article_snippet.sent: Tiny babies are more sensitive to pain than adults, according to a study of infants’ brains which overturns the medical consensus.
article_snippet.sent: Until now doctors have assumed that the brains of very young babies are not developed enough to feel pain.
article_snippet.sent: But the new findings, revealed by Oxford University doctors, suggest that not only do babies feel pain, but babies pain thresholds are even lower than those of adults.
article_snippet.sent: Research on infants’ brains by doctors from Oxford University has found that young babies are more sensitive to pain than adults.
article_snippet.sent: It overturns the medical consensus that newborns have a high pain threshold (file picture)
article_snippet.sent: In the first study of its kind, the researchers showed in brain scans that infants’ brains react in much the same way as adults when given even mild pain.
article_snippet.sent: Obviously babies can’t tell us about babies experience of pain and it is difficult to infer pain from visual observations.
article_snippet.sent: In fact some people have argued that babies’ brains are not developed enough for some people to really “feel” pain, any reaction being just a reflex –
article_snippet.sent: The research, which was carried out by doctors from Oxford University (pictured) overturns the medical consensus that very young babies do not feel pain and do not need painkillers, even for invasive procedures .
article_snippet.sent: ‘Our study suggests that not only do babies experience pain but Thousands of babies across the UK may be more sensitive to Our study than adults.
article_snippet.sent: The researchers found that 18 of the 20 pain regions in adults’ brains also ‘lit up’ in babies’ brains.
article_snippet.sent: Scans also showed that babies’ brains had the same response to a weak poke as adults did to a stimulus four times as strong - suggesting adults pain thresholds are lower.
highlights_snippet.sent: Young babies are more sensitive to pain than adults, according to study .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Doctors previously assumed very young babies had high pain threshold .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: New findings by Oxford University shows newborn babies do react to pain .