Abstract:
My talk aims to provide an overview of recent social neuroscience research targeting the neural mechanisms of empathy. We performed a series of behavioral, ERP, fMRI and psychopharmacological studies aiming to show that experimentally reducing the first-hand experience of pain (by means of placebo analgesia) equivalently reduces empathy for pain, and that this is supported by similar neural networks and neurochemical mechanisms. Blocking placebo analgesia by means of an opioid antagonist also blocks the effects of placebo analgesia on empathy.
Another aspect that is crucial for the experience of empathy is self-other distinction (S-O-D). The experience of acute psychosocial stress affects self-other distinction, and recent behavioral and fMRI findings show that there are profound gender differences in how stress affects S-O-D, and that in men stress triggers a stronger self-centered aversive response when witnessing the pain of others, as indicated by fMRI.
