Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 7, 2026
08:22
BrainBeats as an Open-Source EEGLAB Plugin to Jointly Analyze EEG and Cardiovascular Signals
Published on: April 26, 2024
Association between interoception and empathy: evidence from heartbeat-evoked brain potential
Hirokata Fukushima1, Yuri Terasawa, Satoshi Umeda
1Department of Psychology, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan. fukush@flet.keio.ac.jp
Summary
This study links how the brain processes internal body signals (interoception) to empathy. Enhanced neural responses to heartbeats during an empathy task suggest bodily feelings influence understanding others' emotions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Physiological bodily states significantly influence affective experiences.
- Empathy, the capacity to understand others' affective states, may be modulated by interoception.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between neural processing of interoception and empathy.
- To utilize the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) as a neural marker for interoceptive processing in relation to empathy.
Main Methods:
- Recorded electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) in 21 healthy adults.
- Participants performed empathy and control tasks involving judgments of eye images.
- Calculated and compared heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP), ECG, and heart rate between tasks.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in cardiac activity (ECG, heart rate) were observed between tasks.
- A significant difference in HEP was found, showing increased frontocentral negativity during the empathy task (250-430 ms latency).
- Self-reported empathy correlated with mean HEP amplitude during task-related differentiation.
Conclusions:
- Neural processing of interoception, indexed by HEP, is modulated by empathy-related tasks.
- Afferent feedback from visceral activity may play a role in inferring others' affective states.
- Findings suggest a link between bodily awareness and empathic understanding.
Related Concept Videos
02:34Empathy
Some researchers suggest that altruism operates on empathy. Empathy is the capacity to understand another person’s perspective, to feel what he or she feels. An empathetic person makes an emotional connection with others and feels compelled to help (Batson, 1991). Empathy can be expressed in several ways, including cognitive, affective, and motor.
01:20Physiology of Emotion
The physiology of emotions is a multifaceted process involving the autonomic nervous system, brain structures, hormones, and neurotransmitters. This intricate interplay dictates how emotions manifest in the body and influence behavior.
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...
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...