I-Yun Chen1,
Kun-Hsien Chou2, Chun-Wei Lan3, Ya-Wei Cheng1,
Ching-Po Lin1,3
1Institute of Neuroscience, National
Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; 2Institute of Biomedical
Engineering, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; 3Institute
of Biomedical imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang-Ming University,
Taipei, Taiwan
Being
in a close relationship is essential to human life. Such closeness can be
described as including other in the self. To what extent does imagining a
loved one differ from imagining an unfamiliar individual being in painful
situations? In this functional MRI study, participants were exposed to
animated stimuli depicting hands or feet in painful and non-painful
situations, and instructed to imagine the scenarios perceived from three
different perspectives: self, loved one and stranger. The results demonstrate
that interpersonal relationships and intimacy affect top-down processing of
empathy, as indicated by greater overlap between neural representations of
self and other.