The brains of babies "light up" in a similar way to adults when exposed to the same painful stimulus, suggesting they feel pain much like adults do, researchers said on Tuesday.

In the study, the first of its kind using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), scientists from Britain's Oxford University found that 18 of the 20 brain regions active in adults experiencing pain were also active in babies.

Brain scans of the sleeping infants while they were subjected to mild pokes on the bottom of their feet with a special rod — creating a sensation "like being poked with a pencil" — also showed their brains had the same response to a slighter "poke" as adults did to a stimulus four times as strong, suggesting babies have a much lower pain threshold.