STRESSED INFANTS FEEL, BUT DON’T SHOW, MORE PAIN
Stressed infants have increased pain brain activity, but this stress was not linked with their behavior, researchers found. Infants with high levels of stress exhibited larger “amplitude cortical nociceptor responses”, or responses to pain, but it was not correlated with “nociceptive behavior,” or behavior exhibiting pain, as measured by brain activity and facial expressions, reported […]
INFANTS PROCESS PAIN IN THEIR BRAINS IN DIFFERENT WAYS BASED ON AGE
Relying on behavioral indicators, such as crying, to assess pain in infants underestimates how much pain babies actually feel when they undergo stressful medical procedures. This has long-term implications on brain development and impacts future adult pain sensitivity, according to a British neurobiologist speaking at the American Pain Society Scientific Summit. “Infants respond to noxious […]
UNDER STRESS, NEWBORN BABIES SHOW GREATER BRAIN RESPONSE TO PAIN
When newborn babies are under stress, their brains show a heightened response to pain, a new study has found. However, you’d never know it from the way those infants act. The findings reported in Current Biology on November 30 show that stress leads to an apparent disconnect between babies’ brain activity and their behavior. “When […]
Study Shows Pain Management in Premature Infants Linked to Impaired Brain Development
Morphine is commonly used to manage premature babies’ pain. It is linked to a negative condition in the brain; decreased growth in the cerebellum, which results in both physical and mental impairments. A study by the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Canada with the University of British Columbia showed the connection. The alternatives—using another […]
Pain is Overlooked in Premature Infants
Premature infants receiving intensive care are exposed to a great deal of pain, and this pain causes damage to the child. In spite of this, half of the infants admitted to neonatal intensive units will not receive any pain relief, according to a new European study published today in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Mats Eriksson, […]
Babies Feel Pain as Sharply as Adults
A new discovery overturns current consensus in the medical community holding that babies have such a small brain that it is not developed enough to feel pain. Based on this premise, newborns go without painkillers, even during invasive procedures. Oxford University doctors suggest that not only do babies feel pain, but they have a lower […]