Pharmacological fMRI provides evidence for opioidergic modulation of discrimination of facial pain expressions.

ABSTRACT: The endogenous opioid system is strongly involved in the modulation of pain. However, the potential role of this system in perceiving painful facial expressions from others has not been sufficiently explored as of yet. To elucidate the contribution of the opioid system to the perception of painful facial expressions, we conducted a double-blind, within-subjects pharmacological functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, in which 42 participants engaged in an emotion discrimination task (pain vs. disgust expressions) in two experimental sessions, receiving either the opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone or an inert substance (placebo). On the behavioral level, participants less frequently judged an expression as pain under naltrexone as compared to placebo. On the neural level, par

SUBMITTER: Zhao Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7816233 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature