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Pang C, Zhou Y, Han S. Temporal Unfolding of Racial Ingroup Bias in Neural Responses to Perceived Dynamic Pain in Others. Neurosci Bull 2024; 40:157-170. [PMID: 37635197 PMCID: PMC10838865 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-023-01102-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In this study, we investigated how empathic neural responses unfold over time in different empathy networks when viewing same-race and other-race individuals in dynamic painful conditions. We recorded magnetoencephalography signals from Chinese adults when viewing video clips showing a dynamic painful (or non-painful) stimulation to Asian and White models' faces to trigger painful (or neutral) expressions. We found that perceived dynamic pain in Asian models modulated neural activities in the visual cortex at 100 ms-200 ms, in the orbitofrontal and subgenual anterior cingulate cortices at 150 ms-200 ms, in the anterior cingulate cortex around 250 ms-350 ms, and in the temporoparietal junction and middle temporal gyrus around 600 ms after video onset. Perceived dynamic pain in White models modulated activities in the visual, anterior cingulate, and primary sensory cortices after 500 ms. Our findings unraveled earlier dynamic activities in multiple neural circuits in response to same-race (vs other-race) individuals in dynamic painful situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenyu Pang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Yuqing Zhou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100081, China.
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Mei S, Weiß M, Hein G, Han S. EEG evidence for racial ingroup bias in collective empathy for pain. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae019. [PMID: 38300214 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Previous research on racial ingroup bias in empathy for pain focused on neural responses to a single person's suffering. It is unclear whether empathy for simultaneously perceived multiple individuals' pain (denoted as collective empathy in this study) is also sensitive to perceived racial identities of empathy targets. We addressed this issue by recording electroencephalography from Chinese adults who responded to racial identities of 2 × 2 arrays of Asian or White faces in which 4 faces, 1 face, or no face showed painful expressions. Participants reported greater feelings of others' pain and their own unpleasantness when viewing 4 compared to 1 (or no) painful faces. Behavioral responses to racial identities of faces revealed decreased speeds of information acquisition when responding to the face arrays with 4 (vs. 1 or no) painful expressions of Asian (but not White) faces. Moreover, Asian compared to White face arrays with 4 (vs. 1 or no) painful expressions elicited a larger positive neural response at 160-190 ms (P2) at the frontal/central electrodes and enhanced alpha synchronizations at 288-1,000 ms at the central electrodes. Our findings provide evidence for racial ingroup biases in collective empathy for pain and unravel its relevant neural underpinnings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuting Mei
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, 52 Heidian Street, Beijing 100080, China
| | - Martin Weiß
- Translational Social Neuroscience Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Margarete-Höppel-Platz 1, Würzburg 97080, Germany
| | - Grit Hein
- Translational Social Neuroscience Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Margarete-Höppel-Platz 1, Würzburg 97080, Germany
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, 52 Heidian Street, Beijing 100080, China
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Li S, He M, Lin L, Chen Q, Ru T, Zhou G. Altered neurophysiological responses during empathy for pain in insomnia: evidence from an EEG study in non-clinical samples. J Physiol Anthropol 2024; 43:4. [PMID: 38172965 PMCID: PMC10765821 DOI: 10.1186/s40101-023-00351-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND This study aims to investigate the behavioral and neurophysiological changes accompanying the empathy for pain among individuals with insomnia in nonclinical samples, which has been scarcely explored in the existing literature despite the deleterious effects of sleep disturbance on social behavior, and interactions had been well-documented. METHODS Twenty-one individuals with insomnia in nonclinical samples and 20 healthy individuals as normal controls participated in the study. Electroencephalograph (EEG) was continuously recorded, while the participants underwent an empathy for pain task. RESULTS Subjective ratings of pain for painful and non-painful images revealed no statistically significant differences between the insomnia and control groups. The painful images induced a smaller P2 compared to non-painful images in the insomnia group, whereas no such difference was revealed for the controls. Moreover, a higher power density of the alpha and theta2 bands in the posterior brain regions was found in the insomnia group compared to the control group. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that individuals with insomnia exhibit altered neurophysiological responses to pain stimuli and a lower capacity to share empathy for pain. These alterations may be associated with changes in attentional mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyu Li
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Meiheng He
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Li Lin
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Qingwei Chen
- Lab of Light and Physio-Psychological Health, National Center for International Research On Green Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Information Materials and Technology & Institute of Electronic Paper Displays, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
| | - Taotao Ru
- Lab of Light and Physio-Psychological Health, National Center for International Research On Green Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Information Materials and Technology & Institute of Electronic Paper Displays, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
| | - Guofu Zhou
- Lab of Light and Physio-Psychological Health, National Center for International Research On Green Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Information Materials and Technology & Institute of Electronic Paper Displays, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
