Empathy for others' pain is disrupted at the neurophysiological level in schizophrenia.

CONCLUSIONS: These data cross-validate previous studies that have shown that schizophrenia is associated with atypicalities in bottom-up automatic resonance processes that likely contribute to empathic and socio-emotional processing deficits, and indicate that these findings cannot be easily attributed to background contextual differences between the two groups. The results also point to a potential relationship between positive schizotypal characteristics and neurophysiological responding. Implications for simulation theories of empathy and social functioning in schizophrenia are discussed. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Empathic processing has been consistently linked to well-being and mental health in many groups, including people with schizophrenia. Previous research has shown that, relative to controls, people with schizophrenia exhibit abnormalities in their neurophysiological empathic response, but in these prior studies, the two groups also differed in a number of potentially important background contextual variables. The current study shows that, when closely matched on background contextual variables, abnormal neural responding is still evident. These data suggest that empathy for pain is disrupted at the neurophysiological level in schizophrenia. PMID: 31004357 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: The British Journal of Clinical Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Br J Clin Psychol Source Type: research