroscience , brain mapping , medicine , psychiatry , stimulation
Recent studies have suggested that the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) may be involved in pain‐related empathy. To verify the role of the rIFG, we performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment to replicate previous research and further designed a noninvasive repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) experiment to probe the causal role of the rIFG in pain‐related empathy processing. We assigned 74 volunteers (37 females) to three groups. Group 1 ( n = 26) performed a task in which participants were required to perceive pain in others (task of pain: TP) and we used fMRI to observe the activity of the rIFG during pain‐related empathy processing. Then, we applied online rTMS to the rIFG and the vertex site (as reference site) to observe the performance of Group 2 ( n = 24; performing TP) and Group 3 ( n = 24; performing a control task of identifying body parts; task of body: TB). fMRI experiment demonstrated stronger activation in the rIFG than in the vertex during the perception of pain in others ( p < .0001, Bonferroni‐corrected). rTMS experiment indicated that when the rIFG was temporarily disrupted, participants perceived pain in others significantly more slowly ( p < .0001, Bonferroni‐corrected) than when the vertex was disrupted. Our results provide evidence that the rIFG is involved in pain‐related empathy processing, which yields insights into how the brain perceives pain in others.