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Cogoni C, Monachesi B, Mazza V, Grecucci A, Vaes J. Neural dynamics of vicarious physical pain processing reflect impaired empathy toward sexually objectified versus non-sexually objectified women. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14400. [PMID: 37578333 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Revised: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Sexually objectified women are perceived as dehumanized. This may affect the behavioral and neural responses underlying the observer's empathic reactions for their physical pain, although this hypothesis still lacks empirical support. In the present study, we measured the electrophysiological activity of 30 participants (14 females and 16 males), in an empathy for physical pain paradigm in which pictures of sexualized and non-sexualized women were presented in painful and non-painful situations. The behavioral results revealed that sexualized women were evaluated as experiencing less pain than non-sexualized women. Neural evidence corroborated this finding showing that the perception of vicarious physical pain is lacking for sexualized women in both event-related potentials (ERPs) and brain oscillation domains. Specifically, the P2 component and the event-related synchronization/desynchronization (ERS/ERD) on the mu frequency band differed between painful and non-painful stimulation exclusively when women were not sexualized. Our results provide the first evidence that the neurophysiological responses to the vicarious experience of physical pain are dampened or even absent for sexualized women. These findings expand our understanding of the neurophysiological signatures of empathic processes and highlight the detrimental effect of a sexual-objectification bias in everyday contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlotta Cogoni
- Instituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Bianca Monachesi
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Veronica Mazza
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Alessandro Grecucci
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Jeroen Vaes
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
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Petereit P, Weiblen R, Perry A, Krämer UM. Effects of social presence on behavioral, neural, and physiological aspects of empathy for pain. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:9954-9970. [PMID: 37462059 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Revised: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023] Open
Abstract
In mediated interactions (e.g. video calls), less information is available about the other. To investigate how this affects our empathy for one another, we conducted an electroencephalogram study, in which 30 human participants observed 1 of 5 targets undergoing painful electric stimulation, once in a direct interaction and once in a live, video-mediated interaction. We found that observers were as accurate in judging others' pain and showed as much affective empathy via video as in a direct encounter. While mu suppression, a common neural marker of empathy, was not sensitive to others' pain, theta responses to others' pain as well as skin conductance coupling between participants were reduced in the video-mediated condition. We conclude that physical proximity with its rich social cues is important for nuanced physiological resonance with the other's experience. More studies are warranted to confirm these results and to understand their behavioral significance for remote social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pauline Petereit
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany
- Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Ronja Weiblen
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany
- Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Anat Perry
- Psychology Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ulrike M Krämer
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany
- Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany
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Zebarjadi N, Levy J. Neural shifts in alpha rhythm's dual functioning during empathy maturation. Brain Behav 2023; 13:e3110. [PMID: 37334437 PMCID: PMC10498088 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.3110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Empathy is a social-cognitive process that operates by relying mainly on the suppression of the cortical alpha rhythm. This phenomenon has been evidenced in dozens of electrophysiological studies targeting adult human subjects. Yet, recent neurodevelopmental studies indicated that at a younger age, empathy involves reversed brain responses (e.g., alpha enhancement patterns). In this multimodal study, we capture neural activity at the alpha range, and hemodynamic response and target subjects at approximately 20 years old as a unique time window in development that allows investigating both low-alpha suppression and high-alpha enhancement. We aim to further investigate the functional role of low-alpha power suppression and high-alpha power enhancement during empathy development. METHODS Brain data from 40 healthy individuals were recorded in two consecutive sessions of magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while subjects perceived vicarious physical pain or no pain. RESULTS MEG revealed that the alpha pattern shift during empathy happens in an all-or-none pattern: power enhancement before 18 and suppression after 18 years of age. Additionally, MEG and fMRI highlight a correspondence between high-alpha power increase and blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) decrease before 18, but low-alpha power decrease and BOLD increase after 18. Importantly, this neurodevelopmental transition was not revealed by four other measures: self-reported (a) ratings of the task stimuli, (b) ratings of naturalistic vignettes of vicarious pain, (c) trait empathy, or neural data from (d) a control neuroimaging task. DISCUSSION Findings suggest that at the critical age of around 18, empathy is underpinned by an all-or-none transition from high-alpha power enhancement and functional inhibition to low-alpha power suppression and functional activation in particular brain regions, possibly indicating a marker of maturation in empathic ability. This work advances a recent neurodevelopmental line of studies and provides insight into the functional maturation of empathy at the coming of age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niloufar Zebarjadi
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical EngineeringAalto UniversityEspooFinland
| | - Jonathan Levy
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical EngineeringAalto UniversityEspooFinland
