Trait Emotional Empathy and Resting State Functional Connectivity in Default Mode, Salience, and Central Executive Networks

Abstract

Emotional empathy is the ability to experience and/or share another person’s emotional states and responses. Although some research has examined the neural correlates of emotional empathy, there has been little research investigating whether this component of empathy is related to the functional connectivity of resting state networks in the brain. In the current study, 32 participants answered a trait emotional empathy questionnaire in a session previous to their functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Results indicate that emotional empathy scores were correlated with different patterns of functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and left and right central executive networks. For example, within the DMN, emotional empathy scores positively correlated with connectivity in the premotor cortex. Within the SN, empathy scores were positively correlated with the fusiform gyrus and cuneus. These findings demonstrate that emotional empathy is associated with unique patterns of functional connectivity in four of the brain’s resting state networks.

Keywords: emotional empathy; functional connectivity; functional magnetic resonance imaging; resting state.

Figure 1

Results of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showing regions of significant correlation between trait emotional empathy scores and the functional connectivity within each of the four components representing the networks: (A) Default Mode; (B) Salience; (C) Left Central Executive, and (D) Right Central Executive network. Positive correlations are indicated in orange while negative correlations are indicated in blue. Maps are displayed at p < 0.05 with a cluster threshold estimator applied to reduce false positives.