Placebo Analgesia Changes on Self-Pain and Empathy for Pain: Influences of Event-Related EEG Oscillations, Heart Rate Variability, and Personality

We induced placebo analgesia (PA), a phenomenon explicitly attenuating the self-pain feeling, to assess whether this resulted in reduced empathy pain when witnessing a confederate undergoing such pain experience. We recorded EEG and electrocardiogram during a painful control and PA treatment in healthy adults who rated their experienced pain and empathy for pain. We derived HRV changes and, using wavelet analysis of non-phase-locked event-related EEG oscillations, EEG spectral power differences for self-pain and other-pain conditions. First-hand PA produced a reduction of self-pain and self-unpleasantness, whereas we observed only a slight decrease of other unpleasantness. We derived linear combinations of HRV and EEG band power changes significantly associated with self-pain and empathy for pain changes using PCAs. We found that relative HR-slowing together with decreased midline ϑ-band (4-8 Hz) power directly influenced self-pain reduction and, indirectly, through chained mediating effects of the Behavioral Inhibition System and Fight-Flight-Freezing System traits. In the other-pain condition, we detected a direct influence of the midline β2-band (22-30 Hz) power reduction on the other-pain decline with a positive mediating role of Total Empathic Ability. These findings suggest that PA modulation of first-hand versus other pain relies on functionally different physiological processes involving different personality traits.

End of Life Virtual Reality Training: Medical Student Increased Empathic Ability

Introduction It is unclear if medical student empathy declines by third year of clinical rotation trainings. Desensitization throughout the first two years may lead to decreases in empathy as a coping mechanism to avoid burnout in the clinical years. This study determined if self-assessed empathy increased after conducting an Embodied Labs, Inc. end of life virtual reality (VR) experience. Methods Mixed methods, quantitative/qualitative, research were applied for University of New England (UNE) College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) 2nd year medical students (N=174). They completed the 3-part 30 minute Clay Lab VR experience. UNE IRB approved pre/post-tests focused on empathy. Data were collected using RedCap. Closed questions were analyzed applying frequency analysis and paired-sample t-test through excel. Open-ended questions were analyzed through N-VIVO 12+. Results The data included pre/post-tests from 146 students volunteers. Results indicated statistical significance (P=.01) in all closed questions except for question 7 (What is your view of conducting a full code on a patient with a DNR? (P=.14). The greatest difference seen between pre (23.97% agree or strongly agree) and post-test (64.38% agree or strongly agree) data was for question 3 (I gained knowledge about what hospice is by embodying Clay in this virtual reality lab); P= .00. Three qualitative themes included: Impact, Empathy, EOL Knowledge. Conclusion This VR Lab experience increased self-assessed empathy at the time of Clay Lab completion; however, enduring empathy and learning about hospice/EOL has not been measured. Further research is suggested to determine the longitudinal impact of virtual reality education.

The Effect of Multicultural Sensibility and Empathic Ability on Undergraduate Student’s Civility

This research aimed to study the effects of both multicultural sensibility and empathic ability on civility. There were 239 participants, who are undergraduate students in colleges, randomly recruited from N and D cities. The scales used included multicultural sensibility, empathic ability, and civility, and the results analyzed reliability, correlation, and regression.The results showed the following: first, the means of multicultural sensibility, empathic ability, and civility were 3.69, 4.08, and 3.96 respectively. Second, multicultural sensibility, empathic ability and civility had significantly meaningful positive correlations. Third, multicultural sensibility and empathic ability had a significant effect on civility. Finally, regarding relative influence, multicultural sensibility had more of an effect than empathic ability on civility.To increase civility, a multidimensional approach is needed. University classes on civility, and general education classes on multicultural sensibility and empathic ability, need to be further developed.

Malicious Mind Readers? A Meta-Analysis on Machiavellianism and Cognitive and Affective Empathy

This meta-analysis investigated how the antagonistic personality trait Machiavellianism (Mach) relates to cognitive and affective empathy. Due to the role of manipulation in Mach, previous research argued that Mach should go along with higher empathic ability but found negative effects very consistently. Thus, some scholars argued that individuals with high scores in Mach had empathic deficits. The current meta-analysis (70 studies, 76 samples, and 232 effect sizes) challenged both perspectives by investigating bivariate and multivariate relations between Mach, self-reported cognitive empathy, cognitive empathic skills, and affective empathy. Further, we tested if gender distributions, student samples, and different utilized Mach scales accounted for differences across studies (i.e., moderated those). Bivariate analyses revealed inverse correlations of Mach with all facets of empathy (ρs from -.10 to -.36). The relations with self-reported and performance-based cognitive empathy almost dissolved when controlling for affective empathy. Neither of the proposed moderators significantly explained differences across studies. In general, studies with a high percentage of men and those comprising non-students revealed more diverse correlations than studies with a large proportion of women and studies that exclusively recruited students. The results suggest low affective empathy in Mach but contradict both the empathic deficits- and the “skilled mind reader”-perspectives.