- Baruch Ivcher School of PsychologyReichman UniversityHerzliyaIsrael
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Pang C, Li W, Zhou Y, Gao T, Han S. Are women more empathetic than men? Questionnaire and EEG estimations of sex/gender differences in empathic ability. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:7046083. [PMID: 36807483 PMCID: PMC9976760 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Revised: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The debate regarding whether women are more empathetic than men has broad scientific, social and clinical implications. However, previous independent questionnaires and brain imaging studies that tested different samples reported inconsistent results regarding sex/gender differences in empathic ability. We conducted three studies to investigate sex/gender differences in empathic ability using large-sample questionnaires and electroencephalography (EEG) measures. We showed that the estimation of empathic ability using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index questionnaire showed higher rating scores in women than in men in all studies. However, our EEG measures of empathy, indexed by both phase-locked and non-phased-locked neural responses to others' painful (vs neutral) facial expressions, support a null hypothesis of the sex/gender difference in empathic ability. In addition, we showed evidence that priming social expectations of women and men's ability to share and care about others' feelings eliminated the sex/gender difference in questionnaire measures of empathic ability. Our large-sample EEG results challenge the notion of women's superiority in empathy that is built based on subjective questionnaire measures that are sensitive to social desirability. Our findings indicate that whether the notion of women's superiority in empathic ability reflects a biological/social difference between women and men or a gender-role stereotype remains an open question.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenyu Pang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100080, China
| | - Wenxin Li
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100080, China
| | - Yuqing Zhou
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100080, China
| | - Tianyu Gao
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100080, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100080, China
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Martínez-Pernía D, Cea I, Troncoso A, Blanco K, Calderón Vergara J, Baquedano C, Araya-Veliz C, Useros-Olmo A, Huepe D, Carrera V, Mack Silva V, Vergara M. "I am feeling tension in my whole body": An experimental phenomenological study of empathy for pain. Front Psychol 2023; 13:999227. [PMID: 36687843 PMCID: PMC9845790 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.999227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Traditionally, empathy has been studied from two main perspectives: the theory-theory approach and the simulation theory approach. These theories claim that social emotions are fundamentally constituted by mind states in the brain. In contrast, classical phenomenology and recent research based on the enactive theories consider empathy as the basic process of contacting others' emotional experiences through direct bodily perception and sensation. Objective This study aims to enrich the knowledge of the empathic experience of pain using an experimental phenomenological method. Materials and methods Implementing an experimental paradigm used in affective neuroscience, we exposed 28 healthy adults to a video of sportspersons suffering physical accidents while practicing extreme sports. Immediately after watching the video, each participant underwent a phenomenological interview to gather data on embodied, multi-layered dimensions (bodily sensations, emotions, and motivations) and temporal aspects of empathic experience. We also performed quantitative analyses of the phenomenological categories. Results Experiential access to the other person's painful experience involves four main themes. Bodily resonance: participants felt a multiplicity of bodily, affective, and kinesthetic sensations in coordination with the sportsperson's bodily actions. Attentional focus: some participants centered their attention more on their own personal discomfort and sensations of rejection, while others on the pain and suffering experienced by the sportspersons. Kinesthetic motivation: some participants experienced the feeling in their bodies to avoid or escape from watching the video, while others experienced the need to help the sportspersons avoid suffering any injury while practicing extreme sports. The temporality of experience: participants witnessed temporal fluctuations in their experiences, bringing intensity changes in their bodily resonance, attentional focus, and kinesthetic motivation. Finally, two experiential structures were found: one structure is self-centered empathic experience, characterized by bodily resonance, attentional focus centered on the participant's own experience of seeing the sportsperson suffering, and self-protective kinesthetic motivation; the other structure is other-centered empathic experience, characterized by bodily resonance, attentional focus centered on the sportsperson, and prosocial kinesthetic motivation to help them. Discussion We show how phenomenological data may contribute to comprehending empathy for pain in social neuroscience. In addition, we address the phenomenological aspect of the enactive approach to the three dimensions of an embodiment of human consciousness, especially the intersubjective dimension. Also, based on our results, we suggest an extension of the enactive theory of non-interactive social experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Martínez-Pernía
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile,Faculty of Medicine, Geroscience Center for Brain Health and Metabolism (GERO), University of Chile, Santiago, Chile,Faculty of Medicine, Memory and Neuropsychiatric Clinic (CMYN), Neurology Service, Hospital del Salvador, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile,*Correspondence: David Martínez-Pernía,
| | - Ignacio Cea
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile,Philosophy Department, Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago, Chile
| | - Alejandro Troncoso
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Kevin Blanco
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Jorge Calderón Vergara
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Constanza Baquedano
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | | | - Ana Useros-Olmo
