The DOI matches its Crossref record; 36 of the 36 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Neural Bases for Empathy
Open accessAbstract
Human empathy relies on the ability to share emotions as well as the ability to understand the other's thoughts, desires, and feelings. Recent evidence points to 2 separate systems for empathy: an emotional system that supports our ability to empathize emotionally and a cognitive system that involves cognitive understanding of the other's perspective. Converging evidence from neuroimaging and lesion studies shows that a neural network that includes the inferior frontal gyrus and the inferior parietal lobule is necessary for emotion recognition and emotional contagion. On the other hand, the involvement of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, and the medial temporal lobe in self-reflection and autobiographical memory places these key regions as necessary for cognitive empathy. The proposed dissociation between these systems is supported by recent neurochemical experiments involving administration of oxytocin as well as by ethological, psychiatric, and developmental studies. Finally, although the emotional and cognitive systems appear to work independently, every empathic response may still evoke both components to some extent, depending on the social context.
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“Similar to previous findings (Fan et al., 2011; Lamm et al., 2011; Shamay-Tsoory, 2011), whole-brain analyses of the contrast of painful vs. neutral expressions revealed activations in both the empathy network, including the anterior cingulate and bilateral AI/inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and the theory-of-mind network, including the mPFC, left TPJ, and right temporal pole (TP) (all activations”
From A neurobiological association of revenge propensity during intergroup conflict (2020) · cites this paper as Shamay-Tsoory, 2011
In the citing paper
“Empathy is a multidimensional construct, entailing cognitive processes of perspective-taking, to make inferences about others’ mental states (cognitive empathy, CE), as well as emotional processes reflecting a direct affective reaction involving understanding, sharing, and responding appropriately to others’ feelings (emotional empathy, EE) (Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2009; Shamay-Tsoory, 2011; Bern”
From Oxytocin Enhancement of Emotional Empathy: Generalization Across Cultures and Effects on Amygdala Activity (2018) · cites this paper as Shamay-Tsoory, 2011
Citations
Cites
Empathy: its ultimate and proximate bases
Preston, S. D., & de Waal, F. B. M. (2002) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x02000018 · Cited by 4,126
Meeting of minds: the medial frontal cortex and social cognition
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Putting the Altruism Back into Altruism: The Evolution of Empathy
de Waal, F. B. M. (2008) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093625 · Cited by 2,483 · cited 2×
“De Waal (2008) suggests that the phylogenetically earliest system is the emotional contagion system, in which one is affected by another’s emotional or arousal state.”
BackgroundDoes the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? 30 years later
Call, J., & Tomasello, M. (2008) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.02.010 · Cited by 1,592
Shamay-Tsoory, S. G., Aharon-Peretz, J., & Perry, D. (2009) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awn279 · Cited by 1,544
Niedenthal, P. M. (2007) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1136930 · Cited by 1,406
Understanding others' actions and goals by mirror and mentalizing systems: a meta-analysis
Van Overwalle, F., & Baetens, K. (2009) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.06.009 · Cited by 1,329
Dziobek, I., Rogers, K., Fleck, S., Bahnemann, M., Heekeren, H. R., Wolf, O. T., & Convit, A. (2008) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-007-0486-x · Cited by 951
Social Modulation of Pain as Evidence for Empathy in Mice
Langford, D. J., Crager, S. E., Shehzad, Z., Smith, S. B., Sotocinal, S. G., Levenstadt, J. S., Chanda, M. L., Levitin, D. J., & Mogil, J. S. (2006) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1128322 · Cited by 865
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind
Kidd, D. C., & Castano, E. (2013) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1239918 · Cited by 1,642
Social cognition in schizophrenia
Green, M. F., Horan, W. P., & Lee, J. (2015) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn4005 · Cited by 1,159
Nonsocial and social cognition in schizophrenia: current evidence and future directions
Green, M. F., Horan, W. P., & Lee, J. (2019) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20624 · Cited by 612
Neuroanatomical and neurochemical bases of theory of mind
Abu-Akel, A. M., & Shamay‐Tsoory, S. (2011) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.07.012 · Cited by 659
Understanding the minds of others: A neuroimaging meta-analysis
Molenberghs, P., Johnson, H., Henry, J. D., & Mattingley, J. B. (2016) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.03.020 · Cited by 570
Metadata
- Authors
- Shamay-Tsoory, S. G.
- Affiliations
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Israel,
- Venue
- The Neuroscientist
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-11-11
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 18-24
- ISSN
- 1073-8584 (ISSN-L)
- 1089-4098
- OpenAlex
- W2149260122
- Cited by
- 1,059
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 58 · 2025: 75 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 68 · 2022: 80 · 2021: 99 · 2020: 129 · 2019: 68 · 2018: 63 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 66 · 2015: 64 · 2014: 50 · 2013: 51 · 2012: 36
- FWCI
- 4.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Neuroscientist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- empathy, neural basis of empathy, affective empathy, cognitive empathy, emotional contagion, emotion recognition, inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, medial temporal lobe, self-reflection, autobiographical memory, oxytocin
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Empathy, Humans, Neural Pathways
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