Recensione di K. Stueber, L'empatia

Book-revie

Interpersonal motor interactions shape multisensory representations of the peripersonal space

This perspective review focuses on the proposal that predictive multisensory integration occurring in one’s peripersonal space (PPS) supports individuals’ ability to efficiently interact with others, and that integrating sensorimotor signals from the interacting partners leads to the emergence of a shared representation of the PPS. To support this proposal, we first introduce the features of body and PPS representations that are relevant for interpersonal motor interactions. Then, we highlight the role of action planning and execution on the dynamic expansion of the PPS. We continue by presenting evidence of PPS modulations after tool use and review studies suggesting that PPS expansions may be accounted for by Bayesian sensory filtering through predictive coding. In the central section, we describe how this conceptual framework can be used to explain the mechanisms through which the PPS may be modulated by the actions of our interaction partner, in order to facilitate interpersonal coordination. Last, we discuss how this proposal may support recent evidence concerning PPS rigidity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and its possible relationship with ASD individuals’ difficulties during interpersonal coordination. Future studies will need to clarify the mechanisms and neural underpinning of these dynamic, interpersonal modulations of the PPS

Somatosensory processing in social cognition: from an individualistic to an interactionist approach

The purpose of this thesis is to provide empirical and theoretical work to expand the current understanding of the role of the somatosensory system in processing social information. The thesis is organised in two sections, reflecting two different conceptual frameworks to investigate social cognition. In the first section, traditional ‘individualistic’ paradigms have been used to elucidate how the somatosensory system contributes to our understanding of other’s emotions, and how this mechanism might operate differently in autistic individuals. In Chapters 2 and 3, I will outline two empirical studies which aimed at investigating the role of the somatosensory system in processing emotional information in individuals with or without autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and its relationship with interoception. Within the first experiment, I collected EEG data from two groups of ASD and typically developing (TD) individuals while they observed stimuli depicting facial emotional expressions and recognised either the emotion (emotion task) or gender (gender task) of the stimuli. In 50% of trials, participants received task- irrelevant tactile taps which evoked somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) during emotion or gender discrimination. Moreover, we subtracted pure visual responses from visual and somatosensory activity to isolate SEP from visual carryover effects (Sel et al., 2014, 2020; Galvez-Pol et al., 2020). Results showed increased amplitude of the P100 SEP component during emotion processing in TD compared to ASD, revealing reduced engagement of the somatosensory system during emotion discrimination in ASD. Interestingly, the amplitude of SEP correlated with the strength of autistic traits. In the second experiment, we administered a heartbeat counting task to two groups of ASD and TD individuals, who were previously recruited for the first experiment, with the purpose to investigate the relationship between somatosensory embodiment of emotional expressions and interoception. Results showed a significant association between interoceptive accuracy (IAcc), SEP amplitudes during emotion processing, and the strength of autistic traits. Taken together, these two experiment provide novel evidence of altered responses of the somatosensory system during emotion processing in ASD, and suggest this phenomenon might have important implications also for difficulties in interoception. The second section of this thesis is dedicated to developing conceptual and methodological tools to investigate social cognition within an ‘interactionist’ framework (Gallotti & Frith, 2013). In Chapter 4, I hypothesize that plastic reorganisations of the body schema and the peripersonal space (PPS) may underlie interpersonal coordination during joint action. Specifically, I propose that, during motor interactions, our PPS is temporarily extended to our partner’s body, to create a shared representation supporting interpersonal coordination. In Chapter 5, I outline an experimental paradigm which was designed to test experimentally the hypothesis of an ‘entangled’ body schema (Soliman et al., 2015) as a consequence of joint action. In this experiment, we planned to record brain activity with EEG after participants engaged in a joint task (sawing a candle with a tight rope) or a solo task (observing the confederate sawing the candle). The experimental paradigm consisted in a tactile stimuli detection task, while task-irrelevant visual stimuli were delivered to the partner’s hand either in a congruent (same finger) or incongruent (opposite finger) condition. We expected to observe stronger multisensory integration between visual and tactile stimuli after the joint task compared to the solo task, reflected in higher accuracy and lower reaction times at a behavioural level, and in enhanced SEP amplitude at a neural level, in the congruent condition compared to the solo condition. These results would provide behavioural and neural evidence of plastic reorganisations of the body schema onto a joint, interpersonal representation. Hopefully, the experiment will start as soon as the social distancing situation related to the Covid-19 pandemic improves. This work provides novel evidence of the role of the somatosensory system in social cognition and how it might operate differently in individuals with ASD. Moreover, it develops methodological and conceptual tools for future investigations of the role of the somatosensory system in facilitating interpersonal coordination during joint action

