Neural mechanisms of modulations of empathy and altruism by beliefs of others' pain.

Taoyu Wu,Shihui Han

doi:10.7554/elife.66043

Abstract

Perceived cues signaling others' pain induce empathy which in turn motivates altruistic behavior toward those who appear suffering. This perception-emotion-behavior reactivity is the core of human altruism but does not always occur in real-life situations. Here, by integrating behavioral and multimodal neuroimaging measures, we investigate neural mechanisms underlying modulations of empathy and altruistic behavior by beliefs of others' pain (BOP). We show evidence that lack of BOP reduces subjective estimation of others' painful feelings and decreases monetary donations to those who show pain expressions. Moreover, lack of BOP attenuates neural responses to their pain expressions within 200 ms after face onset and modulates neural responses to others' pain in the insular, post-central, and frontal cortices. Our findings suggest that BOP provide a cognitive basis of human empathy and altruism and unravel the intermediate neural mechanisms.

Highlights

Aesop's fable 'The boy who cried wolf' tells a story that villagers run or do not run to help a shepherd boy who cries wolf depending on whether or not they believe that the boy's crying indicates his actual emotion and need
Our findings suggest that beliefs of others’ pain (BOP) may provide a cognitive basis for human empathy and altruism and uncover intermediate brain mechanisms by which BOP influences empathy and altruistic behavior
In Experiment 2 we further investigated whether an individual's intrinsic BOP can predict empathy and altruistic behavior across different faces

Summary

Introduction

Aesop's fable 'The boy who cried wolf' tells a story that villagers run or do not run to help a shepherd boy who cries wolf depending on whether or not they believe that the boy's crying indicates his actual emotion and need This story illustrates an important character of human altruistic behavior, that is, perceived cues signaling others' suffering drives us to do them a favor only when we believe that their suffering is true. Neural responses to others’ pain in the empathy network and functional connectivity between its key hubs can predict motives for subsequent altruistic actions (e.g., Hein et al, 2010; 2016; Mathur et al, 2010; Luo et al, 2015) These brain imaging findings revealed neural mechanisms underlying the perception-emotion-behavior reactivity (e.g., perceived pain-empathy-help) that occurs often in everyday lives (Eisenberg et al, 2010; Hoffman, 2008; Penner et al, 2005)

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