Brain Activity Differences in Adolescents With Non-suicidal Self-Injury Aged 15 to 18

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are investigating altered neural pain empathic processing in adolescents with nonsuicidal self-injury NSSI, which means deliberately harming oneself without suicidal intent. This condition is a growing global public health concern, especially among adolescents who often face emotional and interpersonal challenges. The study aims to compare brain activity related to pain empathy between adolescents with NSSI and healthy controls to understand differences in how they process others physical and emotional pain. The study will recruit two groups 40 adolescents with NSSI and 40 healthy controls. Participants will undergo functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI to measure brain responses to stimuli depicting physical pain injury to limbs and affective pain faces showing pain, along with matching control images. This imaging will focus on blood oxygenation level-dependent BOLD signals to assess neural activity over about 8 minutes. Participants aged 15 to 18 years will be involved, with specific requirements such as right-handedness and normal or corrected vision. During the study, brain activity related to pain empathy will be closely monitored using fMRI scans. Researchers will analyze differences in brain regions linked to empathy and emotional processing. The study is observational and includes healthy volunteers, with participant involvement lasting the duration of the imaging assessments.

Altered Neural Pain Empathic Reactivity in NSSI Adolescents