scholarly journals Age-related differences in structural and functional networks involved in empathy for positive and negative emotions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Ziaei ◽  
Lena Oestreich ◽  
David C. Reutens ◽  
Natalie C. Ebner
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Functional Networks ◽  
Affective Empathy ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Empathic Response ◽  
Cingulum Bundle ◽  
Social Cognitive Processes

AbstractEmpathy, among other social-cognitive processes, changes across adulthood. More specifically, cognitive components of empathy (understanding another’s perspective) appear to decline with age, while findings for affective empathy (sharing another’s emotional states) are rather mixed. Structural and functional correlates underlying cognitive and affective empathy in aging and the extent to which valence affects empathic response in brain and behavior are not well understood yet. To fill these research gaps, younger and older participants completed a modified version of the Multifaceted Empathy Test, which measures both cognitive and affective empathy. Adopting a multimodal imaging approach and applying multivariate analysis, the study found that regions of the salience network, including anterior insula and anterior cingulate, were more involved in cognitive empathy to negative emotions in older than younger participants. For affective empathy to positive emotions, in contrast, younger and older participants recruited a similar brain network including main nodes of the default mode network. Additionally, it was found that increased structural integrity (fractional anisotropy values) of the posterior, but not the anterior, cingulum bundle was related to activation of default mode regions during affective empathy for positive stimuli in both age groups. These findings provide novel insights into the functional networks subserving cognitive and affective empathy in younger and older adults and highlight the importance of considering valence in empathic response in aging. Findings from this study, for the first time, underscore a role of posterior cingulum bundle in higher-order social-cognitive processes such as empathy in aging.

scholarly journals Age-related differences in negative cognitive empathy but similarities in positive affective empathy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Ziaei ◽  
Lena Oestreich ◽  
David C. Reutens ◽  
Natalie C. Ebner
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Affective Empathy ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Empathic Response ◽  
Cingulum Bundle ◽  
Social Cognitive Processes

AbstractEmpathy, among other social-cognitive processes, changes across adulthood. More specifically, cognitive components of empathy (understanding another’s perspective) appear to decline with age, while findings for affective empathy (sharing another’s emotional state) are rather mixed. Structural and functional correlates underlying cognitive and affective empathy in aging and the extent to which valence affects empathic response in brain and behavior are not well understood yet. To fill these research gaps, younger and older adults completed a modified version of the Multifaceted Empathy Test, which measures both cognitive and affective empathy as well as empathic responding to both positive and negative stimuli (i.e., positive vs. negative empathy). Adopting a multimodal imaging approach and applying multivariate analysis, the study found that for cognitive empathy to negative emotions, regions of the salience network including the anterior insula and anterior cingulate were more involved in older than younger adults. For affective empathy to positive emotions, in contrast, younger and older adults recruited a similar brain network including main nodes of the default mode network. Additionally, increased structural microstructure (fractional anisotropy values) of the posterior cingulum bundle (right henisphere) was related to activation of default mode regions during affective empathy for positive emotions in both age groups. These findings provide novel insights into the functional networks subserving cognitive and affective empathy in younger and older adults and highlight the importance of considering valence in empathic response in aging research. Further this study, for the first time, underscores the role of the posterior cingulum bundle in higher-order social-cognitive processes such as empathy, specifically for positive emotions, in aging.

Social-cognitive processes in preschoolers' selective trust: Three cultures compared.

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 579-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda J. Lucas ◽  
Charlie Lewis ◽  
F. Cansu Pala ◽  
Katie Wong ◽  
Damon Berridge
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Selective Trust ◽  
Social Cognitive Processes

Initial Impressions of Others

2012 ◽  
pp. 336-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Uleman ◽  
S. Adil Saribay
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Attribution Theory ◽  
Impression Formation ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Controlled Attention ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Cognitive Processes ◽  
The Many ◽  
And Control ◽  
Initial Impressions

“Initial impressions” bring together personality and social psychology like no other field of study—“personality” because (1) impressions are about personalities, and (2) perceivers’ personalities affect these impressions; and “social” because (3) social cognitive processes of impression formation, and (4) sociocultural contexts have major effects on impressions. To make these points, we first review how people explicitly describe others: the terms we use, how these descriptions reveal our theories about others, the important roles of traits and types (including stereotypes) in these descriptions, and other prominent frameworks (e.g., narratives and social roles). Then we highlight recent research on the social cognitive processes underlying these descriptions: automatic and controlled attention, the many effects of primes (semantic and affective) and their dependence on contexts, the acquisition of valence, spontaneous inferences about others, and the interplay of automatic and control processes. Third, we examine how accurate initial impressions are, and what accuracy means, as well as deception and motivated biases and distortions. Fourth, we review recent research on effects of target features, perceiver features, and relations between targets and perceivers. Finally, we look at frameworks for understanding explanations, as distinct from descriptions: attribution theory, theory of mind, and simulation theory.

Effects of left dlPFC modulation on social cognitive processes following food sampling

Appetite ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 73-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Hall ◽  
Cassandra J. Lowe ◽  
Adrian B. Safati ◽  
Huaqi Li ◽  
Emilia B. Klassen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Left Dlpfc ◽  
Social Cognitive Processes

scholarly journals Longitudinal Relations Between Self-Defining Memories and Self-Esteem: Mediating Roles of Meaning-Making and Memory Function

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsiao-Wen Liao ◽  
Susan Bluck ◽  
Gerben J. Westerhof
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Adult Lifespan ◽  
Social Cognitive Processes

The present study examines Hsiao-Wen Liao is now at the Department of Psychology, Stanford University, CA, USA. the role of self-defining memories in predicting self-esteem using a 1-year longitudinal design with an adult lifespan sample ( N = 1,216; age range 18–92; Mage = 49.52; SDage = 17.25). The interplay between narrators’ personality at the life story level and two social-cognitive processes, meaning-making and functional memory use, is investigated. Participants provided three self-defining memories, and their personality positivity was assessed in terms of the ratio of positive-to-all memories. Memory narratives were reliably coded for meaning-making, and participants reported the extent to which they use each remembered event to serve adaptive functions. One year later, participants completed a measure of self-esteem. Personality positivity at Time 1 predicts greater self-esteem at Time 2. The effect of personality positivity occurs, however, completely through creating positive meaning and using memories functionally. The findings contribute to the literature on narrative identity and autobiographical memory by delineating how memory processes relate to self-regulation over time. The relative roles of personality and social-cognitive processes in autobiographical narratives in linking to self-esteem are discussed.

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