title: Beta oscillations reveal ethnicity ingroup bias in sensorimotor resonance to pain of others.
abstract: People evaluate members of their own social group more favorably and empathize more strongly with their ingroup members. Using electroencephalography (EEG), we explored whether resonant responses of sensorimotor cortex to the pain of others are modulated by the ethnicity of these others. White participants watched video clips of ethnic ingroup and outgroup hands, being either penetrated by a needle syringe or touched by a cotton swab, while EEG was recorded. Time-frequency analysis was applied to Laplacian-transformed signals from the sensors overlying sensorimotor cortex in order to assess event-related desynchronization and synchronization (ERD/ERS) of sensorimotor mu (7-12 Hz) and beta (13-30 Hz) rhythms. When watching needle injections, beta ERD was significantly stronger for ingroup compared with outgroup hands. This ethnicity bias was restricted to painful actions, as beta ERD for ingroup and outgroup hands neither differed when observing no-pain videos, nor during presentation of the hands without any treatment. Such vicarious sensorimotor activation could play a role in social interaction by enhancing the understanding of the feelings and reactions of others and hence facilitating behavioral coordination among group members.
authors.affiliation: Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, CE NOREG, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, and Research Methods, Assessment, and iScience, Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, CE NOREG, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, and Research Methods, Assessment, and iScience, Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Riečanský
authors.affiliation: Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, CE NOREG, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, and Research Methods, Assessment, and iScience, Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, CE NOREG, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, and Research Methods, Assessment, and iScience, Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kölble
authors.affiliation: Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, CE NOREG, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, and Research Methods, Assessment, and iScience, Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, CE NOREG, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, and Research Methods, Assessment, and iScience, Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stieger
authors.affiliation: Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, CE NOREG, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, and Research Methods, Assessment, and iScience, Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany claus.lamm@univie.ac.at.
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lamm
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001244:Association; D001290:Attitude; D001611:Beta Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D058407:Electroencephalography Phase Synchronization; D004645:Empathy; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D058748:Pain Perception / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D066191:Sensorimotor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: empathy; ingroup favoritism; mirror neurons; mu rhythm; racial bias