How pain empathy depends on ingroup/outgroup decisions: A functional magnet resonance imaging study

Showing empathy is crucial for social functioning and empathy is related to group membership. The aim of the current study was to investigate the influence of experimentally generated groups on empathy for pain in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm. Thirty healthy participants underwent a minimal group paradigm to create two groups. While BOLD contrast was measured using fMRI, subjects were instructed to empathize with ingroup and outgroup members, who were depicted in a picture paradigm of painful and neutral situations. Behavioral measure of state empathy was measured using a visual analog scale. Furthermore, self-reported trait empathy measures were obtained. Repeated-measures ANOVAs were conducted for fMRI and behavioral data. In addition to a main effect of pain in pain-related areas, a main effect of group in areas belonging to the visual cortex was found. Although there was no ingroup bias for empathy ratings, subjects showed altered neural activation in regions of the right fusiform gyrus, the cerebellum, the hippocampal and amygdala region during the pain×group interaction. Activation in the preceding structures, revealed by the interaction of pain by group, suggests that activation in the pallidum might reflect specific empathy for pain-related regulation processes.