Effects of childhood adversity on socially learned placebo analgesia in virtual reality: A cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: Early life adversity (ELA), indexed through Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), is associated with long-term alterations in emotion regulation, stress responsivity, and social learning-factors that may shape learned pain modulation. Social observation in immersive virtual environments offers a powerful way to investigate these mechanisms. To examine whether ELA influences social observation-induced placebo analgesia and empathy responses in immersive and non-immersive contexts. Adults with self-reported low versus high ACE exposure completed an observational learning task in immersive virtual reality (VR) or a non-immersive format. Participants observed Human or Avatar demonstrators experiencing pain relief and then underwent self-pain testing. Measures included socially induced placebo

SUBMITTER: Watson L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12704645 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature