Love hurts: The evolution of empathic concern through the encephalization of nociceptive capacity

Abstract

Empathic concern for others is an essential motive for challenges of self-regulation at all developmental stages. A child who never develops the capacity for empathic concern may become an ineffective parent, such that developmental psychopathology propagates across generations. We draw on evidence and theory by Panksepp and associates that indicates that infant-mother bonding is mediated by opiate mechanisms. We review the neural systems of pain perception and find these are closely aligned with those for attentional and cognitive self-regulation. Analysis of the limbic and neocortical representations for interpersonal reasoning suggests there are important contributions from visceral, affective, and somatic and cognitive levels. We draw on modern learning theory to propose a critical role for frustration training in development to allow the child to achieve the capacity for tolerating psychological pain that allows effective empathic concern in later relationships.