Dept. of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0308, United States.
Dept. of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0308, United States.
Neuroimage. 2017 Jul 15;155:312-321. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.05.006. Epub 2017 May 5.
While there is substantial overlap in the neural systems underlying empathy for people we know as opposed to strangers, social distance has been shown to significantly moderate empathic neural responses towards the negative experiences of others. Intriguingly however, variance in empathic neural responses towards known and unknown targets has not been reflected by behavioral differences as indexed by self-reported empathic ratings. One explanation for this disconnect is that empathic evaluations of known and unknown individuals draw on different bases (e.g. target identity/reactions) within the empathic process. To test this hypothesis, we utilized high density EEG to assess how individuating targets with personal names moderated the link between behavioral pain ratings and attentional processing oriented towards (a) initial target processing and (b) subsequent expressions target discomfort. Consistent with prior findings, no differences in pain ratings between individuated and unindividuated targets was observed. However, individual mean pain rating differences for individuated targets was strongly positively related to attentional processing levels, indexed by the P300, during the initial presentation of those targets, a relationship absent for unindividuated targets. In contrast, pain ratings for unindividuated targets was positively related to levels of attentional processing, indexed by the Late Positive Potential (LPP), during the subsequent discomfort expression stage. Furthermore, the LPP response to individuated target discomfort was positively linked to behavioral measures of emotional expressivity whereas the LPP response to unindividuated target discomfort was positively associated with cognitive appraisal. These findings suggest that individuation can significantly shift the bases of empathic responding.
虽然在我们对熟人的同理心和对陌生人的同理心的神经基础方面存在大量重叠，但社会距离已被证明会显著调节对他人负面经历的同理心神经反应。然而，有趣的是，对熟人的同理心神经反应的差异并没有通过自我报告的同理心评分所反映的行为差异来反映。对于这种脱节的一种解释是，对熟人的同理心评价和对陌生人的同理心评价基于同理心过程中的不同基础（例如目标身份/反应）。为了验证这一假设，我们利用高密度 EEG 来评估在个人名字的作用下，个体目标是如何调节行为疼痛评分与注意力处理之间的关系，其中包括（a）对初始目标的处理和（b）对后续目标不适的表达。与先前的发现一致，未观察到个体化和非个体化目标之间的疼痛评分有差异。然而，对于个体化目标，个体平均疼痛评分差异与注意力处理水平呈强烈正相关，该水平由 P300 指数表示，这与非个体化目标的情况不同。相比之下，非个体化目标的疼痛评分与注意力处理水平呈正相关，该水平由晚期正电位（LPP）指数表示，而晚期正电位（LPP）则与非个体化目标的不适表达阶段相关。此外，个体化目标不适的 LPP 反应与行为情感表达的测量呈正相关，而个体化目标不适的 LPP 反应与认知评估呈正相关。这些发现表明，个体化可以显著改变同理心反应的基础。