- Unidad de Daño Cerebral, Hospital Beata María Ana, Madrid, Spain,Departamento de Fisioterapia and Motion in Brains Research Group, Institute of Neuroscience and Sciences of the Movement (INCIMOV), Centro Superior de Estudios Universitarios La Salle, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - David Huepe
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Valentina Carrera
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Victoria Mack Silva
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Mayte Vergara
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
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Zhou Y, Pang C, Pu Y, Han S. Racial outgroup favoritism in neural responses to others' pain emerges during sociocultural interactions. Neuropsychologia 2022; 174:108321. [PMID: 35835232 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Revised: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Racial ingroup favoritism in empathic brain activity has been widely observed and is associated with biased behavior toward same-race and other-race individuals. We investigated whether racial outgroup favoritism in neural responses to others' pain - an objective measure of empathy - may emerge during sociocultural interactions in a new social environment. We recorded magnetoencephalography to pain and neutral expressions of Asian and White faces from White students who had stayed in China for 6-36 weeks (Experimental group) or 2-4 weeks (Control group). The experimental group showed better neural decoding of and greater insular/sensorimotor responses to pain vs. neutral expressions of Asian compared to White faces. By contrast, the control group showed better neural decoding of pain vs. neutral expressions of White than Asian faces. In addition, participants of the experimental group who had stayed longer in China showed greater sensorimotor responses to pain (vs. neutral) expressions of Asian faces but weaker sensorimotor responses to pain (vs. neutral) expressions of White faces. Our findings revealed emerging racial outgroup favoritism in brain activities associated with sensorimotor resonance and affective sharing of others' pain during sociocultural interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuqing Zhou
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Chenyu Pang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yue Pu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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De Pascalis V, Vecchio A. The influence of EEG oscillations, heart rate variability changes, and personality on self-pain and empathy for pain under placebo analgesia. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6041. [PMID: 35410362 PMCID: PMC9001726 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10071-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
We induced placebo analgesia (PA), a phenomenon explicitly attenuating the self-pain feeling, to assess whether this resulted in reduced empathy pain when witnessing a confederate undergoing such pain experience. We recorded EEG and electrocardiogram during a painful Control and PA treatment in healthy adults who rated their experienced pain and empathy for pain. We derived HRV changes and, using wavelet analysis of non-phase-locked event-related EEG oscillations, EEG spectral power differences for self-pain and other-pain conditions. First-hand PA reduced self-pain and self-unpleasantness, whereas we observed only a slight decrease in other unpleasantness. We derived linear combinations of HRV and EEG band power changes significantly associated with self-pain and empathy for pain changes using PCAs. Lower Behavioral Inhibition System scores predicted self-pain reduction through the mediating effect of a relative HR-slowing and a decreased midline ϑ-band (4-8 Hz) power factor moderated by lower Fight-Flight-Freeze System trait scores. In the other-pain condition, we detected a direct positive influence of Total Empathic Ability on the other-pain decline with a mediating role of the midline β2-band (22-30 Hz) power reduction. These findings suggest that PA modulation of first-hand versus other pain relies on functionally different physiological processes involving different personality traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vilfredo De Pascalis
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza Foundation, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.
| | - Arianna Vecchio
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza Foundation, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy
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Late responses in the anterior insula reflect the cognitive component of pain: evidence of nonpain processing. Pain Rep 2022; 7:e984. [PMID: 35187379 PMCID: PMC8812601 DOI: 10.1097/pr9.0000000000000984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. Distinguishing sensory and cognitive aspects of pain-related insular activity and the temporal profile of anterior insula activity suggested a key role of cognitive modulation. Introduction: Pain is a complex experience influenced by sensory and psychological factors. The insula is considered to be a core part of the pain network in the brain. Previous studies have suggested a relationship between the posterior insula (PI) and sensory processing, and between the anterior insula (AI) and cognitive–affective factors. Objectives: Our aim was to distinguish sensory and cognitive responses in pain-related insular activities. Methods: We recorded spatiotemporal insular activation patterns of healthy participants (n = 20) during pain or tactile processing with painful or nonpainful movie stimuli, using a magnetoencephalography. We compared the peak latency between PI and AI activities in each stimulus condition, and between pain and tactile processing in each response. The peak latency and amplitude between different movies were then examined to explore the effects of cognitive influence. A visual analogue scale was used to assess subjective perception. Results: The results revealed one clear PI activity and 2 AI activities (early and late) in insular responses induced by pain/tactile stimulation. The early response transmitted from the PI to AI was observed during sensory-associated brain activity, whereas the late AI response was observed during cognitive-associated activity. In addition, we found that painful movie stimuli had a significant influence on both late AI activity and subjective perception, caused by nonpainful actual stimulation. Conclusions: The current findings suggested that late AI activation reflects the processing of cognitive pain information, whereas the PI and early AI responses reflect sensory processing.
