Neural correlates of empathy and emotion

Question 1

What is empathy?

Answer 1

It is complicated:

Emotional vs Cognitive
Reactive vs Parallel
Direct vs Non-Direct

Emotional, reactive, direct= Emotional contagion-reflection

Cognitive, Parallel, Non-Direct = Awareness, non-congruent emotions

Question 2

What are the most widely used empathy distinctions?

Answer 2

Cognitive- understantding someones mental state

Affective-Emotional contagion

Personal Distress-A self orientated emotional response to another emotional state

Question 3

What is the relationship between Personal Distress and empathy

Answer 3

They are negatively correlated

Question 4

What is the relationship between compassion and empathy in the west?

Answer 4

Preston and Hofelch:

Sometimes synonymous,

Involved in true empathy

Affective empathy, but without the contagion and feeling sorry for while staying separate.

Question 5

How does Buddhism refer to compassion?

Answer 5

Loose translation of “nying Je”,

Compassion without the pity, instead, all about connection.

4 steps:

Acknowledging the suffering of ourselves and others

Suffering is universal

Accepting it

Taking responsive not reactive action

Question 6

What are the main differences between referential and non-referential compassion in Buddhism?

Answer 6

Referential occurs only with regards to another and there closeness to them.

Non-referetial is unchangeable, general love and care for everyone regardless of closeness. Can be cruel.

Question 7

Constructivist and innastist schools see compassion is what ways?

Answer 7

Complimentary, but separate approaches to insight and Samatha.

Love and kindness can be trained in different ways.

Innastist schools see it as a result of stage 4 of mindfulness,

For Dzogen and Muhudra - can practice it on the way to Non-dulaity.

For Zen- you cannot practice

Question 8

What is the most common approach to compassion in Theravada schools?

Answer 8

Love and Kindness, or Metta.

Toward self and all the way to others.

Question 9

What impact does MBCT and MBSR compassion training have?

Answer 9

Improvements in clinical symptoms.

Question 10

Who pioneered the research into empathy and neuroscience?

Answer 10

Tara Signer

Question 11

What was the general understanding of empathy fro pain before Singer et al’s study?

Answer 11

That empathy for pain was generated from areas associated with sensory feeling of pain and the affective reaction of pain.

Question 12

What was the design of Singer et al’s study?

Answer 12

16 couples put through a fMRI to see reaction to pain in own hand vs others hand

Question 13

What did Singer et al find?

Answer 13

Pain in oneself is unique to Somatosensory and Posterior insula.

Empathetic pain is associated with affective areas, anterior insula, and not somatosensory areas.

Question 14

What did Lamm et al’s meta analysis find with regards to pain and empathy?

Answer 14

Similar to Singer they found anterior insula, rostral anterior and cingulate cortex were activated when empathic pain is felt

Question 15

What did Cheng et al find regarding empathy?

Answer 15

They found images of pain when applied to self, loved ones, and stranger activated SMA and ACC in differing strengths. Self and Loved one being the strongest.

The affective empathy response only arises with those we see as the same or close to us. Those outside the group will receive cognitive empathy at best.

We know this as the rTPJ is involved in ToM.

Question 16

Who is Matthieu Richard

Answer 16

He was the son of a French philosopher and a successful biochemist. I then became a monk and now continues his interest in science by taking part in fMRI scans

Question 17

What was the disagreement between Richard and Singer?

Answer 17

Tania Singer showed the findings of “affective and not sensory empathy” study and concluded that there was a hierarchy of emotional contagion, empathy and compassion.

Richard argued that true compassion is separate to the pain and affective empathy or emotional distress.

Question 18

What did Singer find with regards to Richard’s fMRI?

Answer 18

Thats the usual areas of brain activity were activated by emotional distress- Anterior insula/ interceptive cortex

When he generated compassion the reward areas lit up VTA, substantial nigra, globes plaids and striatum.

Question 19

What theoretical framework was developed following the surprising findings of Singer’s study on Richard?

Answer 19

That empathy can follow two distinct routes.

Compassion- pro-social behaviour, other related emotion, positive feelings

Personal Distress: withdraw , negative emotions, self-related emotions

Question 20

What did the Klimecki study find?

Answer 20

Subjects were trained in either compassion or memory training.

Then show high and low emotional videos and reported positive or negative feelings.

Compassion training was able to increase positive affect and empathy in low emotional videos.

Question 21

What did Klimecki’s follow up study show?

Answer 21

In this study training was divided into empathy and compassion vs memory training.

In empathy training they were asked to think of themselves in difficult scenarios and then close people in suffering, as well as strangers and all people.

Compassion training: Past suffering was asked to met with care via mantras, again then extended to others.

Empathy ratings were higher after empathy training, but only compassion training was capable of increasing positive affect.

Empathy training activated bi-lateral anterior insula and ACC,

Compassion activated pleasure OFC, Ventral striatum, and pleasure areas

Question 22

How do the neural correlates match up with Singers theoretical framework of empathy and compassion?

Answer 22

Compassion: OFC, Ventral striatum, VTA/ SN

Empathy: ACC, and Anterior Insula