Photo Credit: wenht

The following is a summary of “I feel your pain: higher empathy is associated with higher posterior default mode network activity,” published in the October and 2024 issue of Pain by Oliva et al. 

Empathy is the ability to share one’s experience and is associated with altruism. Previous studies using blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) have shown empathy correlating with increased activation in brain regions with certain limitations.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to utilize a perfusion-based arterial spin labeling fMRI approach to deliver a direct and quantifiable measurement of cerebral blood flow, thereby addressing the limitations of BOLD fMRI and better understanding the neural mechanisms associated with empathy.  

They examined 29 healthy females (mean age = 29 years) by administering noxious heat (48°C; left forearm) during arterial spin labeling fMRI. In the following 2 fMRI scans, female volunteers viewed a stranger (laboratory technician) and their romantic partner, respectively, receive pain-evoking heat (48°C; left forearm) in real-time and positioned proximal to the scanner during fMRI acquisition. The empathy ratings were collected after each condition using the visual analog scale (0 = “not unpleasant”; 10 = “most unpleasant sensation imaginable”).   

The results showed significantly (P=0.01) higher empathy while viewing a romantic partner in pain and greater cerebral blood flow in the right temporoparietal junction, amygdala, anterior insula, orbitofrontal cortex, and precuneus when compared with the stranger. Higher empathy was linked with greater precuneus and primary visual cortical activation.  

They concluded that brain mechanisms supporting the embodiment of another’s experience are associated with higher empathy. 

Source: journals.lww.com/pain/abstract/9900/i_feel_your_pain__higher_empathy_is_associated.720.aspx