brain imaging studies of empathy and compassion- gaelle desbordes

7/27/2019 Brain Imaging Studies of Empathy and Compassion- Gaelle Desbordes

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Brain imaging studies of Empathy

and Compassion

Gaelle DesbordesCCARE Summer Research Institute

July 2013



The neural basis of empathy

Bernhardt & Singer, Annual Review in

Neuroscience 2012



Neural basis of empathy for pain

Bernhardt & Singer, Ann. Rev. Neurosci., 2012

Anterior InsulaAnterior/Middle

Cingulate Cortex



Cue-based experiments




Cue-based experiments stimulate the

Mentalizing (Theory of Mind) network




Picture-based experiments stimulate

the Mirror-Neuron network




Empathy, and corresponding insula activation,

are modulated by individual traits such as

alexithymia




Empathy response to another player’s suffering

is modulated by their perceived fairness

Singer et al., Science, 2006; Bernhardt & Singer, Ann. Rev. Neurosci., 2012

Anterior Insula (AI)



Empathy response to another player’s suffering

is modulated by their perceived fairness

Singer et al., Science, 2006; Bernhardt & Singer, Ann. Rev. Neurosci., 2012

Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc)



Empathy response to another player’s

suffering is modulated by

ingroup/outgroup membership

Hein et al., Neuron, 2010; Bernhardt & Singer, Ann. Rev. Neurosci., 2012



Love hurts: an fMRI study

Cheng, Chen, Li, Chou & Decety, NeuroImage 2010



Empathy for pain in 3 different

perspective-taking conditions

18Cheng et al., NeuroImage, 2010



Empathy for pain in loved-one vs. stranger

engage different brain regions

19Cheng et al., NeuroImage, 2010



Compassion meditation enhances empathic

accuracy and related neural activity

Mascaro, Rilling, Negi & Raison, Social Cognitive & Affective

Neuroscience 2013



The Compassion Attention Longitudinal

Meditation (CALM) study

• healthy subjects, 25-55 years-old

• 8-week intervention, 2 hours/week

• 3 randomized groups:

– Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) – Mindful-Attention Training (shamatha meditation)

– Active control

• Homework: meditate 20-30 min every day

21



Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET):

testing “Mentalizing” abilities

22Mascaro et al., SCAN , 2013



23Mascaro et al., SCAN , 2013

After compassion

training, increased

activation in“mentalizing” areas



Functional neural plasticity and associated

changes in positive affect after compassion

training

Klimecki, Leiberg, Lamm & Singer, Cerebral Cortex 2013



26Klimecki et al., Cerebral Cortex , 2013

Socio-Affective Video Task




Subjective ratings of

empathy

Regions parametrically

modulated by self-

reported empathy:



Study design

• 18 –35 year-old females

• 1-day (6-hr) course in loving-kindness meditation

• Guided practices of 15 –30 min each

•

Participants kept practicing for a few additional hours, duringevening classes, laboratory assessments (3x45 min), and at

home.

• Control group: Memory training.

29




Changes in positive affect, negative affect, and

empathy after Compassion or Memory training



31

Effects of COM and MEM training on brain

response to HE videos



Conclusion: Effects of one-day training

in compassion meditation

1. Increased positive affect, even in response to others’ suffering

2. Stronger activations in a specific neural network including the

mOFC, pallidum, putamen, and VTA/SN—brain regions

previously implicated in positive valuation, love, and

affiliation




Differential pattern of functional brain

plasticity after compassion and empathy

training

Klimecki, Leiberg, Ricard & Singer, Social Cognitive &

Affective Neuroscience 2013



Study design:

empathy, followed by compassion, training

vs. memory training

34Klimecki et al., SCAN , 2013



Empathy and compassion engage

distinct brain networks

35Klimecki et al., SCAN , 2013



36

Empathy, compassion, memory training:

different effects on

empathy- and compassion-related brain regions

Klimecki et al., SCAN , 2013



Effects of mindful-attention and compassion

meditation training on amygdala response to

emotional stimuli in an ordinary, non-

meditative state

Desbordes, Negi, Pace, Wallace, Raison & Schwartz, Frontiers

in Human Neuroscience 2012



PRE POST

Amygdala response to emotional

images, PRE/POST 8-week training

p<0.05

PRE POST

PRE POST

Control

PRE POST

PRE POST PRE POST*

*

Desbordes et al., Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2012 38

Compassion

Meditation

Mindful-Attention

Meditation



Temporo-Parietal Junction (TPJ):

global decrease

Control Compassion

Meditation

PRE POST PRE POST PRE POST

PRE POST PRE POSTPRE POST

**

****

*

p<0.05 p<0.05

39

Mindful-Attention

Meditation



Right Anterior Insula: global decrease

40

PRE POST PRE POST

* p<0.05

PRE POST

Control MAT Compassion



Compassion training alters altruism and

neural responses to suffering

Weng, Fox, Schackman, Stodola, Caldwell, Olson,

Rogers & Davidson, Psychological Science 2013



Study design

• COM: Loving-kindness and compassion training,inspired from Tibetan tradition, similar to CBCT

• REA: Active control: Reappraisal technique (from CBT)

• 2 weeks, 30-min per day (guided practice)

• Healthy 18-45 y.o., N=20 COM, N=21 REA.

• PRE and POST: fMRI task: watch IAPS images (sufferingor neutral) while applying training (COM or REA)

•POST only: play redistribution game with “real” playersover the Internet



Hypotheses

• 2 brain systems for empathy: – Experience sharing (putting yourself in someone else’s

shoes)

– Mentalizing (social inferences and self-referential

processes)• Altruistic responses to others’ suffering can be

strengthened through 2 regulatory pathways: – Decreased personal distress via stronger emotion

regulation (increased PFC, decreased Amyg) – Increased empathic concern (increased Ant Insula and

NAcc)



Redistribution game



Weng et al., Psych Sci, 2013



Conclusions• Compassion trainees were more altruistic in redistribution game

than reappraisal trainees

• In COM group, greater redistribution was associated with greateractivation in right inferior parietal cortex when watching IAPSimages of suffering (vs. neutral images) while evoking compassion.(No such association in REA group.)

• Similar effect in R DLPFC (with opposite (!) association in REAgroup).

• In COM group, greater redistribution tended to be associated (N/S)with higher DLPFC-NAcc connectivity: maybe increased positiveappraisal of aversive stimuli, e.g. enhancing the reward value of thevictim’s well-being (e.g., caring) and increasing the anticipated

reward of helping the victim.• In REA group, lower redistribution was significantly associated with

higher DLPFC-NAcc connectivity: goal was to decrease personalnegative emotions?

brain imaging studies of empathy and compassion- gaelle desbordes

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