Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 21, 2026

An Electrophysiology Protocol to Measure Reward Anticipation and Processing in Children
Published on: October 4, 2018
Empathy is associated with dynamic change in prefrontal brain electrical activity during positive emotion in children
Sharee N Light1, James A Coan, Carolyn Zahn-Waxler
1University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Abstract:
Empathy is the combined ability to interpret the emotional states of others and experience resultant, related emotions. The relation between prefrontal electroencephalographic asymmetry and emotion in children is well known. The association between positive emotion (assessed via parent report), empathy (measured via observation), and second-by-second brain electrical activity (recorded during a pleasurable task) was investigated using a sample of one hundred twenty-eight 6- to 10-year-old children. Contentment related to increasing left frontopolar activation (p < .05). Empathic concern and positive empathy related to increasing right frontopolar activation (ps < .05). A second form of positive empathy related to increasing left dorsolateral activation (p < .05). This suggests that positive affect and (negative and positive) empathy both relate to changes in prefrontal activity during a pleasurable task.
Related Concept Videos
Empathy
Cognitive Development During Adolescence
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Physiology of Emotion
Autonomic Nervous System
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a critical role in emotional responses by regulating involuntary physiological functions. It consists of two main components: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. The sympathetic system...
The Influence of Affect on Cognition
Facial Feedback Hypothesis

