The plasticity of the mirror system: how reward learning modulates cortical motor simulation of others

Cortical motor simulation supports the understanding of others' actions and intentions. This mechanism is thought to rely on the mirror neuron system (MNS), a brain network that is active both during action execution and observation. Indirect evidence suggests that alpha/beta suppression, an electroencephalographic (EEG) index of MNS activity, is modulated by reward. In this study we aimed to test the plasticity of the MNS by directly investigating the link between alpha/beta suppression and reward. 40 individuals from a general population sample took part in an evaluative conditioning experiment, where different neutral faces were associated with high or low reward values. In the test phase, EEG was recorded while participants viewed videoclips of happy expressions made by the conditioned faces. Alpha/beta suppression (identified using event-related desynchronisation of specific independent components) in response to rewarding faces was found to be greater than for non-rewarding faces. This result provides a mechanistic insight into the plasticity of the MNS and, more generally, into the role of reward in modulating physiological responses linked to empathy

Autistic traits modulate mimicry of social but not nonsocial rewards

Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) are associated with diminished responsiveness to social stimuli, and especially to social rewards such as smiles. Atypical responsiveness to social rewards, which reinforce socially appropriate behavior in children, can potentially lead to a cascade of deficits in social behavior. Individuals with ASC often show diminished spontaneous mimicry of social stimuli in a natural setting. In the general population, mimicry is modulated both by the reward value and the sociality of the stimulus (i.e., whether the stimulus is perceived to belong to a conspecific or an inanimate object). Since empathy and autistic traits are distributed continuously in the general population, this study aimed to test if and how these traits modulated automatic mimicry of rewarded social and nonsocial stimuli. High and low rewards were associated with human and robot hands using a conditioned learning paradigm. Thirty-six participants from the general population then completed a mimicry task involving performing a prespecified hand movement which was either compatible or incompatible with a hand movement presented to the participant. High autistic traits (measured using the Autism Spectrum Quotient, AQ) predicted lesser mimicry of high-reward than low-reward conditioned human hands, whereas trait empathy showed an opposite pattern of correlations. No such relations were observed for high-reward vs. low-reward conditioned robot hands. These results demonstrate how autistic traits and empathy modulate the effects of reward on mimicry of social compared to nonsocial stimuli. This evidence suggests a potential role for the reward system in underlying the atypical social behavior in individuals with ASC, who constitute the extreme end of the spectrum of autistic traits

Joy without demands: Hospital clowns in the world of ailing children

The aim of the present study was to achieve, using an affect theory approach (Tomkins, 1962; 1963; 1991), a deeper theoretical understanding of the psychological significance of hospital clowns' work in caring for ailing children viewed from a care-giver perspective. The methodological approach was qualitative and based on 20 interviews with healthcare staff: 3 men and 17 women. The result showed how the staff emphasized a psychological quality of care alongside the physical quality of care. The hospital clowns' “unexpected possibility” provided a safe area for recovery, for both the children and the staff. The theoretical interpretation showed the presence of the affects surprise/startle, interest/excitement, and enjoyment/joy as well as specifically how “joy without demands” often had a lingering effect in the form of vitality. Joy without demands is discussed in relation to psychological theory with emphasis on: a confirmation of the body's possibilities, a magical attachment, a chance to transcend boundaries, and a non-demanding situation

Spontaneous facial mimicry is modulated by joint attention and autistic traits

Joint attention (JA) and spontaneous facial mimicry (SFM) are fundamental processes in social interactions, and they are closely related to empathic abilities. When tested independently, both of these processes have been usually observed to be atypical in individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). However, it is not known how these processes interact with each other in relation to autistic traits. This study addresses this question by testing the impact of JA on SFM of happy faces using a truly interactive paradigm. Sixty-two neurotypical participants engaged in gaze-based social interaction with an anthropomorphic, gaze-contingent virtual agent. The agent either established JA by initiating eye contact or looked away, before looking at an object and expressing happiness or disgust. Eye tracking was used to make the agent's gaze behavior and facial actions contingent to the participants' gaze. SFM of happy expressions was measured by Electromyography (EMG) recording over the Zygomaticus Major muscle. Results showed that JA augments SFM in individuals with low compared with high autistic traits. These findings are in line with reports of reduced impact of JA on action imitation in individuals with ASC. Moreover, they suggest that investigating atypical interactions between empathic processes, instead of testing these processes individually, might be crucial to understanding the nature of social deficits in autis

Verbal, Facial and Autonomic Responses to Empathy-Eliciting Film Clips by Disruptive Male Adolescents with High Versus Low Callous-Unemotional Traits

This study examined empathy-related responding in male adolescents with disruptive behavior disorder (DBD), high or low on callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Facial electromyographic (EMG) and heart rate (HR) responses were monitored during exposure to empathy-inducing film clips portraying sadness, anger or happiness. Self-reports were assessed afterward. In agreement with expectations, DBD adolescents with high CU traits showed significantly lower levels of empathic sadness than healthy controls across all response systems. Between DBD subgroups significant differences emerged at the level of autonomic (not verbal or facial) reactions to sadness, with high CU respondents showing less HR change from baseline than low CU respondents. The study also examined basal patterns of autonomic function. Resting HR was not different between groups, but resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was significantly lower in DBD adolescents with high CU traits compared to controls. Results support the notion that CU traits designate a distinct subgroup of DBD individuals

Facial mimcry and emotion consistency : Influences of memory and context.

