Zepeda Antonia, Troncoso Alejandro, Pizarro Daniela, Baquedano Constanza, Gomez Rodrigo, Barria Silvia, Blanco Kevin, Martínez-Pernía David
Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile.
Faculty of Medicine, Memory and Neuropsychiatric Clinic (CMYN), Neurology Service, Hospital del Salvador, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Front Psychol. 2025 May 9;16:1570124. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1570124. eCollection 2025.
Parkinson's disease is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder that not only affects motor function but also impairs empathy. While the neurobiological changes underlying these deficits are known, the impact of PD on the lived experience of empathy remains poorly understood. This study investigates the lived experience of empathy for pain in individuals with PD, with a specific focus on embodied intersubjective synchrony.
Forty-five patients with mild to moderate PD were exposed to videos of athletes suffering falls during extreme sports. Following exposure, participants underwent phenomenological interviews to explore their embodied experiences in connection with the other's suffering. Data were analyzed through an iterative process involving three independent analyses, triangulation, and the application of advanced analytical techniques (CAQDAS, inter-rater agreement index, interactive dashboards, spider graphs) to enhance the depth of the phenomenological analysis.
This study provides a nuanced view of empathy for pain in Parkinson's disease, uncovering a spectrum of embodied intersubjective synchrony. Two primary empathic structures emerged: Embodied Resonance Empathy, marked by strong bodily and emotional connections with temporal synchronization to others' suffering through internal sensations, and Marginal Embodied Resonance Empathy, where bodily and emotional resonance is reduced or absent, relying mainly on external visual cues. Substructures of Embodied Resonance Empathy include Other-Centered Empathy, driven by a motivation to help, and Self-Centered Empathy, focused on personal discomfort. For Marginal Embodied Resonance Empathy, substructures range from Transparent Resonance Empathy, involving emotional responses without bodily sensations, to Non-Resonance Empathy, characterized by a complete absence of bodily and emotional resonance.
This study uncovers a spectrum of embodied intersubjective synchrony in empathy among individuals with PD, ranging from fully embodied synchrony, characterized by internal bodily and emotional resonance, temporally attuned to the other's suffering, to externally oriented synchrony, characterized by diminished or absent bodily and emotional resonance, relying primarily on external visual alignment with the other's suffering. These findings highlight the importance of embodied intersubjective synchrony in empathy, suggesting that targeted interventions could be essential for enhancing social cognition in PD.
帕金森病是一种常见的神经退行性疾病，不仅影响运动功能，还会损害同理心。虽然已知这些缺陷背后的神经生物学变化，但帕金森病对同理心的实际体验的影响仍知之甚少。本研究调查帕金森病患者对疼痛的同理心的实际体验，特别关注具身主体间同步性。
45名轻度至中度帕金森病患者观看了极限运动中运动员摔倒的视频。观看后，参与者接受现象学访谈，以探索他们与他人痛苦相关的具身体验。数据通过一个迭代过程进行分析，该过程包括三次独立分析、三角验证以及应用先进的分析技术（CAQDAS、评分者间一致性指数、交互式仪表板、蜘蛛图），以加深现象学分析的深度。
本研究对帕金森病患者对疼痛的同理心提供了一个细致入微的观点，揭示了一系列具身主体间同步性。出现了两种主要的共情结构：具身共鸣同理心，其特征是通过内部感觉与他人的痛苦在时间上同步，有强烈的身体和情感联系；边缘具身共鸣同理心，身体和情感共鸣减少或缺失，主要依赖外部视觉线索。具身共鸣同理心的子结构包括以他人为中心的同理心，由帮助他人的动机驱动；以自我为中心的同理心，关注个人不适。对于边缘具身共鸣同理心，子结构范围从透明共鸣同理心（涉及无身体感觉的情感反应）到非共鸣同理心（其特征是完全没有身体和情感共鸣）。
本研究揭示了帕金森病患者在同理心方面的一系列具身主体间同步性，从以内部身体和情感共鸣为特征、在时间上与他人的痛苦协调一致的完全具身同步，到以身体和情感共鸣减少或缺失为特征、主要依赖与他人痛苦的外部视觉对齐的外部导向同步。这些发现强调了具身主体间同步性在同理心中的重要性，表明有针对性的干预措施对于增强帕金森病患者的社会认知可能至关重要。
