Understanding and Modulating the Cerebral Basis of Human Empathy

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One of the hallmarks of human behaviour that contributes to our propensity to live in groups and socialize is our ability to empathize and care about others. Empathy is a complex notion that can be divided into different components (affective/emotional, cognitive). Our previous work shows that each component is supported by distinct, though overlapping, brain systems, but the detail of these different brain systems, as well as the body responses to empathy, remain largely unknown. Moreover, studies of empathy have focused on responses of individuals to simple static scenarios using pain observation as a trigger for empathic responses (e.g., observing some getting hurt). In real life, however, empathy emerges from interaction between individuals and is not limited to observing someone in physical pain. Through a series of studies involving gathering of functional brain images, physiological (heart rate, skin conductance), non-invasive neurostimulation (which modifies brain activity in specific brain regions and affects behaviour), and behavioural measures (e.g. questionnaires) in healthy adults, we will continue to examine the cerebral basis of empathy. Moreover, taking advantage of the latest technological advances in our laboratory, we will develop new means to study human empathy in controlled laboratory contexts but closer to real life situations. The objectives of this proposal are threefold: 1) to investigate the physiological and neurophysiological basis for empathy stemming from a larger range of emotions, including negative (sadness, grief) and positive (happiness) emotions; 2) to investigate the physiological and neurophysiological basis of the prosocial response (e.g., intended to benefit others) during an interactive empathy-eliciting situation; and 3) to use neurostimulation to determine the contribution of specific brain areas to the different components of empathy. This proposal will provide a strong framework for future research in the domain of social cognitive neurosciences and will lay the foundation for future work on the neural basis of human's prosocial tendencies including moral and altruistic behaviour.