Behaviour not indicative of pain in stressed babies

In stressed newborn babies, behaviour alone is not a reliable way of assessing pain, according to new UCL and UCLH research. The study, published today in Current Biology and funded by the Medical Research Council UK, found that hospitalised newborns, who are already stressed by their environment have a much larger pain response in their brain following a routine clinical skin lance than non-stressed babies. But this is not matched by an equivalent increase in their pain behaviour. This disconnect between the behaviour of newborn babies under stress and their brain activity in response to pain has not been shown before and suggests that stress is an important factor in influencing how babies perceive and react to pain. "We see that an increase in pain related brain activity in hospitalised babies is not always accompanied by an increase in typical pain behaviour, such as body movement and facial expressions. This leads us to question the use of behaviour alone as a way of assessing infant pain, especially in a stressful environment. In adults, stress can increase pain experience and our findings suggest that this is also true for babies," explained study lead, Dr Laura Jones (UCL Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology).