UCLA

Empathy has been commonly referred to as a catalyst for prosocial behavior (i.e. helping). However, empathy does not always compel one to act in a supportive or helpful manner. This is because empathy is a complex, multidimensional construct which can involve the sharing of emotions with another (an affective process), taking the perspective of another (a cognitive process), and feeling sorrow or concern for another (prosocial concern), features which interact and promote prosocial behavior in varying ways depending on the situation. Neuroscience methods have allowed researchers to examine the neural correlates of these components as individuals undergo an empathic experience. Interestingly, there is evidence that the components of empathy have dissociable neural correlates with differing developmental trajectories. Importantly, neural regions underlying the cognitive component of empathy continue to undergo structural and functional change throughout adolescence, making it a particularly critical stage to investigate how empathy develops and relates to prosocial behavior. Thus, in the present study, 11–17-year-olds viewed the social exclusion of a same-aged peer (Cyberball) as they underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan. After exiting the scanner, participants were given the opportunity to write messages to both the victim and excluders who played in the Cyberball game. Participants’ neural activity in Affective Pain (dACC, AI), Mentalizing (pSTS, dmPFC, TPJ), and Prosocial Concern (SA, mOFC) networks while viewing the exclusion (vs inclusion) were extracted and examined in relation to the degree of prosocial behavior participants displayed after the scan. Results revealed gender differences in both state empathy and prosocial behavior in response to viewing the social exclusion, such that girls reported feeling greater empathy for the victim of the exclusion. Affective Pain and Mentalizing networks both showed significant activation across the whole sample when viewing the exclusion episode compared to inclusion, though girls showed significantly greater activity in the Mentalizing network compared to boys. Additionally, there were significant gender differences in how trait perspective taking related to activation in the Affective Pain network during exclusion. In terms of how neural activity predicts subsequent prosocial behavior, the Prosocial Concern network was the only network to relate to prosocial behavior, such that older adolescents (15 to 17-year-olds) showed a significant positive relationship between Prosocial Concern network activity during exclusion and subsequent prosocial behavior. Results suggest important gender differences to consider in understanding empathy and prosocial behavior in adolescence, and reveal that the Prosocial Concern network is uniquely predictive of prosocial behavior amongst older adolescents. The Prosocial Concern network includes neural regions involved in the evolved mammalian and human caregiving systems. Thus, this may suggest that older adolescents have a more mature or developed caregiving system (aligning with the age in which they can physically reproduce), which can be used to support prosocial behavior.