Synchronized neural oscillations in the right brain induce empathic behavior

Empathy is the ability that allows us to perceive and understand another individual's emotions, such as joy, sadness, or fear. It is an essential function for human sociality, and its impairment has been observed in numerous psychiatric and neurological disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease.

The Center for Cognition and Sociality (CCS) within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea has discovered the underlying neural mechanism that allows us to feel empathy. The group's study on mice hinted that empathy is induced by the synchronized neural oscillations in the right hemisphere of the brain, which allows the animals to perceive and share each other's fear.

'Observational fear', which is a rodent model for emotional contagion, is the basic form of affective empathy. This model has been well-established and is frequently used for studying the neurobiology of empathy. During the observational fear experiment, a "demonstrator" mouse is given an electric shock, while an "observer" mouse watches from behind a transparent screen. When witnessing another animal receiving a shock, the observer mouse displays an immediate fear response, as demonstrated by its freezing behavior. The observer mouse is also known to be able to recall the experience at a later time.

Notably, this study showed that the synchronized brain rhythms within multiple brain areas are essential for triggering empathy.

Synchronous neural oscillations within the networks could allow enhanced communications among multiple brain areas for various cognitive and emotional functions.

Reference: Synchronized neural oscillations in the right brain induce empathic behavior, Neuron; DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.11.001.