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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. 
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EEG Mu Rhythm in Typical and Atypical Development
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Neural shifts in alpha rhythm's dual functioning during empathy maturation.

Niloufar Zebarjadi1, Jonathan Levy1,2

  • 1Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.

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|June 19, 2023
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Summary

Empathy development shows a distinct shift around age 18, transitioning from alpha enhancement to alpha suppression in the brain. This neurodevelopmental change, observed using MEG and fMRI, marks a maturation in empathic ability.

Keywords:
alpha rhythm activitydevelopmentneurosciencepain empathy

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Empathy relies on cortical alpha rhythm suppression in adults, but younger individuals show reversed alpha enhancement patterns.
  • A unique developmental window around age 20 allows studying both low-alpha suppression and high-alpha enhancement in empathy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the functional role of low-alpha power suppression and high-alpha power enhancement during empathy development.
  • To identify the neurodevelopmental transition in empathic brain responses.

Main Methods:

  • Multimodal neuroimaging combining magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
  • Recorded neural activity and hemodynamic responses in 40 healthy individuals perceiving vicarious pain.
  • Targeted subjects around age 20 to capture a critical developmental transition.

Main Results:

  • MEG revealed an all-or-none alpha pattern shift during empathy around age 18: enhancement before, suppression after.
  • MEG and fMRI showed a correspondence between high-alpha increase/BOLD decrease (pre-18) and low-alpha decrease/BOLD increase (post-18).
  • This transition was not detected by self-report measures or a control neuroimaging task.

Conclusions:

  • Empathy maturation involves an all-or-none transition around age 18 from alpha enhancement/inhibition to alpha suppression/activation.
  • This shift may indicate a marker of maturation in empathic ability.
  • The study provides insight into the functional maturation of empathy during adolescence and early adulthood.