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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 23, 2026

Appetitive Associative Olfactory Learning in Drosophila Larvae

Appetitive Associative Olfactory Learning in Drosophila Larvae

Published on: February 18, 2013

Empathizing associates with mean diffusivity.

Hikaru Takeuchi¹, Yasuyuki Taki^2,3,4, Rui Nouchi^5,6,7

¹Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. takehi@idac.tohoku.ac.jp.

Scientific Reports

|June 22, 2019

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Higher empathizing, but not systemizing, correlates with brain microstructure. Specifically, greater mean diffusivity (MD) in brain regions associated with emotional salience and the mirror neuron system was linked to increased empathizing.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Neuroimaging

Background:

Empathizing and systemizing are key human cognitive traits.
Mean diffusivity (MD) is a neuroimaging marker associated with cognitive traits and disorders.
The direct correlation between MD and empathizing/systemizing requires investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the microstructural correlates of empathizing and systemizing using voxel-by-voxel analysis of regional MD.
To explore the relationship between MD and the discrepancy score (D score: systemizing - empathizing).

Main Methods:

Whole-brain analyses of covariance were performed on regional MD.
Voxel-by-voxel investigations were conducted to identify correlations.

Main Results:

Empathizing showed a positive correlation with MD in two anatomical clusters: (a) left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left anterior cingulate cortex, and left insula, and (b) left postcentral gyrus and left rolandic operculum.
Cluster (a) overlaps with brain areas linked to cooperativeness.
No significant correlations were found for systemizing or the D score.

Conclusions:

Higher empathizing is associated with greater MD in brain regions crucial for emotional salience and empathy.
Higher empathizing is also linked to greater MD in areas involved in the mirror neuron system.
MD may serve as a microstructural marker for empathizing, with implications for understanding social cognition.