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12
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Zebarjadi N, Levy J. Neural shifts in alpha rhythm's dual functioning during empathy. Brain Behav 2021; 11:e2355. [PMID: 34536976 PMCID: PMC8613432 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.2355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Alpha oscillations are unique in their capacity to relay neuronal information through a dual-process named "gating by inhibition": rhythmic enhancement inhibits task-irrelevant regions while rhythmic suppression engages task-relevant regions in the brain. A social-cognitive process that operates by relying on the suppression of the alpha rhythm in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) is the ability to generate empathy. This phenomenon has been evidenced in dozens of electrophysiological studies targeting adult human subjects. Yet, recent studies on the neurodevelopment of empathy indicate that in younger age, empathy does not involve alpha suppression in S1 but only enhancement. More interestingly, right before adulthood, this rhythm is still enhanced, but in a remarkable shift, a pattern of suppression emerges. In this registered magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we will capture frequency-decomposed neural activity particularly at the alpha range and its corresponding hemodynamic response and target subjects at around 20 years old as a unique time-window in development that allows investigating in parallel both low-alpha suppression and high-alpha enhancement. We aim to address two questions: (a) Does alpha power suppression in the S1 region during empathy correspond to BOLD increase in this region? (b) What is the functional role of alpha power enhancement during empathy development (BOLD signal increase or decrease)? Addressing these questions will particularly advance knowledge on the process of empathy in the brain, and the way in which it is underpinned by alpha oscillations. Moreover, examining these experimental outcomes can potentially lay the ground for future studies that would further examine the role of alpha oscillations in empathy during the course of development. METHODS Brain data of forty healthy individuals close to 20 years old will be recorded in two consecutive MEG and fMRI sessions while subjects observing physical pain versus neutral stimuli. Besides, each participant's subjective experiences wll be measred by questionnaires, interviews and rating of the stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niloufar Zebarjadi
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Jonathan Levy
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.,Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Herzliya, Israel
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Zhang T, Han S. Non-phase-locked alpha oscillations are involved in spontaneous racial categorization of faces. Neuropsychologia 2021; 160:107968. [PMID: 34310972 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Revised: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Racial categorization of faces has a notable impact on human behavior, but its neural underpinnings remain unresolved. Previous electroencephalography (EEG) research focused on contributions of phase-locked neural activities to racial categorization of faces. We investigated functional roles of non-phase-locked neural oscillations in spontaneous racial categorization of faces by recording EEG from Chinese adults who performed an individuation task on Asian/White faces in Experiment 1 and on Asian/Black faces in Experiment 2. We quantified neural processes involved in spontaneous racial categorization of faces by examining repetition suppression of non-phase-locked neural oscillations when participants viewed faces of one race presented repeatedly in the same block of trials (repetition condition), or faces of two races presented alternately in the same block of trials (alternating condition). We found decreased power of alpha (9-13 Hz) oscillations in the repetition than alternating conditions at 80-240 ms over frontal-central electrodes induced by White/Black (but not Asian) faces. Moreover, larger repetition suppression of alpha oscillations in response to White/Black (vs. Asian) faces predicted greater implicit negative attitudes toward White/Black faces across individuals. Our findings suggest that non-phase-locked alpha oscillations are engaged in spontaneous racial categorization of faces and are associated with implicit negative attitudes toward other-race faces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting Zhang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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14
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Zebarjadi N, Adler E, Kluge A, Jääskeläinen IP, Sams M, Levy J. Rhythmic Neural Patterns During Empathy to Vicarious Pain: Beyond the Affective-Cognitive Empathy Dichotomy. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:708107. [PMID: 34305559 PMCID: PMC8292834 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.708107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Empathy is often split into an affective facet for embodied simulation or sometimes sensorial processing, and a cognitive facet for mentalizing and perspective-taking. However, a recent neurophenomenological framework proposes a graded view on empathy (i.e., "Graded Empathy") that extends this dichotomy and considers multiple levels while integrating complex neural patterns and representations of subjective experience. In the current magnetoencephalography study, we conducted a multidimensional investigation of neural oscillatory modulations and their cortical sources in 44 subjects while observing stimuli that convey vicarious pain (vs no-pain) in a broad time window and frequency range to explore rich neural representations of pain empathy. Furthermore, we collected participants' subjective-experience of sensitivity to vicarious pain, as well as their self-reported trait levels of affective and cognitive empathy to examine the possible associations between neural mechanisms and subjective experiences and reports. While extending previous electrophysiological studies that mainly focused on alpha suppression, we found here four significant power modulation patterns corresponding to multiple facets of empathy: an early central (peaking in the paracentral sulcus) alpha (6-11 Hz) suppression pattern plausibly reflecting sensory processing, two early beta (15-23 Hz) suppression patterns in the mid-cingulate cortex (plausibly reflecting the affective component) and in the precuneus (plausibly reflecting the cognitive component), and a late anterior (peaking in the orbitofrontal cortex) alpha-beta (11-19 Hz) enhancement pattern (plausibly reflecting cognitive-control inhibitory response). Interestingly, the latter measure was negatively correlated with the subjective sensitivity to vicarious pain, thereby possibly revealing a novel inhibitory neural mechanism determining the subjective sensitivity to vicarious pain. Altogether, these multilevel findings cannot be accommodated by the dichotomous model of empathy (i.e., affective-cognitive), and provide empirical support to the Graded Empathy neurophenomenological framework. Furthermore, this work emphasizes the importance of examining multiple neural rhythms, their cortical generators, and reports of subjective-experience in the aim of elucidating the complex nature of empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niloufar Zebarjadi
