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      Shared and distinct functional networks for empathy and pain processing: a systematic review and meta-analysis of fMRI studies

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          Abstract

          Background

          Empathy for pain is a complex phenomenon incorporating sensory, cognitive and affective processes. Functional neuroimaging studies indicate a rich network of brain activations for empathic processing. However, previous research focused on core activations in bilateral anterior insula (AI) and anterior cingulate/anterior midcingulate cortex (ACC/aMCC) which are also typically present during nociceptive (pain) processing. Theoretical understanding of empathy would benefit from empirical investigation of shared and contrasting brain activations for empathic and nociceptive processing.

          Method

          Thirty-nine empathy for observed pain studies (1112 participants; 527 foci) were selected by systematic review. Coordinate based meta-analysis (activation likelihood estimation) was performed and novel contrast analyses compared neurobiological processing of empathy with a comprehensive meta-analysis of 180 studies of nociceptive processing ( Tanasescu et al., 2016 ).

          Results

          Conjunction analysis indicated overlapping activations for empathy and nociception in AI, aMCC, somatosensory and inferior frontal regions. Contrast analysis revealed increased likelihood of activation for empathy, relative to nociception, in bilateral supramarginal, inferior frontal and occipitotemporal regions. Nociception preferentially activated bilateral posterior insula, somatosensory cortex and aMCC.

          Conclusion

          Our findings support the likelihood of shared and distinct neural networks for empathic, relative to nociceptive, processing. This offers succinct empirical support for recent tiered or modular theoretical accounts of empathy.

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          Most cited references49

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          Empathy for pain involves the affective but not sensory components of pain.

          Tania Singer, Ben Seymour, John V. O'Doherty … (2004)
          Our ability to have an experience of another's pain is characteristic of empathy. Using functional imaging, we assessed brain activity while volunteers experienced a painful stimulus and compared it to that elicited when they observed a signal indicating that their loved one--present in the same room--was receiving a similar pain stimulus. Bilateral anterior insula (AI), rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), brainstem, and cerebellum were activated when subjects received pain and also by a signal that a loved one experienced pain. AI and ACC activation correlated with individual empathy scores. Activity in the posterior insula/secondary somatosensory cortex, the sensorimotor cortex (SI/MI), and the caudal ACC was specific to receiving pain. Thus, a neural response in AI and rostral ACC, activated in common for "self" and "other" conditions, suggests that the neural substrate for empathic experience does not involve the entire "pain matrix." We conclude that only that part of the pain network associated with its affective qualities, but not its sensory qualities, mediates empathy.
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            A cortical area selective for visual processing of the human body.

            P E Downing, Y Jiang, M Shuman … (2001)
            Despite extensive evidence for regions of human visual cortex that respond selectively to faces, few studies have considered the cortical representation of the appearance of the rest of the human body. We present a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies revealing substantial evidence for a distinct cortical region in humans that responds selectively to images of the human body, as compared with a wide range of control stimuli. This region was found in the lateral occipitotemporal cortex in all subjects tested and apparently reflects a specialized neural system for the visual perception of the human body.
            Article 0 comments Cited 436 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
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              The social neuroscience of empathy.

              Tania Singer, Claus Lamm (2009)
              The phenomenon of empathy entails the ability to share the affective experiences of others. In recent years social neuroscience made considerable progress in revealing the mechanisms that enable a person to feel what another is feeling. The present review provides an in-depth and critical discussion of these findings. Consistent evidence shows that sharing the emotions of others is associated with activation in neural structures that are also active during the first-hand experience of that emotion. Part of the neural activation shared between self- and other-related experiences seems to be rather automatically activated. However, recent studies also show that empathy is a highly flexible phenomenon, and that vicarious responses are malleable with respect to a number of factors--such as contextual appraisal, the interpersonal relationship between empathizer and other, or the perspective adopted during observation of the other. Future investigations are needed to provide more detailed insights into these factors and their neural underpinnings. Questions such as whether individual differences in empathy can be explained by stable personality traits, whether we can train ourselves to be more empathic, and how empathy relates to prosocial behavior are of utmost relevance for both science and society.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Nicholas Fallon
                Carl Roberts
                Andrej Stancak
                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
                Journal ID (publisher-id): scan
                Title: Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
                Publisher: Oxford University Press
                ISSN (Print): 1749-5016
                ISSN (Electronic): 1749-5024
                Publication date Collection: July 2020
                Publication date (Electronic): 29 June 2020
                Publication date PMC-release: 29 June 2020
                Volume: 15
                Issue: 7
                Pages: 709-723
                Affiliations
                Department of Psychological Sciences , University of Liverpool, Liverpool L697ZA, UK
                Department of Psychological Sciences , University of Liverpool, Liverpool L697ZA, UK
                Department of Psychological Sciences , University of Liverpool, Liverpool L697ZA, UK
                Author notes
                Correspondence should be addressed to Nicholas Fallon, Department of Psychological Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK. E-mail: nickfal@ 123456liverpool.ac.uk .
                Article
                Publisher ID: nsaa090
                DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa090
                PMC ID: 7511882
                PubMed ID: 32608498
                SO-VID: 3badf14f-a0c2-4210-b4ff-88f9a0b9b951
                Copyright © © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press.
                License:

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                Date received : 12 November 2019
                Date revision received : 6 June 2020
                Date accepted : 15 June 2020
                Page count
                Pages: 15
                Categories
                Subject: AcademicSubjects/SCI01880
                Subject: Original Manuscript

                ScienceOpen disciplines: Neurosciences
                Keywords: activation likelihood estimation,neuroimaging,perception action model
                Data availability:
                ScienceOpen disciplines: Neurosciences
                Keywords: activation likelihood estimation, neuroimaging, perception action model

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