The Resting-State Electroencephalogram Microstate Correlations With Empathy and Their Moderating Effect on the Relationship Between Empathy and Disgust

Abstract

Humans have a natural ability to understand the emotions and feelings of others, whether one actually witnesses the situation of another, perceives it from a photograph, reads about it in a fiction book, or merely imagines it. This is the phenomenon of empathy, which requires us to mentally represent external information to experience the emotions of others. Studies have shown that individuals with high empathy have high anterior insula and adjacent frontal operculum activation when they are aware of negative emotions in others. As a negative emotion, disgust processing involves insula coupling. What are the neurophysiological characteristics for regulating the levels of empathy and disgust? To answer this question, we collected electroencephalogram microstates (EEG-ms) of 196 college students at rest and used the Disgust Scale and Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The results showed that: (1) there was a significant positive correlation between empathy and disgust sensitivity; (2) the empathy score and the intensity of transition possibility between EEG-ms C and D were significantly positively correlated; and (3) the connection strength between the transition possibility of EEG-ms C and D could adjust the relationship between the disgust sensitivity score and the empathy score. This study provides new neurophysiological characteristics for an understanding of the regulate relationship between empathy and disgust and provides a new perspective on emotion and attention.

Enhancing Emotion Recognition Using Region-Specific Electroencephalogram Data and Dynamic Functional Connectivity

“…It has been shown in several EEG-based studies that EEG signals can be used to robustly detect and classify emotion states at different valence and arousal levels. In terms of emotion-related brain region, emotion processing is highly correlated with neural activity in the frontal cortex compared to other regions of the brain such as temporal, parietal, and occipital ( Lin et al, 2014 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ). In particular, the left frontal area is more responsible for the processing of high valence-arousal emotions such as joy, interest, and happiness, while the right frontal region may be involved in the processing of low valence-arousal emotions such as fear, disgust, and sadness ( Schmidt and Trainor, 2001 ).…”

The relationship between preschool teacher trait mindfulness and teacher-child relationship quality: the chain mediating role of emotional intelligence and empathy

“…It helps us feel the relationship with others, understand the inner activities of others and improve emotional states. Therefore, empathy is also considered as a way to regulate interpersonal relationships (Zaki, 2020;Zhang et al, 2021).…”

EEG Microstates in Social and Affective Neuroscience

“…Microstate analysis of continuous EEG has been used to illuminate the sources of individual differences in socio-affective traits, in domains such as aggression (Kleinert and Nash 2022 ), anxiety (Schiller et al 2019b ; Du et al 2022 ; Nash et al 2023 ), approach vs. withdrawal tendency (Takehara et al 2020 ; Kaur et al 2020 ), disgust sensitivity (Li et al 2021 ), empathy (Zhang et al 2021 ), personality (Zanesco et al 2020 ; Guo et al 2020 ; Tomescu et al 2022 ), prosociality (Schiller et al 2020b ), religious belief (Schlegel et al 2012 ; Nash et al 2022 ), or somatic awareness (Pipinis et al 2017 ; Tarailis et al 2021 ; Zanesco et al 2021a ). The majority of these studies have relied on regression or correlation analysis to uncover associations between features of the prototypical microstate classes (e.g., duration, occurrence, coverage, transition probabilities; see Box 4 ) and socio-affective traits (see Fig.…”