In contrast to conventional functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis across participants, item analysis allows generalizing the observed neural response patterns from a specific stimulus ...set to the entire population of stimuli. In the present study, we perform an item analysis on an fMRI paradigm (EmpaToM) that measures the neural correlates of empathy and Theory of Mind (ToM). The task includes a large stimulus set (240 emotional vs. neutral videos to probe empathic responding and 240 ToM or factual reasoning questions to probe ToM), which we tested in two large participant samples (N = 178, N = 130). Both, the empathy‐related network comprising anterior insula, anterior cingulate/dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, and dorsal temporoparietal junction/supramarginal gyrus (TPJ) and the ToM related network including ventral TPJ, superior temporal gyrus, temporal poles, and anterior and posterior midline regions, were observed across participants and items. Regression analyses confirmed that these activations are predicted by the empathy or ToM condition of the stimuli, but not by low‐level features such as video length, number of words, syllables or syntactic complexity. The item analysis also allowed for the selection of the most effective items to create optimized stimulus sets that provide the most stable and reproducible results. Finally, reproducibility was shown in the replication of all analyses in the second participant sample. The data demonstrate (a) the generalizability of empathy and ToM related neural activity and (b) the reproducibility of the EmpaToM task and its applicability in intervention and clinical imaging studies.
Successful social interactions require both affect sharing (empathy) and understanding others' mental states (Theory of Mind, ToM). As these two functions have mostly been investigated in isolation, ...the specificity of the underlying neural networks and the relation of these networks to the respective behavioral indices could not be tested. Here, we present a novel fMRI paradigm (EmpaToM) that independently manipulates both empathy and ToM. Experiments 1a/b (N=90) validated the task with established empathy and ToM paradigms on a behavioral and neural level. Experiment 2 (N=178) employed the EmpaToM and revealed clearly separable neural networks including anterior insula for empathy and ventral temporoparietal junction for ToM. These distinct networks could be replicated in task-free resting state functional connectivity. Importantly, brain activity in these two networks specifically predicted the respective behavioral indices, that is, inter-individual differences in ToM related brain activity predicted inter-individual differences in ToM performance, but not empathic responding, and vice versa. Taken together, the validated EmpaToM allows separation of affective and cognitive routes to understanding others. It may thus benefit future clinical, developmental, and intervention studies on identifying selective impairments and improvement in specific components of social cognition.
In recent years, the scientific study of meditation and psychedelic drugs has seen remarkable developments. The increased focus on meditation in cognitive neuroscience has led to a cross-cultural ...classification of standard meditation styles validated by functional and structural neuroanatomical data. Meanwhile, the renaissance of psychedelic research has shed light on the neurophysiology of altered states of consciousness induced by classical psychedelics, such as psilocybin and LSD, whose effects are mainly mediated by agonism of serotonin receptors. Few attempts have been made at bridging these two domains of inquiry, despite intriguing evidence of overlap between the phenomenology and neurophysiology of meditation practice and psychedelic states. In particular, many contemplative traditions explicitly aim at dissolving the sense of self by eliciting altered states of consciousness through meditation, while classical psychedelics are known to produce significant disruptions of self-consciousness, a phenomenon known as drug-induced ego dissolution. In this article, we discuss available evidence regarding convergences and differences between phenomenological and neurophysiological data on meditation practice and psychedelic drug-induced states, with a particular emphasis on alterations of self-experience. While both meditation and psychedelics may disrupt self-consciousness and underlying neural processes, we emphasize that neither meditation nor psychedelic states can be conceived as simple, uniform categories. Moreover, we suggest that there are important phenomenological differences even between conscious states described as experiences of self-loss. As a result, we propose that self-consciousness may be best construed as a multidimensional construct, and that "self-loss," far from being an unequivocal phenomenon, can take several forms. Indeed, various aspects of self-consciousness, including narrative aspects linked to autobiographical memory, self-related thoughts and mental time travel, and embodied aspects rooted in multisensory processes, may be differently affected by psychedelics and meditation practices. Finally, we consider long-term outcomes of experiences of self-loss induced by meditation and psychedelics on individual traits and prosocial behavior. We call for caution regarding the problematic conflation of temporary states of self-loss with "selflessness" as a behavioral or social trait, although there is preliminary evidence that correlations between short-term experiences of self-loss and long-term trait alterations may exist.
