The Social Modulation of Pain: Others as Predictive Signals of Salience – a Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
Several studies in cognitive neuroscience have investigated the cognitive and affective modulation of pain. By contrast, fewer studies have focused on the social modulation of pain, despite a plethora of relevant clinical findings. Here we present the first review of experimental studies addressing how interpersonal factors, such as the presence, behavior, and spatial proximity of an observer, modulate pain. Based on a systematic literature search, we identified 26 studies on experimentally induced pain that manipulated different interpersonal variables and measured behavioral, physiological, and neural pain-related responses. We observed that the modulation of pain by interpersonal factors depended on (1) the degree to which the social partners were active or were perceived by the participants to possess possibility for action; (2) the degree to which participants could perceive the specific intentions of the social partners; (3) the type of pre-existing relationship between the social partner and the person in pain, and lastly, (4) individual differences in relating to others and coping styles. Based on these findings, we propose that the modulation of pain by social factors can be fruitfully understood in relation to a recent predictive coding model, the free energy framework, particularly as applied to interoception and social cognition. Specifically, we argue that interpersonal interactions during pain may function as social, predictive signals of contextual threat or safety and as such influence the salience of noxious stimuli. The perception of such interpersonal interactions may in turn depend on (a) prior beliefs about interpersonal relating and (b) the certainty or precision by which an interpersonal interaction may predict environmental threat or safety.
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Social interactions may reduce pain unpleasantness by decreasing the salience of noxious stimuli.
“Accordingly, social interactions may serve as a calm model (Brown et al., 2003) and may reduce the unpleasantness of pain by diminishing the salience of noxious stimuli (Krahe, Springer, Weinman, & Fotopoulou, 2013).”
From Oxytocin enhances the pain‐relieving effects of social support in romantic couples (2019) · cites this paper as Krahe, Springer, Weinman, & Fotopoulou, 2013
Pain, aversive response, and negative affect are very tightly linked.
“Thus, pain, aversive response, and negative affect are very tightly linked (Krahé et al., 2013; Klein, 2015; Gogolla, 2017; Von Mohr and Fotopoulou, 2018; Gehrlach et al., 2019).”
From Pain Asymbolia as Depersonalization for Pain Experience. An Interoceptive Active Inference Account (2020) · cites this paper as Krahé et al., 2013
Social factors, such as the supportive presence of others, have been shown to modulate the experience of pain.
“Social factors, such as the supportive presence of others, have been shown to modulate the experience of pain 82.”
From The Analgesic Effect of Oxytocin in Humans: A Double‐Blind, Placebo‐Controlled Cross‐Over Study Using Laser‐Evoked Potentials (2016) · cites this paper as [82]
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Placebo Analgesia: A Predictive Coding Perspective
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- Authors
- Krahé, C., Springer, A., Weinman, J. A., & Fotopoulou, A.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- University of Potsdam (DE)
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Fotopoulou, Aikaterini
- Venue
- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2013
- Volume
- 7
- Pages
- 386-386
- ISSN
- 1662-5161 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3719078
- OpenAlex
- W2133333909
- Cited by
- 245
- References
- 141
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 1.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- publish.UP (University of Potsdam) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Hope for Depression Research Foundation
- Volkswagen Foundation
- Institute for the Study of Affective Neuroscience
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Keywords
- observer presence, observer behavior, spatial proximity, predictive coding, free energy principle, interoception, social cognition, relationship type, coping styles, experimental pain
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