title: Increased neural responses to empathy for pain might explain how acute stress increases prosociality.
abstract: Recent behavioral investigations suggest that acute stress can increase prosocial behavior. Here, we investigated whether increased empathy represents a potential mechanism for this finding. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we assessed the effects of acute stress on neural responses related to automatic and regulatory components of empathy for pain as well as subsequent prosocial behavior. Stress increased activation in brain areas associated with the automatic sharing of others' pain, such as the anterior insula, the anterior midcingulate cortex, and the primary somatosensory cortex. In addition, we found increased prosocial behavior under stress. Furthermore, activation in the anterior midcingulate cortex mediated the effects of stress on prosocial behavior. However, stressed participants also displayed stronger and inappropriate other-related responses in situations which required them to take the perspective of another person, and to regulate their automatic affective responses. Thus, while acute stress may increase prosocial behavior by intensifying the sharing of others' emotions, this comes at the cost of reduced cognitive appraisal abilities. Depending on the contextual constraints, stress may therefore affect empathy in ways that are either beneficial or detrimental.
authors: Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Tomova
authors: Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.|Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Majdandžic
authors: MR Center of Excellence, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Hummer
authors: MR Center of Excellence, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Windischberger
authors: Department of Psychology, Laboratory for Biological and Personality Psychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.|Freiburg Brain Imaging Center, University Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Heinrichs
authors: Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Lamm
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: empathy; neuroimaging; prosocial behavior; psychological stress; social cognition