This blog post explores the relationship between mirror neurons and our perception of pain, specifically the current studies linking the two and their limitations.
The Theorized Connection Between Pain and Mirror Neurons
Why do we flinch when we see someone stub their toe, or feel uncomfortable when someone else is in physical distress? It may seem obvious: we wouldn't want to experience that pain ourselves, so seeing someone else experience it can make us uncomfortable, too. In reality, though, the answer is complex and not fully understood. Research suggests that the brain regions involved in processing our own actions and sensations may also become active when we observe others experiencing them. Some researchers believe that the mirror neuron system may contribute to this phenomenon, potentially helping us understand and respond to other people's pain. Mirror neurons are specialized cells in the brain that fire both when we do an action and when we see someone else doing that same action. First discovered in macaque monkeys in the 1990s, they have been theorized to play a role in a variety of cognitive and social processes, including but not limited to learning, empathy, and autism spectrum disorder. Because of their ability to respond to both performing and observing actions, researchers have become interested in whether these neurons might also help explain why we react when we see someone else experiencing pain.
In this blog post, I will be discussing the connections researchers have drawn between mirror neurons and pain. However, it is important to keep in mind that much of this research is still preliminary, and the relationship between mirror neurons and pain is not yet fully understood. Therefore, these findings should be interpreted with caution.
What Does the Research Say?
One of the landmark studies on the relationship between mirror neurons and pain was published in 2019, titled "Emotional Mirror Neurons in the Rat’s Anterior
Cingulate Cortex". In this study, researchers discovered neurons in the rat's anterior cingulate cortex (involved in empathy and pain processing) that became active in two situations: when the rat experienced pain from a heat laser, and when the rat watched another rat receive painful electric shocks. These neurons are called emotional mirror neurons because they respond to both personally experienced and observed emotional states. This suggests that when we witness someone else experiencing pain, our brain may activate some of the same neural representations involved in experiencing pain ourselves. The study also resulted in many other findings, such as that there might be a neurological mechanism behind emotional contagion, the brain appears to use a shared neural code for experiencing and observing pain, and that mirror neurons are more responsive to pain than fear.
While this study revealed many interesting things about mirror neurons and pain, it is important to keep in mind its limitations. The researchers emphasize that activating pain-related mirror neurons does not necessarily mean an animal understands that another individual is suffering. It may simply be experiencing a similar emotional response. Additionally, the study raises interesting questions about whether these mechanisms work similarly in humans. Since the research was conducted in rats, further studies are needed to determine how directly these findings apply to human pain perception and empathy.
Another more recent review of the relationship between pain and mirror neurons was published January 2026, titled "Mirror Neurons and Pain: A Scoping Review of Experimental, Social, and Clinical Evidence". The aim of this review was to collect all of the current evidence that links mirror neurons and pain. The researchers found that mirror neuron-related mechanisms have been studied not only in relation to pain empathy but also in pain management, particularly through mirror therapy. This therapy has shown potential for reducing pain in individuals with conditions such as phantom limb pain and complex regional pain syndrome. However, the researchers emphasized that it is still unclear whether these benefits are directly caused by mirror neuron activity or by other processes, such as attention, expectations, and visual-sensory integration. Overall, the review suggests that mirror neurons may play a role in how we perceive and respond to pain, but more research is needed to fully understand their involvement.
What Can We Do With These Findings?
The information we have about the relationship between mirror neurons and pain is used in both healthcare and everyday life. For example, mirror therapy and action observation techniques are being used/explored as ways to manage chronic pain, especially phantom limb pain. Furthermore, understanding how we respond to other people's pain may help us become more aware of emotional contagion and the neurological processes involved in empathy. In healthcare settings, these findings may encourage greater attention to how patients respond to others' experiences and how social interactions can influence pain perception. Although more research is needed to establish the specific role of mirror neurons, these findings offer promising possibilities for improving pain management and understanding how we connect with others through shared experiences of pain.
References
Garrison, Kathleen A, et al. “The Mirror Neuron System: A Neural Substrate for Methods in Stroke Rehabilitation.” Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, vol. 24, no. 5, 2010, pp. 404–12, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20207851, https://doi.org/10.1177/1545968309354536.
Carrillo, M., Han, Y., Migliorati, F., Liu, M., Gazzola, V., & Keysers, C. (2019). Emotional mirror neurons in the rat’s anterior cingulate cortex. Current Biology, 29(8), 1301-1312.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.03.024
Cascella, Marco, Pierluigi Manchiaro, Franco Marinangeli, Cecilia Di Fabio, Giacomo Sollecchia, Alessandro Vittori, and Valentina Cerrone. 2026. “Mirror Neurons and Pain: A Scoping Review of Experimental, Social, and Clinical Evidence.” Healthcare 14 (2): 280. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14020280.