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Eliyahu Adler
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.,Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Annika Kluge
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Iiro P Jääskeläinen
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.,International Laboratory of Social Neurobiology, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
| | - Mikko Sams
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.,MAGICS-Aalto, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Jonathan Levy
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.,Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Herzliya, Israel
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15
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Hartmann H, Riva F, Rütgen M, Lamm C. Placebo Analgesia Does Not Reduce Empathy for Naturalistic Depictions of Others' Pain in a Somatosensory Specific Way. Cereb Cortex Commun 2021; 2:tgab039. [PMID: 34296184 PMCID: PMC8276832 DOI: 10.1093/texcom/tgab039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Revised: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The shared representations account postulates that sharing another's pain recruits underlying brain functions also engaged during first-hand pain. Critically, direct causal evidence for this was mainly shown for affective pain processing, while the contribution of somatosensory processes to empathy remains controversial. This controversy may be explained, however, by experimental paradigms that did not direct attention towards a specific body part, or that did not employ naturalistic depictions of others' pain. In this preregistered functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we aimed to test whether causal manipulation of first-hand pain affects empathy for naturalistic depictions of pain in a somatosensory-matched manner. Forty-five participants underwent a placebo analgesia induction in their right hand and observed pictures of other people's right and left hands in pain. We found neither behavioral nor neural evidence for somatosensory-specific modulation of pain empathy. However, exploratory analyses revealed a general effect of the placebo on empathy, and higher brain activity in bilateral anterior insula when viewing others' right hands in pain (i.e., corresponding to one's own placebo hand). These results refine our knowledge regarding the neural mechanisms of pain empathy, and imply that the sharing of somatosensory representations seems to play less of a causal role than the one of affective representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena Hartmann
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Federica Riva
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Markus Rütgen
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Claus Lamm
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
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16
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Balconi M, Angioletti L. One's Interoception Affects the Representation of Seeing Others' Pain: A Randomized Controlled qEEG Study. Pain Res Manag 2021; 2021:5585060. [PMID: 33884043 PMCID: PMC8041555 DOI: 10.1155/2021/5585060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Revised: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Objective This research demonstrates that interoceptive attentiveness (IA) can modulate cortical oscillations related to the emotional and cognitive representations of observing pain in others. Methods Twenty participants were required to observe painful/nonpainful stimuli in an individual versus the interactive condition during the recording of the electroencephalogram. The sample was divided into experimental (EXP) and control (CTR) groups, and the EXP group was explicitly required to direct the attention on its interoceptive correlates while observing the stimuli. Results Mixed repeated measures, analyses of variance, were applied to each EEG frequency band. Significant findings were obtained mainly for theta and beta bands for the two groups. A hemispheric lateralisation effect was found, with right lateralisation of the theta band for the EXP group when observing painful stimuli and enhanced left activation of theta and beta bands for the CTR group when observing nonpainful stimuli. For both groups, frontal cortical regions were significantly sensitive to social scenarios, while posterior parietal activation was found for stimuli depicting the individual condition. Conclusions The results suggest that IA might enhance the emotional representation of painful stimuli, highlighting their negative and unpleasant features in the EXP group, while the attention of the CTR group was mainly drawn to nonpainful stimuli in social and individual conditions, with a positive valence. The role of frontal regions in the processing of social stimuli through social cognition, inducing emotional mirroring and requiring deeper analysis of the social context, was underlined. We propose that IA could be trained for promoting emotion regulation and empathic response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michela Balconi
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
- Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
| | - Laura Angioletti
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
- Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
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17
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Zhou Y, Han S. Neural dynamics of pain expression processing: Alpha-band synchronization to same-race pain but desynchronization to other-race pain. Neuroimage 2020; 224:117400. [PMID: 32979524 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2019] [Revised: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Both electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have revealed enhanced neural responses to perceived pain in same-race than other-race individuals. However, it remains unclear how neural responses in the sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective subsystems vary dynamically in the first few hundreds of milliseconds to generate racial ingroup favoritism in empathy for pain. We recorded magnetoencephalography signals to pain and neutral expressions of Asian and white faces from Chinese adults during judgments of racial identity of each face. We found that pain compared to neutral expressions of same-race faces induced early increased alpha oscillations in the precuneus/parietal cortices followed by increased alpha-band oscillations in the left anterior insula and temporoparietal junction. Pain compared to neutral expressions of other-race faces, however, induced early suppression of alpha-band oscillations in the bilateral sensorimotor cortices and left insular cortex. Moreover, decreased functional connectivity between the left sensorimotor cortex and left anterior insula predicted reduced subjective feelings of other-race suffering. Our results unraveled distinct patterns of modulations of neural dynamics of sensorimotor, affective, and cognitive components of empathy by interracial relationships between an observer and a target person, which provide possible brain mechanisms for understanding racial ingroup favoritism in social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuqing Zhou
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 52 Haidian Road, Beijing 100080, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 52 Haidian Road, Beijing 100080, China.
