Skip Navigation



Brain Advance Access published online on October 29, 2008
Brain, doi:10.1093/brain/awn279
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
132/3/617    most recent
awn279v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shamay-Tsoory, S. G.
Right arrow Articles by Perry, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Shamay-Tsoory, S. G.
Right arrow Articles by Perry, D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author (2008). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Two systems for empathy: a double dissociation between emotional and cognitive empathy in inferior frontal gyrus versus ventromedial prefrontal lesions

Simone G. Shamay-Tsoory1, Judith Aharon-Peretz2 and Daniella Perry1

1Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905 and 2Cognitive Neurology Unit, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel

Correspondence to: Simone G. Shamay-Tsoory, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel. E-mail: sshamay{at}psy.haifa.ac.il, sshamay{at}study.haifa.ac.il

Recent evidence suggests that there are two possible systems for empathy: a basic emotional contagion system and a more advanced cognitive perspective-taking system. However, it is not clear whether these two systems are part of a single interacting empathy system or whether they are independent. Additionally, the neuroanatomical bases of these systems are largely unknown. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that emotional empathic abilities (involving the mirror neuron system) are distinct from those related to cognitive empathy and that the two depend on separate anatomical substrates. Subjects with lesions in the ventromedial prefrontal (VM) or inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) cortices and two control groups were assessed with measures of empathy that incorporate both cognitive and affective dimensions. The findings reveal a remarkable behavioural and anatomic double dissociation between deficits in cognitive empathy (VM) and emotional empathy (IFG). Furthermore, precise anatomical mapping of lesions revealed Brodmann area 44 to be critical for emotional empathy while areas 11 and 10 were found necessary for cognitive empathy. These findings are consistent with these cortices being different in terms of synaptic hierarchy and phylogenetic age. The pattern of empathy deficits among patients with VM and IFG lesions represents a first direct evidence of a double dissociation between emotional and cognitive empathy using the lesion method.

Key Words: Emotional empathy; cognitive empathy; mirror neurons; inferior frontal gyrus; ventromedial prefrontal cortex

Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance; BA, Brodmann area; EC, empathic concern scale; FS, fantasy scale; HC, healthy control; IFG, inferior frontal gyrus; IRI, Interpersonal Reactivity Index; MNS, mirror neuron system; PC, posterior lesion; PD, personal distress scale; PT, perspective-taking scale; ToM, Theory of Mind; VM, ventromedial prefrontal; WCST, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

Received July 23, 2008. Revised September 22, 2008. Accepted September 29, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.