The neuroevolution of empathy

There is strong evidence that empathy has deep evolutionary, biochemical, and neurological underpinnings. Even the most advanced forms of empathy in humans are built on more basic forms and remain connected to core mechanisms associated with affective communication, social attachment, and parental c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Vol. 1231; no. 1; pp. 35 - 45
Main Author: Decety, Jean
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.08.2011
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects:
affective neuroscience
Aggression
Animals
Arousal - physiology
Attachment
Biochemistry
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping - methods
Circuits
Cognitive ability
Empathy
Empathy - physiology
evolution
Human
Humans
Moderators
Object Attachment
Observers
Perception
Social Behavior
social neuroscience
ISSN:0077-8923, 1749-6632, 1749-6632
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:There is strong evidence that empathy has deep evolutionary, biochemical, and neurological underpinnings. Even the most advanced forms of empathy in humans are built on more basic forms and remain connected to core mechanisms associated with affective communication, social attachment, and parental care. Social neuroscience has begun to examine the neurobiological mechanisms that instantiate empathy, especially in response to signals of distress and pain, and how certain dispositional and contextual moderators modulate its experience. Functional neuroimaging studies document a circuit that responds to the perception of others’ distress. Activation of this circuit reflects an aversive response in the observer, and this information may act as a trigger to inhibit aggression or prompt motivation to help. Moreover, empathy in humans is assisted by other domain‐general high‐level cognitive abilities, such as executive functions, mentalizing, and language, which expand the range of behaviors that can be driven by empathy.
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ArticleID:NYAS6027
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0077-8923
1749-6632
1749-6632
DOI:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06027.x