Babies Feel Pain The Same Way That Adults Do

New findings published in the journal eLife show how babies experience pain in the same way that adults do. In fact, scientists found that babies' brains actually "lit up" in the same way that adults do when they are exposed to the same painful stimulants.

Researchers examined 10 healthy infants between the ages of one and six days old, along with 10 healthy adults between 23 and 36. All participants were placed in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner, many of whom fell asleep. Scans were taken of the reaction of their brains to certain stimulus that resulted in pain but was mild enough that it kept them from waking.

Findings revealed that 18 of the 20 brain regions active in adults experiencing pain were also active in the infant brains. Furthermore, the study results suggested that babies experienced pain in the same way as adults, but just at a lower threshold.

"This is particularly important when it comes to pain: obviously babies can't tell us about their experience of pain and it is difficult to infer pain from visual observations. In fact some people have argued that babies' brains are not developed enough for them to really 'feel' pain, any reaction being just a reflex -- our study provides the first really strong evidence that this is not the case," said lead study author Rebeccah Slater of Oxford University's Department of Pediatrics, in a news release.

What's particularly troubling about the findings is that many babies in the past who underwent surgeries or painful procedures may not have received any pain medications following. A 2014 review of neonatal pain management even suggests that infants in intensive care undergo an average of 11 painful procedures a day, with as many as 60 percent not receiving any kind of pain medication.

"Recent studies in adults have shown that it is possible to detect a neurological signature of pain using MRI. In the future we hope to develop similar systems to detect the 'pain signature' in babies' brains: this could enable us to test different pain relief treatments and see what would be most effective for this vulnerable population who can't speak for themselves," Slater concluded.