Researchers in the U.K. find that watching someone scratch himself can activation the same neural regions associated with the physical perception of an itch. The authors speculate that “habitual activation of this central “itch matrix” may give rise to psychogenic itch disorders.” Results appeared online yesterday in Proceedings of the National Association of Science.
Abstract → Note from Kermit Cole, “In the News” editor:
This article simply reminded me of some of the reasons that the experience of encountering another’s pain, whether physical or psychological, is both a challenge and an opportunity, as well as central to the full experience of being human.
