Functional Neural Plasticity and Associated Changes in Positive Affect After Compassion Training

TLDR

Social emotions such as compassion are essential for healthy interactions and wellbeing, yet the neural mechanisms that support their training remain poorly understood. The study aimed to examine affective plasticity by measuring neural and subjective responses to others’ distress using a newly developed Socio‑affective Video Task. Healthy adults performed the Socio‑affective Video Task while their brain activity and subjective affect were recorded to assess responses to others’ distress. Initial empathic responses were linked to negative affect and activation of the anterior insula and medial cingulate cortex, but compassion training shifted affect toward positivity and engaged a network of medial orbitofrontal cortex, putamen, pallidum, and ventral tegmental area, indicating that deliberate compassion cultivation promotes positive affect even when witnessing others’ distress.

Abstract

The development of social emotions such as compassion is crucial for successful social interactions as well as for the maintenance of mental and physical health, especially when confronted with distressing life events. Yet, the neural mechanisms supporting the training of these emotions are poorly understood. To study affective plasticity in healthy adults, we measured functional neural and subjective responses to witnessing the distress of others in a newly developed task (Socio-affective Video Task). Participants' initial empathic responses to the task were accompanied by negative affect and activations in the anterior insula and anterior medial cingulate cortex--a core neural network underlying empathy for pain. Whereas participants reacted with negative affect before training, compassion training increased positive affective experiences, even in response to witnessing others in distress. On the neural level, we observed that, compared with a memory control group, compassion training elicited activity in a neural network including the medial orbitofrontal cortex, putamen, pallidum, and ventral tegmental area--brain regions previously associated with positive affect and affiliation. Taken together, these findings suggest that the deliberate cultivation of compassion offers a new coping strategy that fosters positive affect even when confronted with the distress of others.