Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Social Behavior from Rodents to Humans |
| Subtitle of host publication | Neural Foundations and Clinical Implications |
| Publisher | Springer Verlag |
| Pages | 193-206 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISBN (electronic) | 978-3-319-47429-8 |
| ISBN (print) | 978-3-319-83734-5 |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Publication series
| Name | Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences |
|---|---|
| Volume | 30 |
| ISSN (Print) | 1866-3370 |
| ISSN (electronic) | 1866-3389 |
Abstract
Most instances of social interaction provide a wealth of information about the states of other people, be it sensations, feelings, thoughts, or convictions. How we represent these states has been a major question in social neuroscience, leading to the identification of two routes to understanding others: an affective route for the direct sharing of others’ emotions (empathy) that involves, among others, anterior insula and middle anterior cingulate cortex and a cognitive route for representing and reasoning about others’ states (Theory of Mind) that entails, among others, ventral temporoparietal junction and anterior and posterior midline regions. Additionally, research has revealed a number of situational and personal factors that shape the functioning of empathy and Theory of Mind. Concerning situational modulators, it has been shown, for instance, that ingroup membership enhances empathic responding and that Theory of Mind performance seems to be susceptible to stress. Personal modulators include psychopathological conditions, for which alterations in empathy and mentalizing have consistently been demonstrated; people on the autism spectrum, for instance, are impaired specifically in mentalizing, while spontaneous empathic responding seems selectively reduced in psychopathy. Given the multifaceted evidence for separability of the two routes, current research endeavors aiming at fostering interpersonal cooperation explore the differential malleability of affective and cognitive understanding of others.
Keywords
- Anterior insula, Empathy, Social cognition, Temporoparietal junction, Theory of Mind
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)
- Behavioral Neuroscience
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Social Behavior from Rodents to Humans: Neural Foundations and Clinical Implications. Springer Verlag, 2017. p. 193-206 (Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences; Vol. 30).
Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Contribution to book/anthology › Research › peer review
}
TY - CHAP
T1 - Models, mechanisms and moderators dissociating empathy and theory of mind
AU - Kanske, Philipp
AU - Böckler, Anne
AU - Singer, Tania
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Most instances of social interaction provide a wealth of information about the states of other people, be it sensations, feelings, thoughts, or convictions. How we represent these states has been a major question in social neuroscience, leading to the identification of two routes to understanding others: an affective route for the direct sharing of others’ emotions (empathy) that involves, among others, anterior insula and middle anterior cingulate cortex and a cognitive route for representing and reasoning about others’ states (Theory of Mind) that entails, among others, ventral temporoparietal junction and anterior and posterior midline regions. Additionally, research has revealed a number of situational and personal factors that shape the functioning of empathy and Theory of Mind. Concerning situational modulators, it has been shown, for instance, that ingroup membership enhances empathic responding and that Theory of Mind performance seems to be susceptible to stress. Personal modulators include psychopathological conditions, for which alterations in empathy and mentalizing have consistently been demonstrated; people on the autism spectrum, for instance, are impaired specifically in mentalizing, while spontaneous empathic responding seems selectively reduced in psychopathy. Given the multifaceted evidence for separability of the two routes, current research endeavors aiming at fostering interpersonal cooperation explore the differential malleability of affective and cognitive understanding of others.
AB - Most instances of social interaction provide a wealth of information about the states of other people, be it sensations, feelings, thoughts, or convictions. How we represent these states has been a major question in social neuroscience, leading to the identification of two routes to understanding others: an affective route for the direct sharing of others’ emotions (empathy) that involves, among others, anterior insula and middle anterior cingulate cortex and a cognitive route for representing and reasoning about others’ states (Theory of Mind) that entails, among others, ventral temporoparietal junction and anterior and posterior midline regions. Additionally, research has revealed a number of situational and personal factors that shape the functioning of empathy and Theory of Mind. Concerning situational modulators, it has been shown, for instance, that ingroup membership enhances empathic responding and that Theory of Mind performance seems to be susceptible to stress. Personal modulators include psychopathological conditions, for which alterations in empathy and mentalizing have consistently been demonstrated; people on the autism spectrum, for instance, are impaired specifically in mentalizing, while spontaneous empathic responding seems selectively reduced in psychopathy. Given the multifaceted evidence for separability of the two routes, current research endeavors aiming at fostering interpersonal cooperation explore the differential malleability of affective and cognitive understanding of others.
KW - Anterior insula
KW - Empathy
KW - Social cognition
KW - Temporoparietal junction
KW - Theory of Mind
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85013813631&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/7854_2015_412
DO - 10.1007/7854_2015_412
M3 - Contribution to book/anthology
C2 - 26602249
AN - SCOPUS:85013813631
SN - 978-3-319-83734-5
T3 - Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences
SP - 193
EP - 206
BT - Social Behavior from Rodents to Humans
PB - Springer Verlag
ER -