Acevedo Bianca P, Aron Elaine N, Aron Arthur, Sangster Matthew-Donald, Collins Nancy, Brown Lucy L
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, California.
Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University New York, New York.
Brain Behav. 2014 Jul;4(4):580-94. doi: 10.1002/brb3.242. Epub 2014 Jun 23.
Theory and research suggest that sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), found in roughly 20% of humans and over 100 other species, is a trait associated with greater sensitivity and responsiveness to the environment and to social stimuli. Self-report studies have shown that high-SPS individuals are strongly affected by others' moods, but no previous study has examined neural systems engaged in response to others' emotions.
This study examined the neural correlates of SPS (measured by the standard short-form Highly Sensitive Person [HSP] scale) among 18 participants (10 females) while viewing photos of their romantic partners and of strangers displaying positive, negative, or neutral facial expressions. One year apart, 13 of the 18 participants were scanned twice.
Across all conditions, HSP scores were associated with increased brain activation of regions involved in attention and action planning (in the cingulate and premotor area [PMA]). For happy and sad photo conditions, SPS was associated with activation of brain regions involved in awareness, integration of sensory information, empathy, and action planning (e.g., cingulate, insula, inferior frontal gyrus [IFG], middle temporal gyrus [MTG], and PMA).
As predicted, for partner images and for happy facial photos, HSP scores were associated with stronger activation of brain regions involved in awareness, empathy, and self-other processing. These results provide evidence that awareness and responsiveness are fundamental features of SPS, and show how the brain may mediate these traits.
理论与研究表明,感官加工敏感性(SPS)存在于约20%的人类及100多种其他物种中,是一种与对环境和社会刺激具有更高敏感性及反应性相关的特质。自我报告研究显示,高感官加工敏感性个体受他人情绪的影响很大,但此前尚无研究考察对他人情绪做出反应时所涉及的神经系统。
本研究在18名参与者(10名女性)观看其浪漫伴侣及陌生人展现积极、消极或中性面部表情的照片时,考察了感官加工敏感性(通过标准简版高敏感人群[HSP]量表测量)的神经关联。18名参与者中有13名在相隔一年的时间里接受了两次扫描。
在所有条件下,HSP得分均与参与注意力和行动规划的脑区(扣带回和运动前区[PMA])激活增加相关。对于快乐和悲伤照片条件下的数据而言,感官加工敏感性与参与意识、感官信息整合、共情和行动规划的脑区激活相关(如扣带回、脑岛、额下回[IFG]、颞中回[MTG]和运动前区)。
正如预期的那样,对于伴侣照片和快乐的面部照片,HSP得分与参与意识、共情及自我-他人加工的脑区更强激活相关。这些结果证明了意识和反应性是感官加工敏感性的基本特征,并展示了大脑如何介导这些特质。