title: Development of neural correlates of empathy from childhood to early adulthood: an fMRI study in boys and adult men.
abstract: Although empathy is rooted early in life, the ability to understand and share the emotions of others continues to develop after childhood. Here, we aimed at exploring developmental changes in the neural mechanisms underlying empathy from childhood to early adulthood. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, 47 healthy male subjects aged 8-27 years were investigated during an explicit empathy task. Emotional faces were presented and participants were either asked to infer the emotional state from the face (other-task) or to judge their own emotional response to the face (self-task). A perceptual decision on the width of faces was used as a control condition. Age-related activity increases were observed in the fusiform gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus, depending on whether subjects attributed emotions to self or other. During the self-task, activity in the right precuneus and right intraparietal sulcus decreased as a function of age. No age-related differences were observed in behavioral performance measures. Increased activity in the fusiform gyrus and in the frontal component of the human mirror neuron system with increasing age may be explained by greater experience and expertise accumulated during socio-emotional interactions. Greater recruitment of right parietal structures in younger as compared to older subjects might reflect developmental differences in the cognitive strategies to infer one's own emotional response. This study is the first to show developmental changes in the neural mechanisms supporting empathy. Our findings may have important implications for the development of novel therapeutic interventions in clinical conditions characterized by empathy deficits, such as autism spectrum disorder.
authors.affiliation: Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany. egreimel@ukaachen.de
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Greimel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schulte-Rüther
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piefke
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Herpertz-Dahlmann
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konrad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005149:Facial Expression; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
references.citation: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1997 Jul;36(7):980-8
references.pmid: 9204677
references.citation: Child Dev. 1993 Feb;64(1):188-201
references.pmid: 8436029
references.citation: Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2006 Sep;1(2):107-21
references.pmid: 18985123
references.citation: Brain. 2009 Mar;132(Pt 3):617-27
references.pmid: 18971202
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009 Aug 27;364(1528):2391-404
references.pmid: 19620110
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2008 Feb 15;39(4):2076-85
references.pmid: 18082427
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2006 Jan;9(1):28-30
references.pmid: 16327784
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Apr 29;100(9):5497-502
references.pmid: 12682281
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2008 Sep;20(9):1565-82
references.pmid: 18345988
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2008 Mar 1;40(1):389-97
references.pmid: 18248824
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 2005 Aug;15(8):1243-9
references.pmid: 15616133
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2005 May 1;25(4):1325-35
references.pmid: 15850749
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2004 Feb;21(2):601-7
references.pmid: 14980562
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 Aug;19(8):1354-72
references.pmid: 17651008
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2005 Apr 15;25(3):926-35
references.pmid: 15808992
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2007 Feb 15;34(4):1744-53
references.pmid: 17175173
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008 Apr;9(4):267-77
references.pmid: 18354399
references.citation: Child Dev. 2009 Jul-Aug;80(4):1210-31
references.pmid: 19630903
references.citation: Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2008 Mar;3(1):62-70
references.pmid: 19015096
references.citation: Int J Dev Neurosci. 2005 Apr-May;23(2-3):125-41
references.pmid: 15749240
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 1999 Oct;2(10):861-3
references.pmid: 10491603
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2006 Jul 1;31(3):1257-67
references.pmid: 16530429
references.citation: Brain. 2006 Mar;129(Pt 3):564-83
references.pmid: 16399806
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2003 Jul;19(3):1233-9
references.pmid: 12880848
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Apr 27;101(17):6827-32
references.pmid: 15096584
references.citation: Behav Brain Sci. 2002 Feb;25(1):1-20; discussion 20-71
references.pmid: 12625087
references.citation: Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2007 Aug;61(4):355-63
references.pmid: 17610659
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2009 Sep;21(9):1736-50
references.pmid: 18823226
references.citation: Genet Soc Gen Psychol Monogr. 1997 Aug;123(3):303-24
references.pmid: 9259121
references.citation: Soc Neurosci. 2006;1(3-4):175-83
references.pmid: 18633786
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2010 Jan 1;49(1):1055-65
references.pmid: 19647799
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2005 Feb;17(2):308-19
references.pmid: 15811242
references.citation: Anat Rec. 2001 Jun 1;263(2):215-36
references.pmid: 11360237
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2003 Sep;20(1):420-8
references.pmid: 14527602
references.citation: Psychiatry Res. 2001 Jun 1;102(2):109-24
references.pmid: 11408051
references.citation: Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev. 2004 Jun;3(2):71-100
references.pmid: 15537986
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2008 Sep;46(11):2607-14
references.pmid: 18573266
references.citation: Biol Psychol. 2009 Feb;80(2):203-11
references.pmid: 18940230
references.citation: Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2007 Jun;2(2):130-9
references.pmid: 17710201
references.citation: Biopsychosoc Med. 2007 Nov 16;1:22
references.pmid: 18021398
references.citation: Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput. 2002 Nov;34(4):605-12
references.pmid: 12564563
references.citation: J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2004 Oct;45(7):1185-98
references.pmid: 15335339
references.citation: Biol Psychiatry. 2001 Feb 15;49(4):309-16
references.pmid: 11239901
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 1971 Mar;9(1):97-113
references.pmid: 5146491
references.citation: Science. 1999 Dec 24;286(5449):2526-8
references.pmid: 10617472
references.citation: Dev Sci. 2007 Sep;10(5):524-6
references.pmid: 17683337
references.citation: Eur J Neurosci. 2001 Jan;13(2):400-4
references.pmid: 11168545
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 Aug;19(8):1323-37
references.pmid: 17651006
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 1999 Jun;2(6):568-73
references.pmid: 10448223
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2008 Aug 1;42(1):393-403
references.pmid: 18514546
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2006 Dec;7(12):942-51
references.pmid: 17115076
references.citation: Ann Neurol. 2007 Sep;62(3):213-8
references.pmid: 17721988
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2007 Apr 8;45(7):1522-32
references.pmid: 17208260
references.citation: Neuroimage. 1996 Aug;4(1):60-6
references.pmid: 9345497
references.citation: Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2008 Jun;39(2):111-22
references.pmid: 17710538
references.citation: J Youth Adolesc. 1983 Jun;12(3):203-11
references.pmid: 24306261
references.citation: Hum Brain Mapp. 2006 Feb;27(2):91-8
references.pmid: 16035037