Does Theory of Mind Training Enhance Empathy in Autism?

Holopainen, Annaleena; Veld, Daniëlle M. J. de; Hoddenbach, Elske; Begeer, Sander

doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3671-1

Cited by 30 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…From a clinical point of view, the results of this study may also contribute to a better understanding of aberrant prosocial behavior and social interaction in autism and schizophrenia ( Sasson et al, 2011 ; Fernandes et al, 2018 ). Modulation of these brain regions in the context of disorder-specific psychotherapeutic interventions and improved prosocial behavior in patients with autism and schizophrenia could lead to an increase in social functioning and quality of life ( Vass et al, 2018 ; Holopainen et al, 2019 ). Finally, the function of the identified regions may be used as potential biomarkers in patients with autism and schizophrenia (and in other psychiatric disorders with disturbances of social interaction) in clinical studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Responses of Benefiting From the Prosocial Exchange: The Effect of Helping Behavior

Olivo

Ciano²,

Mauro

et al. 2021

Front. Psychol.

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Prosocial behavior is critical for the natural development of an individual as well as for promoting social relationships. Although this complex behavior results from gratuitous acts occurring between an agent and a recipient and a wealth of literature on prosocial behavior has investigated these actions, little is known about the effects on the recipient and the neurobiology underlying them. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify neural correlates of receiving prosocial behavior in the context of real-world experiences, with different types of action provided by the agent, including practical help and effort appreciation. Practical help was associated with increased activation in a network of regions spanning across bilateral superior temporal sulcus, temporoparietal junction, temporal pole, and medial prefrontal cortex. Effort appreciation was associated with activation and increased task-modulated connectivity of the occipital cortex. Prosocial-dependent brain responses were associated with positive affect. Our results support the role of the theory of mind network and the visual cortices in mediating the positive effects of receiving gratuitous help. Moreover, they indicate that specific types of prosocial behavior are mediated by distinct brain networks, which further demonstrates the uniqueness of the psychological processes underlying prosocial actions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Responses of Benefiting From the Prosocial Exchange: The Effect of Helping Behavior

Olivo

Ciano²,

Mauro

et al. 2021

Front. Psychol.

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“…Empathic abilities of individuals on the spectrum, for example, have been targeted successfully through specific training from theater and physical practices, such as participatory play and theater interventions ( Corbett et al, 2016 ; Beadle-Brown et al, 2018 ) or dance and yoga ( Koehne et al, 2016a ; Litchke et al, 2018 , respectively). Moreover, theoretical- and knowledge-based empathy training forms were also found to be effective for this cohort ( Beaumont and Sofronoff, 2008 ; Holopainen et al, 2019 ). These intervention choices are not by coincidence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Feeling for the Other With Ease: Prospective Actors Show High Levels of Emotion Recognition and Report Above Average Empathic Concern, but Do Not Experience Strong Distress

et al. 2021

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Differences in empathic abilities between acting, dance, and psychology students were explored, in addition to the appropriateness of existing empathy measures in the context of these cohorts. Students (N = 176) across Higher Education Institutions in the United Kingdom and Europe were included in the online survey analysis, consisting of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) test, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Empathy Quotient (EQ), and the E-drawing test (EDT), each measuring particular facets of empathy. Based on existing evidence and our understanding of the discipline practices, we predicted that acting students would perform the best at identifying people’s emotional expressions but might lack other cognitive or affective empathy skills, particularly those related to emotional reactions. This cohort thus provides an opportunity to evaluate different empathy measures. While actors showed significantly higher RME scores than dancers, the difference between actors and psychologists was marginal. Moreover, actors’ scores did not differ significantly on other empathy measures, such as their concern for others’ emotional wellbeing or fantasy, both measured by IRI subscales. Psychology students scored highest in the IRI perspective taking subscale and the data supported anecdotal evidence that psychologists were more concerned for others’ emotional wellbeing than dancers or actors. Dancers seemed the least concerned with others’ perspectives and emotional states, which we explained through a somatosensory ‘inward’ focus required by their art form. Nevertheless, compared to the general population, our groups reported higher empathic abilities on all IRI subscales except for personal distress. Altogether, our study shows that the RME, the IRI, and the EDT vary in their susceptibility to different facets of empathic abilities in acting, dance, and psychology students whereas the EQ does not. Emotions can be expressed and perceived through language, facial expressions, or behavior. As many empathy tests focus on one type of signal they might miss other strategies. Where empathy tests are applied to individuals that have a predominance to read or respond to others in a particular way, as we showed through these three disciplines, they might not capture these empathic strategies. We thus propose that empathy tests must evolve by means of integrating varied forms of communication.

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“…Bird and Viding, 2014). Compelling evidence for how empathy and TOM are linked in real life stems from a study evaluating an 8-week training of TOM for autistic children (Holopainen et al 2018). Empathic responsiveness was assessed via structural observations of video-recorded interactions between autistic children and experimenters.…”

Section: The Role Of Alexithymia and Tommentioning

confidence: 99%

Social cognitive and interactive abilities in autism

Thaler¹,

Albantakis²,

Schilbach³

2021

Preprint

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Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by difficulties in social perception, cognition, and interaction. Differences to non-autistic peers start appearing early in development and are associated with altered brain structure and functioning. This chapter begins with an overview of research on theory of mind and empathy, discussing how social cognitive skills in these domains present in high-functioning autism. Findings indicate that, across development, a sizable portion of autistic people learns to compensate for specific difficulties. Yet, challenges in social interaction continue to impact their level of functioning in everyday life throughout adulthood. We describe how research has attempted to introduce more interactive experimental settings, and how this interactive turn has improved our understanding of autism in contexts closer related to real life. Finally, we discuss the Bayesian brain account of autism as a computational framework that explains social difficulties in terms of domain-general perceptual, cognitive and biological mechanisms. We conclude by pointing to recent developments such as participatory research and the mining of larger longitudinal datasets as ways to make autism research more effective in improving autistic people’s lives.

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Does Theory of Mind Training Enhance Empathy in Autism?

Cited by 30 publications

References 21 publications

Neural Responses of Benefiting From the Prosocial Exchange: The Effect of Helping Behavior

Neural Responses of Benefiting From the Prosocial Exchange: The Effect of Helping Behavior

Feeling for the Other With Ease: Prospective Actors Show High Levels of Emotion Recognition and Report Above Average Empathic Concern, but Do Not Experience Strong Distress

Social cognitive and interactive abilities in autism

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