Final Report Summary - EMPATHICBRAIN (Plasticity of the Empathic Brain: Structural and Functional MRI Studies on the Effect of Empathy Training on the Human Brain and Prosocial Behaviour)
In the project “Plasticity of the Empathic Brain: Structural and Functional MRI Studies on the Effect of Empathy Training on the Human Brain and Prosocial Behavior” we have been investigating the degree to which it is possible to significantly induce functional and long-lasting structural, neuronal as well as hormonal, health-related, and behavioral changes through short- and long-term mental training. Thus, we investigate the malleability of socio-affective functions such as empathy and compassion via training to help prevent several societal problems such as increasing levels of stress- and depression-related diseases (e.g. burn-out) and promote healthy living. We have used a multi-method and interdisciplinary approach, combining techniques and paradigms from the fields of psychology, neuroscience, (bio-)psychology, and economics.
The overall project is comprised of five sub-studies. Studies 1-3 provided a cross-sectional look at structural and functional differences in the brains of individuals scoring high vs. low on empathy. Study one provided novel evidence for a specific contribution of frontolimbic structural covariance networks to individual differences in social emotions. Study 2 investigated the empathic brain responses in an autistic population with high and low alexithymic traits and found that these specific traits modulated participant’s brain responses rather than autism per se. Then, Study 4 provided first evidence for the positive impact of short-term compassion training on pro-social behavior towards strangers in a newly developed pro-social game paradigm. In Study 3, we compared the brain responses of “compassion experts” (long-term meditators) with controls and found that they exhibit brain changes that likely reflect their practices, particularly in networks mediating socio-affective and socio-cognitive capacities. Furthermore, our findings suggest that their up-regulation of positive affect through compassion practice may work as a powerful strategy to foster resilience.
Finally, in Study 5, a large-scale longitudinal study, healthy naive participants received weekly teachings by professional instructors in a newly developed mental training program. Evidence from this study indicates changes not only in well-being and positive affect, the reduction of stress down to the hormonal level (e.g. cortisol response), but also in the structure of participant’s brains; a finding which has so far not been observed in the context of social brain plasticity.
The overall project is comprised of five sub-studies. Studies 1-3 provided a cross-sectional look at structural and functional differences in the brains of individuals scoring high vs. low on empathy. Study one provided novel evidence for a specific contribution of frontolimbic structural covariance networks to individual differences in social emotions. Study 2 investigated the empathic brain responses in an autistic population with high and low alexithymic traits and found that these specific traits modulated participant’s brain responses rather than autism per se. Then, Study 4 provided first evidence for the positive impact of short-term compassion training on pro-social behavior towards strangers in a newly developed pro-social game paradigm. In Study 3, we compared the brain responses of “compassion experts” (long-term meditators) with controls and found that they exhibit brain changes that likely reflect their practices, particularly in networks mediating socio-affective and socio-cognitive capacities. Furthermore, our findings suggest that their up-regulation of positive affect through compassion practice may work as a powerful strategy to foster resilience.
Finally, in Study 5, a large-scale longitudinal study, healthy naive participants received weekly teachings by professional instructors in a newly developed mental training program. Evidence from this study indicates changes not only in well-being and positive affect, the reduction of stress down to the hormonal level (e.g. cortisol response), but also in the structure of participant’s brains; a finding which has so far not been observed in the context of social brain plasticity.