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Empathy: A unitary circuit or a set of dissociable neuro-cognitive systems?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2003

James R. Blair
Affiliation:
Mood and Anxiety Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 [email protected]
Karina S. Perschardt
Affiliation:
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, WC1H 3AR, England

Abstract

We question whether empathy is mediated by a unitary circuit. We argue that recent neuroimaging data indicate dissociable neural responses for different facial expressions as well as for representing others' mental states (Theory of Mind, TOM). We also argue that the general empathy disorder considered characteristic of autism and psychopathy is not general but specific for each disorder.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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