TY - JOUR

T1 - Dissecting the social brain

T2 - Introducing the EmpaToM to reveal distinct neural networks and brain-behavior relations for empathy and Theory of Mind

AU - Kanske, Philipp

AU - Böckler, Anne

AU - Trautwein, Fynn Mathis

AU - Singer, Tania

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme granted to Tania Singer as PI (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grant agreement number 205557 [EMPATHICBRAIN] ( http://erc.europa.eu ). We are thankful to the Department of Social Neurosciences for their support with the ReSource project. In particular we want to thank Hilmar Bromer, Josefine Drößler, Johannes Mahr, Ulrike Nemeth, Lisa Nix, Lilia Papst, Sophie Pauligk for help with task development, Manuela Hofmann, Sylvia Neubert, Nicole Pampus for help with data acquisition, and Henrik Grunert, Isabella von Mengden, Felix Weirich for help with data analysis.

PY - 2015/11/15

Y1 - 2015/11/15

N2 - Successful social interactions require both affect sharing (empathy) and understanding others' mental states (Theory of Mind, ToM). As these two functions have mostly been investigated in isolation, the specificity of the underlying neural networks and the relation of these networks to the respective behavioral indices could not be tested. Here, we present a novel fMRI paradigm (EmpaToM) that independently manipulates both empathy and ToM. Experiments 1a/b (N = 90) validated the task with established empathy and ToM paradigms on a behavioral and neural level. Experiment 2 (N = 178) employed the EmpaToM and revealed clearly separable neural networks including anterior insula for empathy and ventral temporoparietal junction for ToM. These distinct networks could be replicated in task-free resting state functional connectivity. Importantly, brain activity in these two networks specifically predicted the respective behavioral indices, that is, inter-individual differences in ToM related brain activity predicted inter-individual differences in ToM performance, but not empathic responding, and vice versa. Taken together, the validated EmpaToM allows separation of affective and cognitive routes to understanding others. It may thus benefit future clinical, developmental, and intervention studies on identifying selective impairments and improvement in specific components of social cognition.

AB - Successful social interactions require both affect sharing (empathy) and understanding others' mental states (Theory of Mind, ToM). As these two functions have mostly been investigated in isolation, the specificity of the underlying neural networks and the relation of these networks to the respective behavioral indices could not be tested. Here, we present a novel fMRI paradigm (EmpaToM) that independently manipulates both empathy and ToM. Experiments 1a/b (N = 90) validated the task with established empathy and ToM paradigms on a behavioral and neural level. Experiment 2 (N = 178) employed the EmpaToM and revealed clearly separable neural networks including anterior insula for empathy and ventral temporoparietal junction for ToM. These distinct networks could be replicated in task-free resting state functional connectivity. Importantly, brain activity in these two networks specifically predicted the respective behavioral indices, that is, inter-individual differences in ToM related brain activity predicted inter-individual differences in ToM performance, but not empathic responding, and vice versa. Taken together, the validated EmpaToM allows separation of affective and cognitive routes to understanding others. It may thus benefit future clinical, developmental, and intervention studies on identifying selective impairments and improvement in specific components of social cognition.

KW - Empathy

KW - fMRI

KW - Mentalizing

KW - Resting state functional connectivity

KW - Social cognition

KW - Theory of mind

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84939555619&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.07.082

DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.07.082

M3 - Article

C2 - 26254589

AN - SCOPUS:84939555619

VL - 122

SP - 6

EP - 19

JO - NEUROIMAGE

JF - NEUROIMAGE

SN - 1053-8119

ER -