Figure 6
Task schematics and results for the empathy localizer task. (a) The videos showed individuals receiving auditory stimulation and displaying the transition from neutral facial expression (0.5 s) to exhibiting painful facial expressions (2.5 s). After presentation of each painful video, participants responded to two questions: one assessing other-oriented empathic response by gauging intensity of the experienced pain, while the other assessing self-oriented distress via experienced unpleasantness. The face of the target has been pixelated to protect the identity of the person in photo. (b) Brain regions where the BOLD signal was higher while watching painful videos as compared to baseline (n = 49, group-level random effects analysis, p < 0.05, FWE-corrected, k > 10), masked with Neuromorphometrics anatomical atlas labels for ROIs. The slice numbers represent z-coordinate in MNI stereotactic space and the color bar denotes the F-statistic. Regions of Interest (ROIs) are highlighted and labeled. Abbreviations: ACC: anterior cingulate cortex, AI: anterior insula, MCC: midcingulate cortex, PI: posterior insula.
