Increased activation in the bilateral anterior insulae in response to others in pain in mothers compared to non-mothers

Abstract Empathy allows us to share emotions and encourages us to help others. It is especially important in the context of parenting where children’s wellbeing is dependent on their parents’ understanding and fulfilment of their needs. To date, little is known about differences in empathy responses...

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Autores principales:	Irene Sophia Plank, Catherine Hindi Attar, Stefanie L. Kunas, Isabel Dziobek, Felix Bermpohl
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/41f427d656f54263b5d811b9658bc9ad
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:41f427d656f54263b5d811b9658bc9ad2021-11-28T12:21:38ZIncreased activation in the bilateral anterior insulae in response to others in pain in mothers compared to non-mothers10.1038/s41598-021-02162-w2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/41f427d656f54263b5d811b9658bc9ad2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02162-whttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Empathy allows us to share emotions and encourages us to help others. It is especially important in the context of parenting where children’s wellbeing is dependent on their parents’ understanding and fulfilment of their needs. To date, little is known about differences in empathy responses of parents and non-parents. Using stimuli depicting adults and children in pain, this study focuses on the interaction of motherhood and neural responses in areas associated with empathy. Mothers showed higher activation to both adults and children in pain in the bilateral anterior insulae, key regions of empathy for pain. Additionally, mothers more strongly activated the inferior frontal, superior temporal and the medial superior frontal gyrus. Differences between adult and child stimuli were only found in occipital areas in both mothers and non-mothers. Our results suggest a stronger neural response to others in pain in mothers than non-mothers regardless of whether the person is a child or an adult. This could indicate a possible influence of motherhood on overall neural responses to others in pain rather than motherhood specifically shaping child-related responses. Alternatively, stronger responses to others in pain could increase the likelihood for women to be in a relationship and subsequently to have a child.Irene Sophia PlankCatherine Hindi AttarStefanie L. KunasIsabel DziobekFelix BermpohlNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Irene Sophia Plank Catherine Hindi Attar Stefanie L. Kunas Isabel Dziobek Felix Bermpohl Increased activation in the bilateral anterior insulae in response to others in pain in mothers compared to non-mothers
description	Abstract Empathy allows us to share emotions and encourages us to help others. It is especially important in the context of parenting where children’s wellbeing is dependent on their parents’ understanding and fulfilment of their needs. To date, little is known about differences in empathy responses of parents and non-parents. Using stimuli depicting adults and children in pain, this study focuses on the interaction of motherhood and neural responses in areas associated with empathy. Mothers showed higher activation to both adults and children in pain in the bilateral anterior insulae, key regions of empathy for pain. Additionally, mothers more strongly activated the inferior frontal, superior temporal and the medial superior frontal gyrus. Differences between adult and child stimuli were only found in occipital areas in both mothers and non-mothers. Our results suggest a stronger neural response to others in pain in mothers than non-mothers regardless of whether the person is a child or an adult. This could indicate a possible influence of motherhood on overall neural responses to others in pain rather than motherhood specifically shaping child-related responses. Alternatively, stronger responses to others in pain could increase the likelihood for women to be in a relationship and subsequently to have a child.
format	article
author	Irene Sophia Plank Catherine Hindi Attar Stefanie L. Kunas Isabel Dziobek Felix Bermpohl
author_facet	Irene Sophia Plank Catherine Hindi Attar Stefanie L. Kunas Isabel Dziobek Felix Bermpohl
author_sort	Irene Sophia Plank
title	Increased activation in the bilateral anterior insulae in response to others in pain in mothers compared to non-mothers
title_short	Increased activation in the bilateral anterior insulae in response to others in pain in mothers compared to non-mothers
title_full	Increased activation in the bilateral anterior insulae in response to others in pain in mothers compared to non-mothers
title_fullStr	Increased activation in the bilateral anterior insulae in response to others in pain in mothers compared to non-mothers
title_full_unstemmed	Increased activation in the bilateral anterior insulae in response to others in pain in mothers compared to non-mothers
title_sort	increased activation in the bilateral anterior insulae in response to others in pain in mothers compared to non-mothers
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/41f427d656f54263b5d811b9658bc9ad
work_keys_str_mv	AT irenesophiaplank increasedactivationinthebilateralanteriorinsulaeinresponsetoothersinpaininmotherscomparedtononmothers AT catherinehindiattar increasedactivationinthebilateralanteriorinsulaeinresponsetoothersinpaininmotherscomparedtononmothers AT stefanielkunas increasedactivationinthebilateralanteriorinsulaeinresponsetoothersinpaininmotherscomparedtononmothers AT isabeldziobek increasedactivationinthebilateralanteriorinsulaeinresponsetoothersinpaininmotherscomparedtononmothers AT felixbermpohl increasedactivationinthebilateralanteriorinsulaeinresponsetoothersinpaininmotherscomparedtononmothers
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Increased activation in the bilateral anterior insulae in response to others in pain in mothers compared to non-mothers

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