Investigating the functional anatomy of empathy and forgiveness

TLDR

Functional brain imaging suggests the medial prefrontal cortex mediates social cognition, yet the neural anatomy of empathy and forgiveness remains poorly understood. The study aimed to identify brain regions involved in judging others’ emotional states and the forgivability of their crimes. Functional MRI was employed with ten volunteers who read social scenarios and performed judgments against a high‑level baseline task to detect engaged brain regions. Empathic and forgivability judgments activated left superior frontal gyrus, orbitofrontal gyrus, and precuneus, with empathic judgments additionally engaging left anterior middle temporal and inferior frontal gyri and forgivability judgments engaging posterior cingulate gyrus, indicating distinct neural substrates that may support social cohesion.

Abstract

Previous functional brain imaging studies suggest that the ability to infer the intentions and mental states of others (social cognition) is mediated by medial prefrontal cortex. Little is known about the anatomy of empathy and forgiveness. We used functional MRI to detect brain regions engaged by judging others’ emotional states and the forgivability of their crimes. Ten volunteers read and made judgements based on social scenarios and a high level baseline task (social reasoning). Both empathic and forgivability judgements activated left superior frontal gyrus, orbitofrontal gyrus and precuneus. Empathic judgements also activated left anterior middle temporal and left inferior frontal gyri, while forgivability judgements activated posterior cingulate gyrus. Empathic and forgivability judgements activate specific regions of the human brain, which we propose contribute to social cohesion.