EVERYONE doesn ’ t feel the pain

Neil Pearson wrote an inspirational and informative comment from a soldier on the front lines of pain therapy about my last entry [which described another neurological confirmation of an empathetic response actually engaging the pain centers of the brain, when a subject witnessed realistic (fake) videos of inflicted pain]. If pain is an issue for you, I encourage you to read his comment. I forgot to mention something important in my brief report. Beyond stoicism, perhaps not so very far in distance, is the psychopath whose brain simply does not respond to witnessing pain. A number of studies have now shown that the brains of such individuals just don’t respond with normal activation patterns reflecting felt pain and empathy, when they witness even horrific pain or suffering incurred by others. Their brain just doesn’t CARE. Sensitivity to pain, and its ability to dominate a person’s thoughts and behaviors, is a highly variable resource. I first learned this as a young boy 7 or 8 years of age, when my mom and dad decided that my older brother Eddie and me should learn the pugilistic arts so that we could defend ourselves from bullying. Off we went, to the hayloft in the barn of a neighbor with prize-fighting experience, where we learned to jump rope, to rat-a-tat-tat the air bag, and to whack (scarcely moving) the heavy bag. Everything was going well for me at our boxing lessons until our instructor put me into the boxing ring for a one-round match with a lar...
Source: On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Aging and the Brain Brain Fitness Brain Trauma, Injury BrainHQ Cognitive Impairment in Children Posit Science Source Type: blogs