title: Distinct neural correlates of emotional and cognitive empathy in older adults.
abstract: Empathy is thought to be a mechanism underlying prosocial behavior across the lifespan, yet little is known about how levels of empathy relate to individual differences in brain functioning among older adults. In this exploratory study, we examined the neural correlates of affective and cognitive empathy in older adults. Thirty older adults (M=79 years) underwent fMRI scanning and neuropsychological testing and completed a test of affective and cognitive empathy. Brain response during processing of cognitive and emotional stimuli was measured by fMRI in a priori and task-related regions and was correlated with levels of empathy. Older adults with higher levels of affective empathy showed more deactivation in the amygdala and insula during a working memory task, whereas those with higher cognitive empathy showed greater insula activation during a response inhibition task. Our preliminary findings suggest that brain systems linked to emotional and social processing respond differently among older adults with more or less affective and cognitive empathy. That these relationships can be seen both during affective and non-emotional tasks of "cold" cognitive abilities suggests that empathy may impact social behavior through both emotional and cognitive mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: University of California San Diego Department of Psychiatry, La Jolla, CA, USA; Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Raeanne C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: University of California San Diego Department of Psychiatry, La Jolla, CA, USA; San Diego State University, Department of Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Sheena I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Dev
authors.affiliation: University of California San Diego Department of Psychiatry, La Jolla, CA, USA; Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Dilip V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Jeste
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Research Group "Neurocognition of Decision Making", Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany; Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion", Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dziobek
authors.affiliation: University of California San Diego Department of Psychiatry, La Jolla, CA, USA; Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA; Desert-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, VA San Diego Healthcare System, CA, USA. Electronic address: lteyler@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: Lisa T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Eyler
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception
keywords: Affective empathy; Aging; Cognitive empathy; Compassion; Emotion processing; Working memory