Journal
SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 7, Issue 6, Pages 578-590Publisher
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2012.686924
Keywords
Anticipation; Event-related potentials; Sensorimotor resonance; Empathy; Pain
Categories
Funding
- National Science Council [NSC 99-2314-B-010-037-MY3, NSC 100-2628-H-010-001-MY3]
- National Yang-Ming University Hospital [RD2011-005]
- Academia Sinica [AS-99-TP-AC1]
- Ministry of Education
Ask authors/readers for more resources
When perceiving imminent harm to others, quickly detecting potential hazards to oneself should be vital. In this case, mirroring the outcome of observed actions appears paradoxical. This study measured electroencephalographic/event-related potentials and mu suppression that were induced by dynamic animations; each animation was composed of three consecutive pictures depicting an individual being accidentally injured. The results indicated that the first picture evoked frontal N260 and central N360, the possible brain source of which is estimated in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the third picture elicited late positive potentials, the possible sources of which might be generated from the insular and mid-cingulate cortex. Differential mu suppression, in relation to the sensorimotor resonance of empathy for pain, is associated with the third picture containing the crucial affective valence, but not with the first picture. The masking procedure on the third picture attenuated this mu suppression. Mediation analysis further confirmed that sensorimotor resonance is not a significant mediator in predicting subjective unpleasantness for observed actions. The findings suggest that sensorimotor resonance is not a platform, but rather an outcome when anticipating harm to others.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available