Cited by 607Action Observation and SynchronizationEmpathy and Medical EducationEmotions and Moral Behavior

I feel how you feel but not always: the empathic brain and its modulation

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Hein, Grit, Singer, Tania·2008·Current Opinion in Neurobiology

Abstract

The ability to share the other's feelings, known as empathy, has recently become the focus of social neuroscience studies. We review converging evidence that empathy with, for example, the pain of another person, activates part of the neural pain network of the empathizer, without first hand pain stimulation to the empathizer's body. The amplitude of empathic brain responses is modulated by the intensity of the displayed emotion, the appraisal of the situation, characteristics of the suffering person such as perceived fairness, and features of the empathizer such as gender or previous experience with pain-inflicting situations. Future studies in the field should address inter-individual differences in empathy, development and plasticity of the empathic brain over the life span, and the link between empathy, compassionate motivation, and prosocial behavior.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.conb.2008.07.012

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  • Research on empathy for pain indicates that under some circumstances the S2 becomes activated when individuals observe other people in physical pain.

    “Research on empathy for pain indicates, for example, that under some circumstances the S2 becomes activated when individuals observe other people in physical pain (see refs. 40 and 41 for reviews).”
  • Decoupled yet parallel representations of empathy in cortical structures such as the insula and anterior cingulate are postulated to be necessary for empathic abilities to mentalize.

    “Such decoupled yet parallel representations of empathy in cortical structures such as the insula and anterior cingulate have been postulated to be necessary for our empathic abilities to mentalize, that is, to understand the thoughts, beliefs, and intentions of others in relation to ourselves”

    From The human parental brain: In vivo neuroimaging (2011) · cites this paper as Hein and Singer, 2008

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Authors
Hein, G., & Singer, T.
Affiliations
University of Zurich (CH)
Corresponding author
Hein, Grit
Venue
Current Opinion in Neurobiology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2008-04
Volume
18
Issue
2
Pages
153-158
ISSN
0959-4388 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2107231193
Cited by
607
References
53
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 42 · 2012: 28
FWCI
4.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Current Opinion in Neurobiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Empathy and Medical Education
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
Keywords
empathy, vicarious pain, shared pain, emotional intensity, perceived fairness, gender differences, prosocial behavior
MeSH terms
Brain, Dominance, Cerebral, Emotions, Empathy, Gyrus Cinguli, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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