Abstract
There has been a recent growth in neuroimaging research to unveil the neural basis of empathy. This article reviews some of these neuroimaging studies and findings regarding empathy, in contrast with traditional definitions and theories of empathy. Recent research indicates that empathy as related to physical and social pain activates brain areas assicuated with (a) involvement in processing mirrored feelings of one's pain (e.g., anterior insula cortex, anterior cingulate cortex), (b) understanding action (e.g., inferior frontal gyrus, pars opercularis), and (c) mentalizing (e.g., dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporo-parietal junction, precuneus). It has also been suggested that these brain areas play an important role in affect sharing and understanding of other people's feelings, both of which are integral components of empathy. In addition, it has been observed that the emotions of other people do not always automatically elicit empathic responses in observers, because empathic brain responses are sometimes modulated by situational factors and observer characteristics. A newly emerging topic in this field is the investigation of the neural basis of prosocial behavior.
