An fMRI study of caringvsself-focus during induced compassion and pride

Abstract

This study examined neural activation during the experience of compassion, an emotion that orients people toward vulnerable others and prompts caregiving, and pride, a self-focused emotion that signals individual strength and heightened status. Functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) were acquired as participants viewed 55 s continuous sequences of slides to induce either compassion or pride, presented in alternation with sequences of neutral slides. Emotion self-report data were collected after each slide condition within the fMRI scanner. Compassion induction was associated with activation in the midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG), a region that is activated during pain and the perception of others' pain, and that has been implicated in parental nurturance behaviors. Pride induction engaged the posterior medial cortex, a region that has been associated with self-referent processing. Self-reports of compassion experience were correlated with increased activation in a region near the PAG, and in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Self-reports of pride experience, in contrast, were correlated with reduced activation in the IFG and the anterior insula. These results provide preliminary evidence towards understanding the neural correlates of important interpersonal dimensions of compassion and pride. Caring (compassion) and self-focus (pride) may represent core appraisals that differentiate the response profiles of many emotions.

Reality TV and vicarious embarrassment: An fMRI study

“…In addition, studies on false-belief tasks showed a bilateral activation of the inferior frontal gyrus in tasks with high demand on the inhibition of the observer's own perspective (Hartwright et al, 2012;van der Meer et al, 2011). Finally, the inferior frontal gyrus has been involved in emotional empathy (Banissy et al, 2012;Schulte-Rüther et al, 2007;Shamay-Tsoory et al, 2009), cognitive empathy (Hooker et al, 2010) and self-reported feelings of compassion (Simon-Thomas et al, 2012). The results for the supramarginal gyrus and the right inferior frontal cortex once again fit well to ToM findings in the literature.…”

The development of compassionate engagement and action scales for self and others

“…Our approach is based on a standard definition of compassion as a 'sensitivity to suffering in self and others with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it' [21,46,64,104]. The impetus for this research was inspired by a wealth of research showing e that developing caring and compassion-focused motives for self and others has a range of benefits: on genetic expression [14,31,109], physiological processes [9,68,71,73,107,108], psychological processes [63,64,66,108], and social relationships [16,18,100]. Cultivating compassion for self and others has also become a central focus for the development of psychotherapies [35,37,40,61,67,69,77,96].…”

Conceptualizing and experiencing compassion.

“…Although scientists and laypeople typically characterize compassion as a positive emotion (Keltner & Lerner, 2010; Shaver, Schwartz, Kirson, & O’Connor, 1987), reports of compassion experiences indicate that compassion can feel unpleasant. Images depicting poverty and vulnerable infants, for example, simultaneously elevated reports of compassion and distress (Simon-Thomas et al, 2012). The valence of compassion appears illusive, but a scientific account depends on a greater understanding of the subjective experience of compassion.…”