The DOI matches its Crossref record; 297 of the 303 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Putting together phylogenetic and ontogenetic perspectives on empathy
Open accessAbstract
The ontogeny of human empathy is better understood with reference to the evolutionary history of the social brain. Empathy has deep evolutionary, biochemical, and neurological underpinnings. Even the most advanced forms of empathy in humans are built on more basic forms and remain connected to core mechanisms associated with affective communication, social attachment, and parental care. In this paper, we argue that it is essential to consider empathy within a neurodevelopmental framework that recognizes both the continuities and changes in socioemotional understanding from infancy to adulthood. We bring together neuroevolutionary and developmental perspectives on the information processing and neural mechanisms underlying empathy and caring, and show that they are grounded in multiple interacting systems and processes. Moreover, empathy in humans is assisted by other abstract and domain-general high-level cognitive abilities such as executive functions, mentalizing and language, as well as the ability to differentiate another's mental states from one's own, which expand the range of behaviors that can be driven by empathy.
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“The manifestation of pro-social behavior in humans requires down-regulation to prevent an individual from becoming overwhelmed by the negative emotion aroused by another’s distress (22).”
From Empathy and pro-social behavior in rats (2011) · cites this paper as [22]
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Peng, K., Yin, W., Hong, D., Xie, J., & Meng, Y. (2026) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.107300
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Lino, A. M., de Sousa, B., Alberto, I., & Nobre-Lima, L. (2026) · Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma · doi:10.1007/s40653-026-00950-y
González, S. H., Narváez, V. P. D., García, R. E. V., López‐Espuela, F., Roncero‐Martín, R., Bermeo, R. N. Z., Díaz, K. S., López-Labarca, C. E., Meza, Y. P., Ríos, L. A. R., et al. (2026) · Nurse Education Today · doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2026.107344
Group Favoritism in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Paz, E. V., Hyland, M., & Leist, M. (2026) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.1177/00332941261481784
Disgust Sensitivity Correlates With Empathy And Serum Vitamin D Levels in Early Pregnancy
Karakılıç, A., Bülbül, Ç. B., Yozgat, S. T., & Özcan, E. (2026) · Journal of Basic and Clinical Health Sciences · doi:10.30621/jbachs.1845373
Metadata
- Authors
- Decety, J., & Svetlova, M.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Society (DE)
- Venue
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-01
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-24
- ISSN
- 1878-9293 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6987713
- OpenAlex
- W2109917285
- Cited by
- 508
- References
- 303
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 57 · 2018: 49 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 40 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 4.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DukeSpace (Duke University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (BCS-0718480)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- empathy, neuroevolution, social-emotional development, emotional communication, social attachment, parental care, executive function, mentalization, language, theory of mind, caregiving
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Altruism, Brain, Cooperative Behavior, Emotions, Empathy, Biological Evolution, Humans, Human Development, Object Attachment, Oxytocin, Self Concept, Sex Characteristics, Social Perception, Parenting, Theory of Mind
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