Neural functional correlates of empathic face processing: An activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of fMRI studies

Introduction Empathy is evolutionary preserved in social organisms and emotional face processing is one of its measures. Systems possibly active during empathic processing include perspective-taking, basic emotional contagion “mirroring” and “theory of mind” systems. Objectives fMRI studies help clarifying neural correlates of empathic face processing; ALE meta-analysing fMRI studies allows identification of brain area activation/deactivation during empathy. Aims To identify brain areas most consistently involved in empathy. Methods We carried ALE meta-analysis of original studies focusing on cerebral activations during empathic face processing tasks and reporting data on Talairach or MNI space coordinates, converting the former in the latter. An 11-April-2016 PubMed search, using as keywords terms like empathy combined with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), produced 124 records of which 23 were finally included (568 participants, 247 males and 321 females; mean age 32.2 years). We followed the PRISMA statement. Whole-brain data were meta-analysed; significance was set at P  = 0.0001, uncorrected. Results ALE meta-analysis of data from 21 experiments (totalling 527 foci) on empathic face processing during experimental task conditions showed that emotional vs. neutral/control conditions significantly correlated with activations of left anterior cingulate cortex (BA 32), right precentral gyrus (BA 6), left amygdala, right superior frontal gyrus (BA 9), left middle occipital gyrus (BA 37), right insula (BA 13), left putamen, and left posterior cingulate cortex (BA 31). Conclusions Empathy is a complex process correlating with activation of different brain areas, which have been involved in emotional cue processing, self-other/same-different discrimination, perspective-taking, mirror neuron activation, emotional arousal and decision-making.