Dissociable systems for empathy.
Empathy is a lay term that is becoming increasingly used in the field of cognitive neuroscience. In this paper, it is argued that empathy is a loose collection of partially dissociable neurocognitive systems. Two forms of 'emotional' empathy were considered: First, responding to emotional expressions, particularly angry expressions, leading to response reversal. Secondly, responding to emotional expressions, particularly fearful and sad expressions, leading to stimulus-reinforcement learning. The implications of these forms of empathy for understanding specific psychiatric conditions are briefly considered.
Blair
R J R
RJ
Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 15K North Drive, Room 206, MSC 2670, Bethesda, MD 20892-2670, USA.
D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D000786:Anger; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D004644:Emotions; D004645:Empathy; D005149:Facial Expression; D006801:Humans; D012938:Social Perception