Brain 'hot spot' may explain why African Americans feel greater pain

Contrary to centuries-long false beliefs that African Americans are less sensitive to pain, new research suggests that they are actually more sensitive and that it may be driven by their exposure to discrimination. Scientists subjected a small group of African Americans, Latinxs, and non-Hispanic white individuals to a pain test, measuring their brain responses with functional MRI. Although the basic brain signature of pain looked the same in the volunteers, African Americans (especially those who reported more instances of discrimination) said the pain felt more intense or more unpleasant. In these people, a part of the brain that evaluates such aspects of pain as how long it might last and why it's occurring was also more active. The finding could have implications for how physicians — especially those who are not African American — interpret and treat pain in African American patients.