This study investigates whether mimicry of facial emotions is a stable response or can instead be modulated and influenced by memory of the context in which the emotion was initially observed, and therefore the meaning of the expression. The study manipulated emotion consistency implicitly, where a face expressing smiles or frowns was irrelevant and to be ignored while participants categorised target scenes. Some face identities always expressed emotions consistent with the scene (e.g., smiling with a positive scene), whilst others were always inconsistent (e.g., frowning with a positive scene). During this implicit learning of face identity and emotion consistency there was evidence for encoding of face-scene emotion consistency, with slower RTs, a reduction in trust, and inhibited facial EMG for faces expressing incompatible emotions. However, in a later task where the faces were subsequently viewed expressing emotions with no additional context, there was no evidence for retrieval of prior emotion consistency, as mimicry of emotion was similar for consistent and inconsistent individuals. We conclude that facial mimicry can be influenced by current emotion context, but there is little evidence of learning, as subsequent mimicry of emotionally consistent and inconsistent faces is similar

Affekter, affektiv kommunikation och anknytningsmönster – ett bio-psyko-socialt perspektiv

Människan är biologiskt förberedd för social interaktion och vi formas i hög grad av de speciella sociala erfarenheter vi gör och den kultur som vi är omgivna av. Vi är styrda av biologiskt nedlagda affekter, affekter som i samverkan med ett annat biologiskt nedlagt system, anknytningssystemet, inriktar oss mot att söka nära, trygga relationer. I det sociala samspelet påverkas vi intuitivt av andras emotioner och i boken förklaras de mekanismer som ligger bakom vår spontana förmåga att smittas av varandras inre emotionella tillstånd. Som en röd tråd genom boken löper skildringen av den icke-verbala ansiktskommunikationens roll i detta emotionella samspel

Between Ourselves. Automatic mimicry reactions as related to empathic ability and patterns of attachment

This thesis investigated emotional communication in experimentally created face-to-face interaction situations. The hypotheses were based on the conception of a process which leads to emotional empathy, assuming that automatic mimicking tendencies are involved in an automatic part of the process. Subjects were categorised as high- or low-empathic according to results on the Questionnaire Measure Of Emotional Empathy (QMEE). The compared parameters were facial mimicry reactions, represented by electromyographic (EMG) activity, when subjects were exposed to pictures of angry or happy faces. Comparisons were made at different stimulus exposure times in order to elicit reactions at different levels of information processing: preattentive (from 17 ms), automatic (17-56 ms), and controlled (100-2350 ms)levels. High-empathy subjects showed mimicking reactions already at the automatic level. In contrast, the low-empathy group reacted with inverted reactions and showed higher zygomaticus activity ("smiling") when exposed to angry faces. Thus, the result supported the hypothesis that mimicry is an early, automatic element involved in emotional empathy. Since patterns of attachment have been assumed to be involved in emotion regulation, the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ) was introduced to measure patterns of attachment and to relate this parameter to mimicry and empathy. Negative model-of-self subjects (corresponding to preoccupied and fearful-avoidant attachment patterns) showed a significantly stronger corrugator response (negative emotions) and reported more negative feelings than subjects with a positive model-of-self (corresponding to secure and dismissing-avoidant patterns of attachment) at the controlled level, representing emotionally regulated responses. These results supported the hypothesis that subjects with a negative model-of-self would show difficulties in regulation of negative emotions. The dismissing-avoidant subjects displayed "normal" corrugator reactions to angry faces at the automatic level of information processing (56 ms), whereas they showed inverted zygomatic reactions ("smiling") and decreased their corrugator response, to the angry face, at the controlled level (2350 ms), a reaction that may be may be interpreted as a repression of their preceeding negative emotional reaction. The dismissing-avoidant subjects scored significantly lower on QMEE than non-avoidant subjects, a result that may be explained as a repression of apprehensive reactions to others' negative emotional expression. Negative model-of-self subjects scored significantly higher on QMEE than positive model-of-self subjects and showed a mimicry reaction at the controlled level, which may be interpreted as a tendency for negative model-of-self subjects to be easily distressed by others showing negative emotions