Research Institute for Neuroscience, Education and Didactics, Patrizio Paoletti Foundation for Development and Communication, Assisi, Italy; Neurophysiology and Pharmacology Department, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
Department of Criminology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Prog Brain Res. 2024;287:217-245. doi: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2024.05.004. Epub 2024 May 27.
Empathy is a fundamental social ability that allows humans to infer others' emotions and intentions. Empathy is thought to be rooted in bodily sensations coming from the autonomic nervous system. In parallel, the functionality and perceptions coming from the autonomic nervous system could be improved by practicing activities that involve mind-body interactions, such as meditation. Furthermore, perceptions from the autonomic nervous system are thought to be important in the embodiment of abstract concepts. Consequently, in the current study, we collected data online from 581 participants and explored the associations between levels of empathy and (1) the practice of meditation, music, and sports; (2) the impact of self-report measures on bodily awareness and reactivity; and (3) the embodiment of abstract concepts in interoception. In line with previous studies, Meditators were found to have higher empathy scores than Non-Meditators. In addition, lower levels of autonomic reactivity in organs above the diaphragm were associated with higher empathy. Finally, we also observed that empathy was positively associated with interoceptive components of abstract concepts in those participants with high autonomic reactivity. Taken together, the results suggest that meditation practice and having low autonomic reactivity are associated with empathy, arguably through the downregulation of autonomic responses. Implications for mind-body interaction in meditation and its role in promoting empathy are discussed.
同理心是一种基本的社交能力，使人类能够推断他人的情绪和意图。同理心被认为根植于自主神经系统产生的身体感觉。与此同时，通过练习涉及身心互动的活动，如冥想，可以改善自主神经系统的功能和感知。此外，自主神经系统的感知被认为在抽象概念的体现中很重要。因此，在当前的研究中，我们从 581 名参与者那里在线收集数据，探索同理心水平与（1）冥想、音乐和运动的练习；（2）自我报告测量对身体意识和反应性的影响；以及（3）内感受中抽象概念的体现之间的关联。与先前的研究一致，冥想者的同理心得分高于非冥想者。此外，横膈膜以上器官的自主反应性较低与同理心较高有关。最后，我们还观察到，在自主反应性较高的参与者中，同理心与抽象概念的内感受成分呈正相关。总之，研究结果表明，冥想练习和较低的自主反应性与同理心有关，这可以说是通过自主反应的下调来实现的。讨论了冥想中的身心互动及其在促进同理心方面的作用。
