The neural networks underlying reappraisal of empathy for pain

Abstract

Emotion regulation plays a central role in empathy. Only by successfully regulating our own emotions can we reliably use them in order to interpret the content and valence of others' emotions correctly. In an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-based experiment, we show that regulating one's emotion via reappraisal modulated biased emotional intensity ratings following an empathy for pain manipulation. Task-based analysis revealed increased activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) when painful emotions were regulated using reappraisal, whereas empathic feelings that were not regulated resulted in increased activity bilaterally in the precuneus, supramarginal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus (MFG), as well as the right parahippocampal gyrus. Functional connectivity analysis indicated that the right IFG plays a role in the regulation of empathy for pain, through its connections with regions in the empathy for pain network. Furthermore, these connections were further modulated as a function of the type of regulation used: in sum, our results suggest that accurate empathic judgment (i.e. empathy that is unbiased) relies on a complex interaction between neural regions involved in emotion regulation and regions associated with empathy for pain. Thus, demonstrating the importance of emotion regulation in the formulation of complex social systems and sheds light on the intricate network implicated in this complex process.

Keywords: IFG; emotion regulation; empathy; gPPI; reappraisal.

Fig. 1

Example of a painful scenario with a neutral face. A picture depicting either a painful or a non-painful scenario appeared for 2000 ms. Then, an instruction to REAPPRAISE (red frame) or to employ EMPATHIC WATCH (blue frame) appeared for an additional 2000 ms. After participants viewed the scenario, they were shown a picture depicting an emotional version morphed between 100% neutral and 100% emotion (pain or happy) and were given 6000 ms to assess the emotional intensity of the presented face.

Fig. 2

Three-way repeated-measures ANOVA of regulation strategy (reappraise/empathic watch), with scenario (painful/non-painful) and emotion (painful/happy) as within-subject factors and bias score as a dependent variable, ^*P < 0.005; ^**P < 0.001.

Fig. 3

(A and B) Results of empathic watch for painful vs non-painful scenarios. (C and D) Results of reappraisal of painful vs non-painful scenarios. Clusters were derived at z > 3.1 and (corrected) cluster significance P < 0.05. IFG = inferior frontal gyrus; SMG = supramarginal gyrus.

Fig. 4

(A and B) Results of empathic watch larger than reappraisal. (C) Results of reappraisal larger than empathic watch. Clusters were derived at z > 3.1 and (corrected) cluster significance P < 0.05. SMG = supramarginal gyrus.

Fig. 5

Results of the gPPI functional connectivity analyses, with the time series of a seed in the right IFG (in pink) and the activity during judgments of painful facial expression when empathically watching painful scenarios compared to neutral scenarios (A) and during judgments of painful facial expression when reappraising painful scenarios compared to neutral scenarios (B). Clusters were derived at z > 3.1 and (corrected) cluster significance P < 0.05.