Jiao Can, Wang Ting, Peng Xiaozhe, Cui Fang
College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2017 Oct 10;11:498. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00498. eCollection 2017.
Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is associated with deficits in social communication and avoidance of social contact. It has been hypothesized that people with IAD may have an impaired capacity for empathy. The purpose of the current study was to examine the processing of empathy for others' pain in IADs. Event-related potentials produced in response to pictures showing others in painful and non-painful situations were recorded in 16 IAD subjects and 16 healthy controls (HCs). The N1, P2, N2, P3, and late positive potential components were compared between the two groups. Robust picture × group interactions were observed for N2 and P3. The painful pictures elicited larger N2 and P3 amplitudes than the non-painful pictures did only in the HC group but not in the IAD group. The results of this study suggest that both of the early automatic and of the later cognitive processes of pain empathy may be impaired in IADs. This study provides psychophysical evidence of empathy deficits in association with IAD. Further studies combining multidimensional measurements of empathy are needed to confirm these findings.
网络成瘾障碍（IAD）与社交沟通缺陷及回避社交接触有关。据推测，患有IAD的人可能共情能力受损。本研究的目的是检验IAD患者对他人疼痛的共情加工情况。对16名IAD受试者和16名健康对照者（HCs）记录了他们在观看显示他人处于疼痛和非疼痛情境图片时产生的事件相关电位。比较了两组之间的N1、P2、N2、P3和晚期正电位成分。在N2和P3方面观察到了显著的图片×组间交互作用。仅在HC组中，疼痛图片引发的N2和P3波幅大于非疼痛图片，而在IAD组中并非如此。本研究结果表明，IAD患者在疼痛共情的早期自动加工和后期认知加工过程中可能均受损。本研究为与IAD相关的共情缺陷提供了心理物理学证据。需要进一步结合共情的多维度测量进行研究以证实这些发现。
