Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Nat Neurosci. 2012 Apr 15;15(5):675-80. doi: 10.1038/nn.3085.
The last decade has witnessed enormous growth in the neuroscience of empathy. Here, we survey research in this domain with an eye toward evaluating its strengths and weaknesses. First, we take stock of the notable progress made by early research in characterizing the neural systems supporting two empathic sub-processes: sharing others' internal states and explicitly considering those states. Second, we describe methodological and conceptual pitfalls into which this work has sometimes fallen, which can limit its validity. These include the use of relatively artificial stimuli that differ qualitatively from the social cues people typically encounter and a lack of focus on the relationship between brain activity and social behavior. Finally, we describe current research trends that are overcoming these pitfalls through simple but important adjustments in focus, and the future promise of empathy research if these trends continue and expand.
过去十年见证了同理心神经科学的巨大发展。在这里，我们调查了这一领域的研究，以评估其优缺点。首先，我们对早期研究在描述支持两种同理心子过程的神经系统方面所取得的显著进展进行了评估：分享他人的内部状态和明确考虑这些状态。其次，我们描述了这项工作有时会陷入的方法和概念上的陷阱，这些陷阱会限制其有效性。其中包括使用与人们通常遇到的社会线索在性质上不同的相对人为刺激，以及缺乏对大脑活动和社会行为之间关系的关注。最后，我们描述了当前的研究趋势，通过简单但重要的关注焦点调整，克服了这些陷阱，如果这些趋势继续和扩大，同理心研究将有未来的前景。