Altruistic behavior varies considerably across people and decision contexts. The relevant computational and motivational mechanisms that underlie its heterogeneity, however, are poorly understood. ...Using a charitable giving task together with multivariate decoding techniques, we identified three distinct psychological mechanisms underlying altruistic decision-making (empathy, perspective taking, and attentional reorienting) and linked them to dissociable neural computations. Neural responses in the anterior insula (AI) (but not temporoparietal junction TPJ) encoded trial-wise empathy for beneficiaries, whereas the TPJ (but not AI) predicted the degree of perspective taking. Importantly, the relative influence of both socio-cognitive processes differed across individuals: participants whose donation behavior was heavily influenced by affective empathy exhibited higher predictive accuracies for generosity in AI, whereas those who strongly relied on cognitive perspective taking showed improved predictions of generous donations in TPJ. Furthermore, subject-specific contributions of both processes for donations were reflected in participants' empathy and perspective taking responses in a separate fMRI task (EmpaToM), suggesting that process-specific inputs into altruistic choices may reflect participants' general propensity to either empathize or mentalize. Finally, using independent attention task data, we identified shared neural codes for attentional reorienting and generous donations in the posterior superior temporal sulcus, suggesting that domain-general attention shifts also contribute to generous behavior (but not in TPJ or AI). Overall, our findings demonstrate highly specific roles of AI for affective empathy and TPJ for cognitive perspective taking as precursors of prosocial behavior and suggest that these discrete routes of social cognition differentially drive intraindividual and interindividual differences in altruistic behavior.
Human societies depend on the altruistic behavior of their members, but teasing apart its underlying motivations and neural mechanisms poses a serious challenge. Using multivariate decoding techniques, we delineated three distinct processes for altruistic decision-making (affective empathy, cognitive perspective taking, and domain-general attention shifts), linked them to dissociable neural computations, and identified their relative influence across individuals. Distinguishing process-specific computations both behaviorally and neurally is crucial for developing complete theoretical and neuroscientific accounts of altruistic behavior and more effective means of increasing it. Moreover, information on the relative influence of subprocesses across individuals and its link to people's more general propensity to engage empathy or perspective taking can inform training programs to increase prosociality, considering their "fit" with different individuals.
Classical psychometric approaches in social science measure individuals' tendency to experience empathy and compassion. Using abstract questionnaire items, they place high demand on subjects' ...capacity to introspect, memorize, and generalize the corresponding emotions. We employed a Socio-affective Video Task (SoVT)-an alternative approach that measures situationally elicited emotions-and assessed its predictive power over prosocial behavior against classical questionnaires in a sample of Israeli university students. We characterized the conceptual embedding of the SoVT concerning other measures of prosocial affect and cognition, and tested group identification as an alternative precursor to prosocial behavior. Eighty participants rated their reactions to videos that presented the suffering of others or everyday scenes on scales of negative affect (providing a proxy for elicited empathy) and compassion. We then administered classical questionnaires that target empathy (the Interpersonal Reactivity Index) and compassion (the Compassionate Love Scale), as well as measures of hypothetical and real-life helping and prosocial attitudes-including conflict attitudes and intergroup bias. While compassion ratings in the SoVT failed to predict prosociality more accurately than classical questionnaires, the SoVT empathy index succeeded and correlated strongly with other precursors of prosociality. These results support video-based situational assessment as an implicit and robust alternative in the measurement of empathy-related processes.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Internalizing symptoms such as elevated stress and sustained negative affect can be important warning signs for developing mental disorders. A recent theoretical framework suggests a complex ...interplay of empathy, theory of mind (ToM), and negative thinking processes as a crucial risk combination for internalizing symptoms. To disentangle these relationships, this study utilizes neural, behavioral, and self‐report data to examine how the interplay between empathy, ToM, and negative thinking processes relates to stress and negative affect. We reanalyzed the baseline data of N = 302 healthy participants (57% female, Mage = 40.52, SDage = 9.30) who participated in a large‐scale mental training study, the ReSource project. Empathy and ToM were assessed using a validated fMRI paradigm featuring naturalistic video stimuli and via self‐report. Additional self‐report scales were employed to measure internalizing symptoms (perceived stress, negative affect) and negative thinking processes (rumination and self‐blame). Our results revealed linear associations of self‐reported ToM and empathic distress with stress and negative affect. Also, both lower and higher, compared to average, activation in the anterior insula during empathic processing and in the middle temporal gyrus during ToM performance was significantly associated with internalizing symptoms. These associations were dependent on rumination and self‐blame. Our findings indicate specific risk constellations for internalizing symptoms. Especially people with lower self‐reported ToM and higher empathic distress may be at risk for more internalizing symptoms. Quadratic associations of empathy‐ and ToM‐related brain activation with internalizing symptoms depended on negative thinking processes, suggesting differential effects of cognitive and affective functioning on internalizing symptoms. Using a multi‐method approach, these findings advance current research by shedding light on which complex risk combinations of cognitive and affective functioning are relevant for internalizing symptoms.
