Egocentric Biases in Pain Perception Are Determined By the Precision of Pain Predictions in the Self.

We test a key hypothesis of embodied predictive coding theories: that one’s own interoceptive/affective state impacts perception of another’s emotional expression according to its precision. Participants judged pained expressions as more intense when in greater pain themselves, and more precise cues predicting self-pain within a narrower range increased this effect.