Recensione di K. Stueber, L'empatia

Immaginiamo che gli esseri umani non siano dotati della capacità di riconoscere gli altri individui come esseri pensanti, né di comprenderne o interpretarne il comportamento. Con questi presupposti, la vita in società sarebbe ancora possibile? Molti pensatori, dai filosofi dell'antichità fino agli autori contemporanei, tra cui Stueber, risponderebbero che no, sarebbe pressoché impossibile. Perché sia possibile interagire con gli altri, dobbiamo poter attribuire loro stati mentali come desideri, intenzioni, credenze, e, alla luce di questi, saperne comprendere il comportamento sociale. E' opinione condivisa che ogni essere umano, in assenza di patologia, sia portatore di un repertorio di capacità, strategie, conoscenze implicate nella nostra abilità di comprendere le altre menti, noto come psicologia ingenua (folk psychology), grazie a cui siamo in grado di adempiere a questo complesso ma fondamentale compito. Dal dibattito in merito alla questione sono emerse, negli ultimi decenni, due posizioni fondamentali, che ribadiscono la centralità della prima piuttosto che della seconda strategia: la teoria della simulazione (secondo cui la comprensione altrui avviene attraverso una procedura empatica che non richiede molte conoscenze sull’altro, ma presuppone piuttosto la capacità di mettersi nei suoi panni) e la teoria della teoria (secondo cui la comprensione altrui richiede un ampio bagaglio di conoscenza circa l’altro e avviene attraverso l’elaborazione di una teoria su di lui). E' in questo panorama che si colloca il lavoro di Karsten Stueber. Coniugando una stringente analisi filosofica con un attento esame delle più recenti scoperte in campo psicologico e neuroscientifico, con il suo volume "L'Empatia", l'autore offre un contributo multidisciplinare e innovativo all'odierno dibattito tra teorici della teoria e teorici della simulazione. L'intento primario del libro è chiaro sin dalle prime pagine e anticipato dal titolo stesso: costruire una difesa sistematica dell'empatia come strumento epistemicamente centrale per la comprensione delle altre menti

Interpersonal Motor Interactions Shape Multisensory Representations of the Peripersonal Space

This perspective review focuses on the proposal that predictive multisensory integration occurring in one’s peripersonal space (PPS) supports individuals’ ability to efficiently interact with others, and that integrating sensorimotor signals from the interacting partners leads to the emergence of a shared representation of the PPS. To support this proposal, we first introduce the features of body and PPS representations that are relevant for interpersonal motor interactions. Then, we highlight the role of action planning and execution on the dynamic expansion of the PPS. We continue by presenting evidence of PPS modulations after tool use and review studies suggesting that PPS expansions may be accounted for by Bayesian sensory filtering through predictive coding. In the central section, we describe how this conceptual framework can be used to explain the mechanisms through which the PPS may be modulated by the actions of our interaction partner, in order to facilitate interpersonal coordination. Last, we discuss how this proposal may support recent evidence concerning PPS rigidity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and its possible relationship with ASD individuals’ difficulties during interpersonal coordination. Future studies will need to clarify the mechanisms and neural underpinning of these dynamic, interpersonal modulations of the PPS

DOES EXPERIENCE MODULATE AUTOMATIC IMITATION? A NEW LOOK

Data, Analysis Code and Research Materials from "DOES EXPERIENCE MODULATE AUTOMATIC IMITATION? A NEW LOOK

Somatosensory Evoked Potentials reveal reduced embodiment of emotions in autism

In the past two decades, research has shown the contribution of the somatosensory system to emotion recognition, supporting the embodied emotion hypothesis. Atypical processing of emotional expressions in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been mainly investigated at a visual level, here we aim to test if ASD individuals show atypical responses in the somatosensory system during emotion recognition, compared to typically developed (TD) individuals. We presented neutral, fearful and happy faces and asked our participants to pay attention to the emotional expression (emotion task) or the gender (control task) while recording their brain activity with a 64-channels EEG. We measured the visual evoked potentials (VEPs) over the occipital lobe and the somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) over sensorimotor areas. SEPs were evoked by applying a tactile stimulation on their index finger during the visual processing in 50% of trials. To isolate the somatosensory activity related to emotion processing from visual carryover effects, we subtracted the neural responses recorded in the visual condition from activity in the visuo-tactile condition (Sel et al., 2014). Interestingly, we found significant task*group and task*group*region interactions in the 100-130ms time window (corresponding to P100 SEPs component), showing enhanced difference between the two groups in the emotion task, in particular in frontal sensorimotor regions. Moreover, simple linear regressions revealed that autistic traits measured by Autism Quotient (AQ) and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) significantly predicted SEPs amplitude evoked during the emotion task. EEG signal was source localized in the right primary and secondary somatosensory cortex and in the right supplementary motor area. Our study provides novel evidence of atypical responses in the somatosensory system during recognition of emotional expressions in individuals with ASD

