Empathy for pain‑related dorsolateral prefrontal activity is modulated by angry face perception

Enzi, Björn; Amirie, Scharbanu; Brüne, Martin

doi:10.1007/s00221-016-4731-4

Cited by 33Action Observation and SynchronizationPsychosomatic Disorders and Their TreatmentsFace Recognition and Perception

Empathy for pain‑related dorsolateral prefrontal activity is modulated by angry face perception

Enzi, Björn, Amirie, Scharbanu, Brüne, Martin·2016·Experimental Brain Research

DOI 10.1007/s00221-016-4731-4

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Abstract

Empathy, i.e., the ability to perceive and share another person's affective state, is associated with activity in a complex neural network, including the anterior insula, the anterior and mid-cingulate cortex, and the lateral prefrontal cortex. Here, we were interested in the question how facial emotions influence the activation of the 'pain network'. In the present study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neuronal correlates of empathy for pain and its interaction with emotional face recognition in 20 healthy subjects. We identified various brain regions commonly associated with empathy for pain, including the right mid-cingulate cortex, the left anterior insula (AI), and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), with an increased neuronal response in the left dlPFC after the presentation of angry faces. Furthermore, a negative correlation between psychological measures of alexithymia and empathy for pain-related brain activity was observed in the left AI. The dlPFC is an important brain region involved in cognitive reappraisal or in 'top-down' control of the limbic system. Our findings could therefore reflect a regulatory response associated with distancing from negatively valenced stimuli. Moreover, our results underline the involvement of the AI in empathy for pain responses and their relationship to alexithymia.

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“alexithymia is associated with impaired abilities known to rely upon interoception, such as emotion regulation (Stasiewicz et al., 2012), emotion recognition (Grynberg et al., 2012), empathy (e.g. Enzi et al., 2016; Gleichgerrcht et al., 2015; Moriguchi et al., 2007a; Silani et al., 2008), reward processing (Bibby and Ferguson, 2011; Goerlich et al., 2016; Morie et al., 2016) and decision-making,”
From Atypical interoception as a common risk factor for psychopathology: A review (2021) · cites this paper as Enzi et al., 2016

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Singer, T., Seymour, B., O'Doherty, J., Kaube, H., Dolan, R. J., & Frith, C. D. (2004) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1093535 · Cited by 3,929 · see citing works
The effects of prior pain experience on neural correlates of empathy for pain: An fMRI study
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Authors: Enzi, B., Amirie, S., & Brüne, M.
Affiliations: LWL-Universitätsklinikum Bochum (DE)
University Hospitals of the Ruhr-University of Bochum (DE)
Corresponding author: Brüne, Martin
ORCID: Brüne, Martin
Venue: Experimental Brain Research
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 2016-07-22
Volume: 234
Issue: 11
Pages: 3335-3345
ISSN: 0014-4819 (ISSN-L)
1432-1106
DOI: 10.1007/s00221-016-4731-4
OpenAlex: W2487581604
Cited by: 33
References: 49
Citations by year: 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2
FWCI: 5.78
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.springer.com/tdm (unspecified)
Locations: Experimental Brain Research (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
Keywords: empathy for pain, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, midcingulate cortex, facial emotion recognition, alexithymia, pain network, cognitive reappraisal, top-down control
MeSH terms: Facial Recognition, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Emotions, Empathy, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Functional Laterality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Oxygen, Pain, Photic Stimulation, Statistics as Topic, Prefrontal Cortex, Young Adult

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Empathy for pain‑related dorsolateral prefrontal activity is modulated by angry face perception

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