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18
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Hartmann H, Rütgen M, Riva F, Lamm C. Another's pain in my brain: No evidence that placebo analgesia affects the sensory-discriminative component in empathy for pain. Neuroimage 2020; 224:117397. [PMID: 32971262 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Revised: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 09/15/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The shared representations account of empathy suggests that sharing other people's emotions relies on neural processes similar to those engaged when directly experiencing such emotions. Recent research corroborated this by showing that placebo analgesia induced for first-hand pain resulted in reduced pain empathy and decreased activation in shared neural networks. However, those studies did not report any placebo-related variation of somatosensory engagement during pain empathy. The experimental paradigms used in these studies did not direct attention towards a specific body part in pain, which may explain the absence of effects for somatosensation. The main objective of this preregistered study was to implement a paradigm overcoming this limitation, and to investigate whether placebo analgesia may also modulate the sensory-discriminative component of empathy for pain. We induced a localized, first-hand placebo analgesia effect in the right hand of 45 participants by means of a placebo gel and conditioning techniques, and compared this to the left hand as a control condition. Participants underwent a pain task in the MRI scanner, receiving painful or non-painful electrical stimulation on their left or right hand, or witnessing another person receiving such stimulation. In contrast to a robust localized placebo analgesia effect for self-experienced pain, the empathy condition showed no differences between the two hands, neither for behavioral nor neural responses. We thus report no evidence for somatosensory sharing in empathy, while replicating previous studies showing overlapping brain activity in the affective-motivational component for first-hand and empathy for pain. Hence, in a more rigorous test aiming to overcome limitations of previous work, we again find no causal evidence for the engagement of somatosensory sharing in empathy. Our study refines the understanding of the neural underpinnings of empathy for pain, and the use of placebo analgesia in investigating such models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena Hartmann
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Markus Rütgen
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Federica Riva
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Claus Lamm
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
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19
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Li X, Liu Y, Ye Q, Lu X, Peng W. The linkage between first-hand pain sensitivity and empathy for others' pain: Attention matters. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 41:4815-4828. [PMID: 32761989 PMCID: PMC7643373 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2020] [Revised: 07/01/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Many studies suggested shared psychological and neural representations for first-hand physical pain and empathy for others' pain, both of which depend strongly upon top-down controlled mechanisms such as attention. This study aimed to assess the interindividual variation in first-hand physical pain and empathy for pain, and whether their relationship is dependent upon attention. We recruited participants exhibiting high and low sensitivity to first-hand pain (HPS and LPS), and adopted pain empathy paradigms involving attention directed toward or withdrawn from pain of another. Relative to the LPS group, participants in the HPS group estimated greater pain intensity experienced by others, felt greater unpleasantness when viewing others in pain, and exhibited greater sensitivity in discriminating others' pain. Electroencephalographic data showed that when attention was directed toward others' pain, only participants in the HPS group exhibited significant pain empathic effects on the N1 component of event-related potentials and on the α-oscillation response. These empathic neural responses mediated the linkage between first-hand pain sensitivity and empathic behavioral responses. Nevertheless, empathic responses were comparable between two groups when attention was withdrawn from others' pain. These results demonstrate a shared sensitivity to first-hand pain and empathy for pain provided that attention is directed toward pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyun Li
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yang Liu
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Qian Ye
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xuejing Lu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China
| | - Weiwei Peng
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
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20
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Tobimatsu S. Neuromagnetic oscillations in the human sensory systems: A mini review of our series and literature. Neurosci Res 2020; 156:117-129. [PMID: 31874215 DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2019.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2019] [Revised: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Oscillatory neuronal (electrical) activity in defined frequency ranges supports synchronous interactions between anatomically distinct regions of the human brain during cognitive tasks. Here, the author reviews our previous studies that focused on the neuromagnetic oscillations in the sensory systems in response to the external stimuli in normal healthy subjects and neurological disorders. A magnetoencephalography was applied to evaluate the neuromagnetic oscillations in humans. We have demonstrated that the oscillatory gamma synchronization binds the primary and secondary somatosensory areas (S1 and S2) in humans. This functional coupling is modulated by aging. In people who stutter, functional and structural reorganization of the right auditory cortex appears to be a compensatory mechanism for impaired left auditory cortex function. This may be partly caused by increased right hemispheric local phase synchronization and increased inter-hemispheric phase synchronization. We have also found that the hippocampus modulates auditory processing differently under normal conditions and in epileptic patients with hippocampal sclerosis. This indicates that altered neural synchronization may provide useful information about possible functional deterioration in patients with unilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Finally, supraspinal (cortical) mechanism is responsible for pain perception and pain relief via neural oscillations. Together, neuronal synchronization plays an important role in distributed cortico-cortical processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shozo Tobimatsu
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan.
