The neuronal basis and ontogeny of empathy and mind reading: Review of literature and implications for future research
Abstract
Social neuro-science has recently started to investigate the neuronal mechanisms underlying our ability to understand the mental and emotional states of others. In this review, imaging research conducted on theory of mind (ToM or mentalizing) and empathy is selectively reviewed. It is proposed that even though these abilities are often used as synonyms in the literature these capacities represent different abilities that rely on different neuronal circuitry. ToM refers to our ability to understand mental states such as intentions, goals and beliefs, and relies on structures of the temporal lobe and the pre-frontal cortex. In contrast, empathy refers to our ability to share the feelings (emotions and sensations) of others and relies on sensorimotor cortices as well as limbic and para-limbic structures. It is further argued that the concept of empathy as used in lay terms refers to a multi-level construct extending from simple forms of emotion contagion to complex forms of cognitive perspective taking. Future research should investigate the relative contribution of empathizing and mentalizing abilities in the understanding of other people's states. Finally, it is suggested that the abilities to understand other people's thoughts and to share their affects display different ontogenetic trajectories reflecting the different developmental paths of their underlying neural structures. In particular, empathy develops much earlier than mentalizing abilities, because the former relys on limbic structures which develop early in ontogeny, whereas the latter rely on lateral temporal lobe and pre-frontal structures which are among the last to fully mature.
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Both shared representations (SRs) and mental state attributions (MSAs) are involved in processing information about targets' internal states.
“These 2 lines of research converge to suggest that both SRs and MSAs are involved in processing information about targets' internal states (14, 19, 20).”
From The neural bases of empathic accuracy (2009) · cites this paper as [14]
The TPJ is engaged when assessing false beliefs, detecting deception, and more generally when shifting attention away from invalid cues.
“The TPJ is engaged when assessing false beliefs (14), detecting deception (32), and more generally when shifting attention away from invalid cues (34).”
From The neural bases of empathic accuracy (2009) · cites this paper as [14]
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Early development of prosocial behavior: Current perspectives
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Executive function, mentalizing and humor in major depression
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Differential benefits of mental training types for attention, compassion, and theory of mind
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The human and animal baby schema effect: correlates of individual differences.
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Distinguishing Self and Other in Joint Action. Evidence from a Musical Paradigm
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Gray matter abnormalities in patients with narcissistic personality disorder
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Social Cognition and Interpersonal Impairments in Trauma Survivors with PTSD
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Fronto-temporal disconnectivity and symptom severity in children with autism spectrum disorder
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Poor sleep is related to lower emotional competence among adolescents
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More than words: social cognition across variants of primary progressive aphasia
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Interacting and dissociable effects of alexithymia and depression on empathy
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Anomalous bodily maps of emotions in schizophrenia
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On literary fiction and its effects on theory of mind
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Models, Mechanisms and Moderators Dissociating Empathy and Theory of Mind
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- Authors
- Singer, T.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Singer, Tania
- ORCID
- Singer, Tania
- Venue
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2006-01
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 855-863
- ISSN
- 0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2139401165
- Semantic Scholar
- 9e8448211748f9631c7324fbd41fc5c66102f349
- Cited by
- 1,079
- References
- 75
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 62 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 52 · 2020: 115 · 2019: 62 · 2018: 59 · 2017: 61 · 2016: 56 · 2015: 70 · 2014: 63 · 2013: 67 · 2012: 75
- FWCI
- 4.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Keywords
- empathy, theory of mind, mentalization, neural basis of empathy, ontogeny, emotional contagion, perspective taking, limbic system, prefrontal cortex, temporal lobe, sensorimotor cortex, social cognition
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Brain Mapping, Empathy, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Mental Processes, Research, Research Design, Review Literature as Topic, Self Concept, Social Perception
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