We used a multi‐method approach to disentangle risk combinations for internalizing symptoms. Quadratic effects of empathy‐ and theory of mind‐related brain activation on internalizing symptoms depended on negative thinking, highlighting the importance of a nuanced exploration of individual differences and interactions when examining vulnerability to internalizing symptoms.
A classical model of human attention holds that independent neural networks realize stimulus-driven reorienting and executive control of attention. Questioning full independence, the two functions ...do, however, engage overlapping networks with activations in cingulo-opercular regions such as anterior insula (AI) and a reverse pattern of activation (stimulus-driven reorienting), and deactivation (executive control) in temporoparietal junction (TPJ). To test for independent versus shared neural mechanisms underlying stimulus-driven and executive control of attention, we used fMRI and a task that isolates individual from concurrent demands in both functions. Results revealed super-additive increases of left AI activity and behavioral response costs under concurrent demands, suggesting a common bottleneck for stimulus-driven reorienting and executive control of attention. These increases were mirrored by non-additive decreases of activity in the default mode network (DMN), including posterior TPJ, regions where activity increased with off-task processes. The deactivations in posterior TPJ were spatially separated from stimulus-driven reorienting related activation in anterior TPJ, a differentiation that replicated in task-free resting state. Furthermore, functional connectivity indicated inhibitory coupling between posterior TPJ and AI during concurrent attention demands. These results demonstrate a role of AI in stimulus-driven and executive control of attention that involves down-regulation of internally directed processes in DMN.
One important aspect of metacognition is the ability to accurately evaluate one's performance. People vary widely in their metacognitive ability and in general are too confident when evaluating their ...performance. This often leads to poor decision making with potentially disastrous consequences. To further our understanding of the neural underpinnings of these processes, this fMRI study investigated inter-individual differences in metacognitive ability and effects of trial-by-trial variation in subjective feelings of confidence when making metacognitive assessments. Participants (N = 308) evaluated their performance in a high-level social and cognitive reasoning task. The results showed that higher metacognitive accuracy was associated with a decrease in activation in the anterior medial prefrontal cortex, an area previously linked to metacognition on perception and memory. Moreover, the feeling of confidence about one's choices was associated with an increase of activation in reward, memory and motor related areas including bilateral striatum and hippocampus, while less confidence was associated with activation in areas linked with negative affect and uncertainty, including dorsomedial prefrontal and bilateral orbitofrontal cortex. This might indicate that positive affect is related to higher confidence thereby biasing metacognitive decisions towards overconfidence. In support, behavioural analyses revealed that increased confidence was associated with lower metacognitive accuracy.
We investigated whether a brief mindfulness meditation programme delivered via a smartphone app improves perceived stress, self‐regulation and life satisfaction in part‐time working university ...students. Mindfulness and cognitive reappraisal were analysed as potential mediators. A total of 64 university students working at least 20 h per week during the semester were randomised to either a mindfulness‐based mobile intervention or a wait‐list control condition. Participants in the intervention group were asked to complete one training session of 10–15 min per day using the app. Psychological measures were assessed via a self‐report questionnaire at baseline and after 8 weeks. The online mindfulness programme was found to significantly decrease perceived stress (ηp2 = .180, a large effect). It also increased self‐regulation (ηp2 = .195, a large effect), mindfulness (ηp2 = .174; a large effect) and cognitive reappraisal (ηp2 = .136, a medium effect). Increments in life satisfaction were not significant. Changes in self‐regulation were mediated by increased mindfulness. Overall, the mobile application was effective in improving mental well‐being and coping abilities in a non‐clinical sample, encouraging further development of digital health treatments.
Although the processes that underlie sharing others' emotions (empathy) and understanding others' mental states (mentalizing, Theory of Mind) have received increasing attention, it is yet unclear how ...they relate to each other. For instance, are people who strongly empathize with others also more proficient in mentalizing? And (how) do the neural networks supporting empathy and mentalizing interact? Assessing both functions simultaneously in a large sample (N = 178), we show that people's capacities to empathize and mentalize are independent, both on a behavioral and neural level. Thus, strong empathizers are not necessarily proficient mentalizers, arguing against a general capacity of social understanding. Second, we applied dynamic causal modeling to investigate how the neural networks underlying empathy and mentalizing are orchestrated in naturalistic social settings. Results reveal that in highly emotional situations, empathic sharing can inhibit mentalizing-related activity and thereby harm mentalizing performance. Taken together, our findings speak against a unitary construct of social understanding and suggest flexible interplay of distinct social functions.
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