Background:

Empathy plays a fundamental role in the context of psychotherapy. Mental health professionals (MHP) are required to express empathy on a daily basis. “Perspective taking” (cognitive empathy) and “emotional contagion” (affective empathy) are elements of empathy that are both innate and acquired. This study aimed to explore the underlying neural correlates of empathy using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Method:

A total of six healthy subjects from MHP and other professionals (OP) were recruited in a single-assessment study design. Subjects were screened using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview and the Standard Progressive Matrices. Behavioral measures such as cognitive and affective empathy, interpersonal reactivity, and emotional and social quotient were assessed. Perspective taking was examined with the fMRI face recognition task and the reading mind through eyes task. Emotional contagion was examined by the negative, positive, and pain emotions task. The fMRI was conducted in a 3T Siemens Magnetom Skyra scanner, using a block design paradigm.

Results:

Activation was noted in the following areas: cingulate and thalamus for positive and negative emotions, precuneus for negative emotion and pain, inferior parietal lobe for reading mind task and negative emotion, declive for reading mind and pain, and precuneus and frontal gyrus for reading mind task and facial recognition.

Conclusions:

There was no significant difference between MHP and OP groups on the behavioral measures. However, there were variations in cerebral and cerebellar activation in the functional imaging parameters.

中文翻译：

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心理健康专业人员的观点采择和情绪感染的初步研究：移情的玻璃脑观

背景：

移情在心理治疗的背景下发挥着重要作用。心理健康专业人员 (MHP) 需要每天表达同理心。“换位思考”（认知移情）和“情绪感染”（情感移情）是移情的先天和后天元素。本研究旨在使用功能磁共振成像 (fMRI) 探索共情的潜在神经相关性。

方法：

在单一评估研究设计中招募了来自 MHP 和其他专业人员 (OP) 的总共六名健康受试者。使用小型国际神经精神病学访谈和标准渐进矩阵对受试者进行筛选。评估了诸如认知和情感同理心、人际反应以及情绪和社会商数等行为指标。用 fMRI 人脸识别任务和通过眼睛阅读心智任务来检查透视法。通过消极、积极和痛苦情绪任务检查情绪传染。fMRI 在 3T Siemens Magnetom Skyra 扫描仪中进行，使用块设计范例。

结果：

在以下区域注意到激活：正面和负面情绪的扣带回和丘脑，负面情绪和疼痛的楔前叶，阅读心智任务和负面情绪的顶叶下叶，阅读心智和疼痛的下降，阅读心智的楔前叶和额回任务和面部识别。

结论：

MHP 组和 OP 组在行为测量上没有显着差异。然而，功能成像参数的大脑和小脑激活存在差异。