Newborns Feel Pain, Don't Understand, UCL Study Finds

Babies feel pain before they can fully understand it, a new study found.

Researchers at University College London (UCL) looked at brain scans of hundreds of babies to learn how their brains process pain.

They found the part of the brain that senses pain develops first.

Next comes the part that makes them feel upset about the pain.

Finally, the part that lets them understand what the pain means comes last.

This might mean that premature babies feel pain more intensely because the later parts of their brain are still developing.

Doctors might need to give special care to premature babies when they are in pain.