title: Neural activity related to cognitive and emotional empathy in post-traumatic stress disorder.
abstract: The aim of this study is to evaluate the empathic ability and its functional brain correlates in post-traumatic stress disorder subjects (PTSD). Seven PTSD subjects and ten healthy controls, all present in the L'Aquila area during the earthquake of the April 2009, underwent fMRI during which they performed a modified version of the Multifaceted Empathy Test. PTSD patients showed impairments in implicit and explicit emotional empathy, but not in cognitive empathy. Brain responses during cognitive empathy showed an increased activation in patients compared to controls in the right medial frontal gyrus and the left inferior frontal gyrus. During implicit emotional empathy responses patients with PTSD, compared to controls, exhibited greater neural activity in the left pallidum and right insula; instead the control group showed an increased activation in right inferior frontal gyrus. Finally, in the explicit emotional empathy responses the PTSD group showed a reduced neural activity in the left insula and the left inferior frontal gyrus. The behavioral deficit limited to the emotional empathy dimension, accompanied by different patterns of activation in empathy related brain structures, represent a first piece of evidence of a dissociation between emotional and cognitive empathy in PTSD patients. The present findings support the idea that empathy is a multidimensional process, with different facets depending on distinct anatomical substrates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Italy. Electronic address: monica.mazza@cc.univaq.it.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazza
authors.affiliation: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tempesta
authors.affiliation: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Chiara
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pino
authors.affiliation: Foundation IRCCS Neurological Institute Carlo Besta, Neuroradiology Department, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nigri
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroradiology, "San Salvatore" Hospital, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Catalucci
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychology and Clinical Neurosciences, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Guadagni
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroradiology, "San Salvatore" Hospital, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gallucci
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychology and Clinical Neurosciences, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Iaria
authors.affiliation: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferrara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D055866:Earthquakes; D004644:Emotions; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cognitive empathy; Explicit emotional empathy; Implicit emotional empathy; Post-traumatic stress disorder