Age-related differences in the neural correlates of empathy for pleasant and unpleasant touch in a female sample

Autor(en)

Federica Riva, Melanie Tschernegg, Patrizia Andrea Chiesa, Isabella Wagner, Martin Kronbichler, Claus Lamm, Giorgia Silani

Abstrakt

Empathy is essential for successful social interactions and relationships. The neural underpinnings of empathy have predominantly been studied in the young adult population, thus little is known about how they evolve across the life span. In the present study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate age-related differences in brain activity associated to empathy for positive and negative emotions. Female participants of 3 age groups—adolescents, young, and older adults—underwent an experimental paradigm inducing both first-hand and empathic experience of pleasant and unpleasant touch. Group comparisons and regression analyses revealed that older adults showed lower activation within the anterior insula with respect to young adults, during both empathy conditions. Further analyses provided evidence that years of education, theory of mind ability, gray matter volume, and first-hand affect processing did not account for these effects. These findings indicate that the neural bases of empathy change across different age groups, from adolescence to old age. Different ages and in particular older age seem to significantly influence the way in which we represent and share others’ positive and negative emotions.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Psychologie der Kognition, Emotion und Methoden, Dekanat der Fakultät für Psychologie, Institut für Klinische und Gesundheitspsychologie

Externe Organisation(en)

Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg, AXA Research Fund, Université Paris VI - Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität (PMU)

Journal

Neurobiology of Aging

Band

65

Seiten

7-17

Anzahl der Seiten

11

Publikationsdatum

05-2018

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

501014 Neuropsychologie, 501005 Entwicklungspsychologie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Clinical Neurology, Geriatrics and Gerontology, Ageing, Allgemeine Neurowissenschaft, Developmental Biology

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/5fe8df69-6803-4120-aa4f-e6d500edd6fd