Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel.
The Gonda brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2018 Feb 1;13(2):203-215. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsy005.
Previous research has demonstrated that the Action-Observation Network (AON) is involved in both emotional-embodiment (empathy) and action-embodiment mechanisms. In this study, we hypothesized that interfering with the AON will impair action recognition and that this impairment will be modulated by empathy levels. In Experiment 1 (n = 90), participants were asked to recognize facial expressions while their facial motion was restricted. In Experiment 2 (n = 50), we interfered with the AON by applying transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to the motor cortex. In both experiments, we found that interfering with the AON impaired the performance of participants with high empathy levels; however, for the first time, we demonstrated that the interference enhanced the performance of participants with low empathy. This novel finding suggests that the embodiment module may be flexible, and that it can be enhanced in individuals with low empathy by simple manipulation of motor activation.
先前的研究表明，动作观察网络（AON）参与了情感体现（同理心）和动作体现机制。在这项研究中，我们假设干扰 AON 将损害动作识别，并且这种损害将受到同理心水平的调节。在实验 1（n=90）中，参与者被要求在限制面部运动的同时识别面部表情。在实验 2（n=50）中，我们通过对运动皮层施加经颅直流电刺激来干扰 AON。在这两个实验中，我们发现干扰 AON 会损害同理心水平高的参与者的表现；然而，这是首次证明这种干扰会增强同理心水平低的参与者的表现。这一新颖的发现表明，体现模块可能具有灵活性，并且可以通过简单地操纵运动激活来增强同理心水平低的个体的体现。
