Schaefer Michael, Joch Marcel, Rother Nikolas
Department Naturwissenschaften, Medical School Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2021 Feb 9;15:593425. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.593425. eCollection 2021.
The concept of empathy describes our capacity to understand the emotions and intentions of others and to relate to our conspecifics. Numerous studies investigated empathy as a state as well as a stable personality trait. For example, recent studies in neuroscience suggest, among other brain areas such as the insula or the ACC, a role of the somatosensory cortices for empathy (e.g., when observing someone else being touched). Since the classic understanding of the primary somatosensory cortex is to represent touch on the body surface, we here aimed to test whether tactile performance is linked to the personality trait empathy. To test this, we examined the tactile acuity of 95 healthy participants (mean age 31 years) by using a two-point discrimination threshold task at the index fingers. Trait empathy was assessed by employing the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI), which measures self-reported empathy with four scales (empathic concern, perspective taking, fantasy, and personal distress). Results of regression analyses suggested the subscale empathic concern to be positively associated with performance in the tactile acuity task. We discuss this finding in the light of recent studies on empathy and consider possible implications of tactile training to enhance empathy.
共情的概念描述了我们理解他人情感和意图以及与同类建立联系的能力。众多研究考察了共情作为一种状态以及一种稳定的人格特质的情况。例如，最近神经科学的研究表明，除了脑岛或前扣带回等其他脑区外，体感皮层在共情中也发挥作用（例如，当观察到别人被触摸时）。由于对初级体感皮层的经典理解是表征身体表面的触觉，我们在此旨在测试触觉表现是否与人格特质共情相关。为了验证这一点，我们通过在食指上进行两点辨别阈值任务，对95名健康参与者（平均年龄31岁）的触觉敏锐度进行了检测。采用人际反应指数（IRI）评估特质共情，该指数用四个量表（共情关注、观点采择、幻想和个人痛苦）来测量自我报告的共情。回归分析结果表明，共情关注子量表与触觉敏锐度任务的表现呈正相关。我们根据最近关于共情的研究来讨论这一发现，并考虑触觉训练对增强共情的可能影响。
