Department of Psychology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
Brain Res. 2011 Aug 8;1405:69-76. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2011.05.046. Epub 2011 May 25.
Recent research suggests a role of the human mirror neuron system in empathic processing. Electroencephalographic (EEG) mu suppression in the 8-13Hz band-range has been proposed to reflect mirror-like activation of sensorimotor cortices. We therefore investigated the relationship between suppression in the 8-13Hz range and empathic abilities as measured by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Based on previous work showing significant differences between execution- and observation-related mu suppression and on theories of empathy pointing to the importance of discriminating self from other, we predicted that the size of this difference within individuals would correlate with participants' perspective-taking abilities. Larger differences in execution- and observation-induced mu suppression were associated with greater scores on the perspective-taking subscale of the IRI. The current data are therefore consistent with the claim that neural activity reflected in mu suppression is related to empathic abilities.
最近的研究表明，人类镜像神经元系统在同理心处理中发挥作用。有人提出，8-13Hz 频段的脑电图（EEG）mu 抑制反映了感觉运动皮层的镜像激活。因此，我们研究了 8-13Hz 范围内的抑制与人际反应指数（IRI）测量的同理心能力之间的关系。基于先前的研究表明，执行相关和观察相关的 mu 抑制之间存在显著差异，以及同理心理论指出区分自我与他人的重要性，我们预测个体内部这种差异的大小与参与者的换位思考能力相关。执行和观察诱发的 mu 抑制之间更大的差异与 IRI 的换位思考子量表的得分更高相关。因此，目前的数据与神经活动反映在 mu 抑制中的说法一致，即 mu 抑制与同理心能力相关。