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Riečanský I, Lamm C. The Role of Sensorimotor Processes in Pain Empathy. Brain Topogr 2019; 32:965-976. [PMID: 31705422 PMCID: PMC6882755 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-019-00738-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 10/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Pain is a salient, aversive sensation which motivates avoidance, but also has a strong social signaling function. Numerous studies have shown that regions of the nervous system active in association with first-hand pain are also active in response to the pain of others. When witnessing somatic pain, such as seeing bodies in painful situations, significant activations occur not only in areas related to the processing of negative emotions, but also in neuronal structures engaged in somatosensation and the control of skeletal muscles. These empathy-related sensorimotor activations are selectively reviewed in this article, with a focus on studies using electrophysiological methods and paradigms investigating responses to somatic pain. Convergent evidence from these studies shows that these activations (1) occur at multiple levels of the nervous system, from the spinal cord up to the cerebral cortex, (2) are best conceptualized as activations of a defensive system, in line with the role of pain to protect body from injury, and (3) contribute to establishing a matching of psychological states between the sufferer and the observer, which ultimately supports empathic understanding and motivate prosocial action. Future research should thus focus on how these sensorimotor responses are related to higher-order empathic responses, including affective sharing and emotion regulation, and how this motivates approach-related prosocial behaviors aimed at alleviating the pain and suffering of others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor Riečanský
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Behavioural Neuroscience, Centre of Experimental Medicine, Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Sienkiewiczova 1, 813 71, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Claus Lamm
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria.
- Cognitive Neuroscience, International School for Advanced Studies, Via Bonomea 265, 34136, Trieste, Italy.
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22
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Matsubara T, Ogata K, Hironaga N, Kikuchi Y, Uehara T, Chatani H, Mitsudo T, Shigeto H, Tobimatsu S. Altered neural synchronization to pure tone stimulation in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy: An MEG study. Epilepsy Behav 2018; 88:96-105. [PMID: 30243112 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2018.08.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2018] [Revised: 08/28/2018] [Accepted: 08/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Our previous study of monaural auditory evoked magnetic fields (AEFs) demonstrated that hippocampal sclerosis significantly modulated auditory processing in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). However, the small sample size (n = 17) and focus on the M100 response were insufficient to elucidate the lateralization of the epileptic focus. Therefore, we increased the number of patients with mTLE (n = 39) to examine whether neural synchronization induced by monaural pure tone stimulation provides useful diagnostic information about epileptic foci in patients with unilateral mTLE. METHODS Twenty-five patients with left mTLE, 14 patients with right mTLE, and 32 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Auditory stimuli of 500-Hz tone burst were monaurally presented to subjects. The AEF data were analyzed with source estimation of M100 responses in bilateral auditory cortices (ACs). Neural synchronization within ACs and between ACs was evaluated with phase-locking factor (PLF) and phase-locking value (PLV), respectively. Linear discriminant analysis was performed for diagnosis and lateralization of epileptic focus. RESULTS The M100 amplitude revealed that patients with right mTLE exhibited smaller M100 amplitude than patients with left mTLE and HCs. Interestingly, PLF was able to differentiate the groups with mTLE, with decreased PLFs in the alpha band observed in patients with right mTLE compared with those (PLFs) in patients with left mTLE. Right hemispheric predominance was confirmed in both HCs and patients with left mTLE while patients with right mTLE showed a lack of right hemispheric predominance. Functional connectivity between bilateral ACs (PLV) was reduced in both patients with right and left mTLE compared with that of HCs. The accuracy of diagnosis and lateralization was 80%-90%. CONCLUSION Auditory cortex subnormal function was more pronounced in patients with right mTLE compared with that in patients with left mTLE as well as HCs. Monaural AEFs can be used to reveal the pathophysiology of mTLE. Overall, our results indicate that altered neural synchronization may provide useful information about possible functional deterioration in patients with unilateral mTLE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teppei Matsubara
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan.
| | - Katsuya Ogata
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan
| | - Naruhito Hironaga
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan
| | - Yoshikazu Kikuchi
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Taira Uehara
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Chatani
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan
| | - Takako Mitsudo
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Shigeto
- Epilepsy and Sleep Center, Fukuoka Sanno Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Shozo Tobimatsu
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan
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Brain-to-brain coupling during handholding is associated with pain reduction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:E2528-E2537. [PMID: 29483250 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1703643115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The mechanisms underlying analgesia related to social touch are not clear. While recent research highlights the role of the empathy of the observer to pain relief in the target, the contribution of social interaction to analgesia is unknown. The current study examines brain-to-brain coupling during pain with interpersonal touch and tests the involvement of interbrain synchrony in pain alleviation. Romantic partners were assigned the roles of target (pain receiver) and observer (pain observer) under pain-no-pain and touch-no-touch conditions concurrent with EEG recording. Brain-to-brain coupling in alpha-mu band (8-12 Hz) was estimated by a three-step multilevel analysis procedure based on running window circular correlation coefficient and post hoc power of the findings was calculated using simulations. Our findings indicate that hand-holding during pain administration increases brain-to-brain coupling in a network that mainly involves the central regions of the pain target and the right hemisphere of the pain observer. Moreover, brain-to-brain coupling in this network was found to correlate with analgesia magnitude and observer's empathic accuracy. These findings indicate that brain-to-brain coupling may be involved in touch-related analgesia.
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