Hearing others’ pain: neural activity related to empathy

Lang, Simone; Yu, Tao; Markl, Alexandra; Müller, Friedemann; Kotchoubey, Boris

doi:10.3758/s13415-011-0035-0

Cited by 54 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Silani et al (2013) found that overcoming emotional egocentricity bias in empathic judgment is associated with increased activation in the rSMG. What’s more, a research conducted by Lang et al (2011) found the same rSMG activation to emotional exclamations of others’ pain. This is consistent with what we had expected, as viewing others in pain will activate the regions related to empathy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Long-Time Exposure to Violent Video Games Does Not Show Desensitization on Empathy for Pain: An fMRI Study

et al. 2017

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As a typical form of empathy, empathy for pain refers to the perception and appraisal of others’ pain, as well as the corresponding affective responses. Numerous studies investigated the factors affecting the empathy for pain, in which the exposure to violent video games (VVGs) could change players’ empathic responses to painful situations. However, it remains unclear whether exposure to VVG influences the empathy for pain. In the present study, in terms of the exposure experience to VVG, two groups of participants (18 in VVG group, VG; 17 in non-VVG group, NG) were screened from nearly 200 video game experience questionnaires. And then, the functional magnetic resonance imaging data were recorded when they were viewing painful and non-painful stimuli. The results showed that the perception of others’ pain were not significantly different in brain regions between groups, from which we could infer that the desensitization effect of VVGs was overrated.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Long-Time Exposure to Violent Video Games Does Not Show Desensitization on Empathy for Pain: An fMRI Study

et al. 2017

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“…In addition, the activation of frontal and temporal regions in participants with the 7R allele indicates that the stimuli were perceived as meaningful (Decety et al, 1997). Furthermore, those with the 7R allele showed activation in the right middle temporal gyrus and right cingulate gyrus, which have been associated with empathy during perception of unpleasant or painful stimuli in others (Gu et al, 2010; Lang et al, 2011; Azevedo et al, 2012). In contrast, participants with the DRD4 -4R/4R genotype showed brain activation in response to unpleasant compared to neutral images, which was limited to the cingulate gyrus and precuneus in the right parietal lobe without involvement of limbic, frontal or temporal brain areas, suggesting a more passive processing of information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased brain activity to unpleasant stimuli in individuals with the 7R allele of the DRD4 gene

Gehricke

Swanson

Duong

et al. 2015

Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging

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The aim of the study was to examine functional brain activity in response to unpleasant images in individuals with the 7-repeat (7R) allele compared to individuals with the 4-repeat (4R) allele of the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene (VNTR in exon 3). Based on the response ready hypothesis, individuals with the DRD4-4R/7R genotype were expected to show greater functional brain activity in response to unpleasant compared to neutral stimuli in specific regions of the frontal, temporal, parietal and limbic lobes, which form the networks involved in attentional, emotional, and preparatory responses. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging activity was studied in 26 young adults (13 with the DRD4-4R/7R genotype and 13 with the DRD4-4R/4R genotype). Participants were asked to look at and subjectively rate unpleasant and neutral images. Results showed increased brain activity in response to unpleasant images compared to neutral images in the right temporal lobe in participants with the DRD4-4R/7R genotype versus participants with the DRD4-4R/4R genotype. The increase in right temporal lobe activity in individuals with DRD4-4R/7R suggests greater involvement in processing negative emotional stimuli. Intriguingly, no differences were found between the two genotypes in the subjective ratings of the images. The findings corroborate the response ready hypothesis, which suggests that individuals with the 7R allele are more responsive to negative emotional stimuli compared to individuals with the 4R allele of the DRD4 gene.

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“…An interesting point was that this change was restricted to the left but not bilateral insula. Previous studies have shown that the left insula participates in a variety of pain modulatory activities, especially those in the affective and cognitive dimensions (Bos et al 2015;Fan et al 2011;La Cesa et al 2014;Lang et al 2011;Liu et al 2013). Alpha activities represent an important EEG correlate of top-down control of incoming sensory information (Klimesch et al 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortical activities of heat-sensitization responses in suspended moxibustion: an EEG source analysis with sLORETA

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2015

Cogn Neurodyn

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Moxibustion is under active research as a complementary and alternative treatment for various diseases such as pain. ''Heat-sensitization'' responses have been reported during suspended moxibustion, whose occurrence is associated with significantly better therapeutic effects. The present study aimed to investigate the cortical activities of this interesting phenomenon by a standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography. We performed electroencephalography recording in a group of patients with chronic low back pain before, during, and after moxibustion treatment at Yaoyangguan (DU3) areas. 11 out of 21 subjects experienced strong heatsensitization during moxibustion, which were accompanied with significant decreases of current densities in the beta frequency bands in prefrontal, primary and second somatosensory, and cingulate cortices, as well as increased current densities in the alpha2 band in the left insula. No changes were detected in patients without sensitization responses, or in the post-moxibustion phase of either group. These data indicated widespread activity changes across different frequency bands during heat-sensitization. Cortical oscillatory activities could be used to evaluate the ''heatsensitization'' responses during suspended moxibustion.

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Hearing others’ pain: neural activity related to empathy

Cited by 54 publications

References 66 publications

Long-Time Exposure to Violent Video Games Does Not Show Desensitization on Empathy for Pain: An fMRI Study

Long-Time Exposure to Violent Video Games Does Not Show Desensitization on Empathy for Pain: An fMRI Study

Increased brain activity to unpleasant stimuli in individuals with the 7R allele of the DRD4 gene

Cortical activities of heat-sensitization responses in suspended moxibustion: an EEG source analysis with sLORETA

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