Understanding and Modulating the Cerebral Basis of Human Empathy

理解和调节人类同理心的大脑基础

• 批准号: 341631-2013
• 负责人: Jackson, Philip
• 金额: $ 2.62万
• 依托单位: Université Laval
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=549433
• 关键词: Understanding; Modulating; Cerebral; Basis; Human

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.

人类行为的特征之一是我们有同情和关心他人的能力，这有助于我们倾向于群体生活和社交。共情是一个复杂的概念，可以分为不同的组成部分（情感/情感，认知）。我们之前的工作表明，每个组成部分都是由不同的，尽管重叠的大脑系统支持的，但是这些不同的大脑系统的细节，以及身体对移情的反应，在很大程度上仍然未知。此外，关于共情的研究主要集中在个体对简单的静态情景的反应上，将疼痛观察作为共情反应的触发因素（例如，观察一些人受伤）。然而，在现实生活中，同理心来自于个体之间的互动，并不局限于观察某人的身体疼痛。通过一系列研究，包括收集功能性脑图像、生理（心率、皮肤电导）、非侵入性神经刺激（改变特定大脑区域的大脑活动并影响行为）和行为测量（如问卷调查），我们将继续研究共情的大脑基础。此外，利用我们实验室最新的技术进步，我们将开发新的方法，在受控的实验室环境中研究人类的同理心，但更接近现实生活的情况。本研究的目的有三：1)研究从更广泛的情绪中产生共情的生理和神经生理基础，包括消极情绪（悲伤、悲伤）和积极情绪（快乐）；2)探讨互动式共情诱发情境中亲社会反应（如有意使他人受益）的生理和神经生理基础；3)利用神经刺激确定特定脑区对共情不同组成部分的贡献。这一建议将为未来社会认知神经科学领域的研究提供一个强有力的框架，并将为未来人类亲社会倾向（包括道德和利他行为）的神经基础研究奠定基础。