The Neural Basis of Empathy
Abstract
Empathy--the ability to share the feelings of others--is fundamental to our emotional and social lives. Previous human imaging studies focusing on empathy for others' pain have consistently shown activations in regions also involved in the direct pain experience, particularly anterior insula and anterior and midcingulate cortex. These findings suggest that empathy is, in part, based on shared representations for firsthand and vicarious experiences of affective states. Empathic responses are not static but can be modulated by person characteristics, such as degree of alexithymia. It has also been shown that contextual appraisal, including perceived fairness or group membership of others, may modulate empathic neuronal activations. Empathy often involves coactivations in further networks associated with social cognition, depending on the specific situation and information available in the environment. Empathy-related insular and cingulate activity may reflect domain-general computations representing and predicting feeling states in self and others, likely guiding adaptive homeostatic responses and goal-directed behavior in dynamic social contexts.
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Cortical regions involved in emotional processing and decision-making, including the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and insular cortex, have been implicated in social function in rodents and humans alike.
“Cortical regions involved in emotional processing and decision-making, including the mPFC, ACC, and IC, have also been implicated in social function in rodents and humans alike [81,82,83].”
From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [82]
There is evidence of a neural basis for empathy derived from brain studies involving functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), particularly within the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex.
“There is also evidence of a neural basis for empathy derived from brain studies involving functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), particularly within the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex [35].”
From The process and outcomes of chronic low back pain treatment provided by osteopathic and allopathic physicians: a retrospective cohort study (2023) · cites this paper as [35]
Such studies have demonstrated consistency in activations in parts of the pain network elicited by first-hand pain experience and vicariously felt pain.
“Such studies have demonstrated consistency in activations in parts of the pain network elicited by first-hand pain experience (e.g., by the patient) and vicariously felt pain (e.g., by the physician).”
From The process and outcomes of chronic low back pain treatment provided by osteopathic and allopathic physicians: a retrospective cohort study (2023) · cites this paper as [35]
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Mahayana, I. T., Banissy, M. J., Chen, C.-Y., Walsh, V., Juan, C.-H., & Muggleton, N. G. (2014) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00047 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Empathy and Alterity in Psychiatry
Kirmayer, L. J. (2015) · Re-Visioning Psychiatry · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139424745.009 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Pain and social decision-making: New insights from the social framing effect
Gu, R., Liu, J., & Cui, F. (2019) · Brain Science Advances · doi:10.26599/bsa.2019.9050020 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Patient Satisfaction With Medical Care for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pain Research Registry Study
Licciardone, J. C., Patel, S., Kandukuri, P., Beeton, G., Nyalakonda, R., & Aryal, S. (2023) · The Annals of Family Medicine · doi:10.1370/afm.2949 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Dirupo, G., Corradi-Dell’Acqua, C., Kashef, M., Debbané, M., & Badoud, D. (2020) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2020.05.010 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Examining empathy deficits across familial forms of frontotemporal dementia within the GENFI cohort
Foster, P. H., Russell, L. L., Peakman, G., Convery, R. S., Bouzigues, A., Greaves, C. V., Bocchetta, M., Cash, D. M., van Swieten, J. C., Jiskoot, L. C., et al. (2022) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2022.01.012 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Structure of darkness: the dark triad, the dark” empathy and the dark’ narcissism.
Gojković, V., Dostanić, J. S., & Đurić, V. (2022) · Primenjena psihologija · doi:10.19090/pp.v15i2.2380 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Bernhardt, B. C., & Singer, T.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (DE)
- Venue
- Annual Review of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2012-07-21
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-23
- ISSN
- 0147-006X (ISSN-L)
- 1545-4126
- OpenAlex
- W2139749000
- Cited by
- 952
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 58 · 2023: 50 · 2022: 74 · 2021: 86 · 2020: 74 · 2019: 95 · 2018: 78 · 2017: 74 · 2016: 80 · 2015: 75 · 2014: 62 · 2013: 57 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 8.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annual Review of Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Empathy and Medical Education
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- empathy, neural basis of empathy, vicarious pain, shared representations, anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, midcingulate cortex, alexithymia, perceived fairness, group membership, social cognition, affective states
- MeSH terms
- Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Empathy, Gyrus Cinguli, Humans, Neural Pathways, Pain, Social Behavior
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