Embodied emotions in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Recent research has shown the independent contribution of the Somatosensory Cortex (SCx) to emotion recognition, supporting the embodied emotion hypothesis. Atypical patterns of responses to emotions in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been investigated only at a visual level, here we aim to investigate if ASD individuals show atypical patterns of embodiment during emotion perception beyond the established visual differences. We investigate embodied responses during emotion perception in ASD in 2 groups (typically developed (TD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) individuals). We presented neutral, afraid and happy faces to our participants while recording their brain activity with EEG. We measured the visual evoked potentials (VEPs) over the occipital lobe and the somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) over the SCx. SEPs were evoked by applying a tactile stimulation on their index finger during the visual processing. To isolate the pure somatosensory responses related to emotional processing from visual carryover effects, we subtracted the neural activity recorded in the visual condition from activity in the tactile condition (following Sel et al., 2014). We found significant interactions involving emotion between 35-95 ms, and interestingly, we found a significant task and group interaction between 95-125 ms, suggesting atypical modulation of embodied responses to emotional expressions in ASD compared to TD. Our study provides novel evidence of atypical pattern of neural responses during perception of emotional expressions in the Somatosensory Cortex in individuals with ASD

Embodied representations of emotional expressions in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Recent research has shown the independent contribution of the Somatosensory Cortex (SCx) to emotion recognition, supporting the embodied emotion hypothesis. Atypical patterns of responses to emotions in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been investigated only at a visual level, here we aim to investigate if ASD individuals show atypical patterns of embodiment during emotion perception beyond the established visual differences. We investigate embodied responses during emotion perception in ASD in 2 groups (typically developed (TD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) individuals). We presented neutral, afraid and happy faces to our participants while recording their brain activity with EEG. We measured the visual evoked potentials (VEPs) over the occipital lobe and the somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) over the SCx. SEPs were evoked by applying a tactile stimulation on their index finger during the visual processing. To isolate the pure somatosensory responses related to emotional processing from visual carryover effects, we subtracted the neural activity recorded in the visual condition from activity in the tactile condition (following Sel et al., 2014). We found significant interactions involving emotion between 35-95 ms, and interestingly, we found a significant task and group interaction between 95-125 ms, suggesting atypical modulation of embodied responses to emotional expressions in ASD compared to TD. Our study provides novel evidence of atypical pattern of neural responses during perception of emotional expressions in the Somatosensory Cortex in individuals with ASD

Embodied representations of emotional expressions in ASD

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterised by social interaction and communication impairments, as well as repetitive and restricted patterns of behaviour (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Recent research suggests that differences in representations of emotional expressions might play a role in ASD. Evidence for early atypical modulation of emotional expressions in visual areas has been shown (Batty et al.,2011). Moreover, recent research has highlighted that impaired embodied representations of emotions might also be atypical in ASD. In fact, reduced embodied simulation of emotional expressions in ASD has been highlighted by neuroimaging studies (Dapretto et al., 2006) and physiological responses to social stimuli seem to be atypical in ASD individuals (Hirsten & Ramachandran, 2001). Nevertheless, a selective impairment of embodied representations of emotional expressions in the somatosensory cortex in ASD has not been investigated yet. Our methodology combines Visual and Somatosensory Evoked Potentials (VEPs and SEPs) to isolate embodiment effects driven by somatosensory or visual processing. This methodology has already provided evidences of the involvement of the somatosensory cortex in processing emotional expressions in typical populations (Sel et al., 2014), and we are now interested in investigating whether ASD population show different patterns of responses compared to typical population. We are measuring visual and somatosensory responses in two groups of ASD and TD while they perform visual emotion recognition task and a control gender recognition task. Preliminary data will be presented, we expect to find a differential modulation of emotional expressions in the visual and somatosensory evoked potentials across the two groups