Physiology and Psychology of Emotion Critique - Essay Example

? Article Review: Empathic Neural Responses are Modulated By The Perceived Fairness of Others Empathic Neural Responsesare modulated by the Perceived Fairness of Others The article, “Empathic neural responses are modulated by the perceived fairness of others” reports on the findings relating people’s emotions to their fairness or unfairness and the suffering of an individual (Singer et al 2006). Although the authors are observant that neural processes are of great interest within social neurosciences, they agree that little knowledge exists about the modulation of the brain’s emphatic responses by the effectiveness of the link between individuals (Singer et al 2006). In their research, they sought to prove that there are preferences responsible for the modulation of the emphatic responses, consistent with the economic models of social preferences. Their experiment involved engaging 16 men and 16 women volunteers in the economic games, where two of the confederates played either fairly or unfairly towards the others (Singer et al 2006). According to the Perception Action Model of empathy, if one person observes another person in a particular emotional state, it automatically activates a representation of that state in the observer (Singer et al 2006). As such, whenever a person, consciously perceives the emotions of another person, they are likely to share in the same feelings as the person. Pain as a form of punishment experienced by an individual causes sharing of the emotions the party feels with observant parties. Thus, if an individual was to find another person in an emotional state, this automatically triggers his emotions, making him or her as emotional. Various processes within humans trigger emotional reactions in an individual (Singer et al 2006). Emotion, a subconscious subjective experience in an individual, mainly characterized primarily by psycho-psychological expressions, biological reactions within an individual or a the mental condition, in most cases, is associated with and considered as correlating with the mood of the individual, their temperament, personality, disposition as well as motivational levels. Factors influencing emotions within a person include hormones and neurotransmitters. Further, these lead to dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, and oxytocin, as well as cortisol, elements of emotions. There is a positive or negative experience associated with emotions, relative to a particular pattern of psychological activity. Previous research reveal that a person’s ability to empathize rely on neuronal systems which are responsible for our bodily and emotional states. However, with the previous research short of explaining the means and reasons why social relations between individuals function through modulated systems, the researchers undertook to fill this gap by measuring brain responses of an individual empathising with the person they liked or disliked. Since empathy results whenever a person feels or shares emotion of another person, witnessing a fair individual undergoing pain automatically would result to empathy (Singer et al 2006). On the other hand, if there is low or no emotional feeling whatsoever when an unfair person receives punishment or subjected to pain. In measuring these emotional effects, the researchers used two experiments, both aiming at measuring the emphatic neural responses in people (Singer et al 2006). The experiment used the economic game model, aimed at inducing either liking or disliking of two confederates unknown to each other playing fair or unfair strategies in sequential prisoners’ “dilemma game” with the subjects (Singer et al 2006). Results from the post scan behavioural rating confirmed that both the male and female subjects, while rating the fair player with reference to the unfair player, rated them as being significantly more fair, more agreeable, more likable, and subsequently more attractive (Singer et al 2006). While investigating whether the liking or disliking acquired during the game time modulated any responses for pain, the researchers, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, made one actor sit on one side of the scanner, giving an opportunity to the scanned individual to observe the fair or unfair person (Singer et al 2006). Subsequently, they subjected pain through the electro nodes to the hands of the participants. Since people tend to reward others for cooperative behaviour and tend to punish violations on social fairness, sometimes even to a personal level, there is a high likelihood of these effects mediating the neural mechanists providing the intrinsic motivation resulting from punishment to others. Results from the study revealed that there was a relationship between painful and non-painful trials in self-condition among the men and women, as well as an increase in the ‘pain network’ including activity (Singer et al 2006). Additionally, there were pain related emphatic responses in both genders in the AI extending into FI and brainstem when seeing an unfamiliar but likeable person in pain. Thus, men and women who scored high on the standard empathy scales had higher empathy related activity. The researchers also found out that there was less emphatic activity elicited by the knowledge that an unfair player was in real pain, although there was a marked difference between the sexes (Singer et al 2006). In women, there was a minimal reduction in this activity, in men, there was no significant increase in the activity even with the knowledge that an unfair person was in pain. The researchers also sought evidence on the increase in the regions associated with reward processing when a person was observing an unfair person receiving pain (Singer et al 2006). The experiment revealed that men received significantly higher levels of activation than women in the left nucleus accumbens. Moreover, researchers also sought to determine the role of the nuclear acumbens and orbito-frontal cortex in expressed desire for revenge covered with the brain activity in these regions (Singer et al 2006). Regression analysis revealed that only men and not women expressed a stronger desire for revenge by showing increased activation in the accumbens whenever they perceived an unfair player receiving painful stimuli than when they perceived a fair player in pain. The researchers argue that their data provide neurobiological evidence expressing how fairness social interactions shape the nature of effective links between individuals. Subsequently, cooperation plays a major role in nourishing this link, while at the same time the selfish behaviour, detrimental to others effectively compromises the link, especially with the male gender. Largely, this abolishes the emphatic responses in the brain (Singer et al 2006). Further, the researchers argue that that since their study findings correlate with those of the previous study on a person observing an unfair person receiving punishment, then they are a true expression of the reality that individuals face whenever faced with such a situation. further, they argue that the enhanced activation in ventral striatum to a signal indicating that a defector was receiving pain were in agreement that humans derive satisfaction whenever they knew that there was justice being administered, even by the use of an instrument out of their control (Singer et al 2006). The researchers conclude that the research findings provide a neural foundation for social theories, which suggest that people will only positively value bother people’s gains whenever they are perceived to behave fairly, but value other people’s gains negatively whenever perceived to have an unfair behaviour. However, the findings do not show the reaction that an individual would have in case there was a prolonged punishment of the individual. What would be their reaction of the instrument was to exert pain further to the point of torture? Although people show no emotional feeling towards an unfair person, to some extent, through the perception-action model for empathy are likely to start sharing in the pain, thus succumbing to the emotional feeling. Despite the level of unfairness of one individual towards another, the reality is that these people would show compassion towards the suffering individual. What the researchers do not point out is that of there being the likelihood of a limit as to the extent the observers were willing to observe the unfair person receive pain, for either the related crime or a different crime. How likely is it that these individuals would feel that the unfair individuals had received enough punishment and thus could be let free? Addressing this would have revealed the extent to which an individual was willing to watch another suffer. Further, despite the fact that they provided evidence in the reasons why most of the actors received increased emotional activity seeing a fair person receive painful punishment, they did not explain the differences witnessed in the two genders. From their arguments, there was a reduction in the minimal reduction in emotional activities within women, in men, there was no significant increase in the activity even with the knowledge that an unfair person was in pain. Thus, men and women have differences in their reaction levels to suffering as well as their emphatic levels of emotions. Does gender thus affect the level of emotion al reaction in an individual? Addressing this issue would have made their presentations more concrete, as the audience would have an understanding of the various factors detriment to the reaction levels. Although they link these findings to previous research, the fact that this study does not address them makes it in adequate in addressing gender and other factors. Perhaps, even the age of these observers could too have had an impact in their emphatic reactions with reference to gender, yet the research did not address any demographic factors in their research. Conclusively, scientifically, the researchers succeeded in creating a testable and beyond reasonable doubt study of the perception-action model for empathy in humans. By classifying the individuals as fair and unfair, the study showed the effects of perception on individual reactions. Reference Singer, T., Seymour, B., O'Doherty, J. P., Stephan, K. E., Dolan, R. J., & Frith, C. D. (2006). Empathic neural responses are modulated by the perceived fairness of others. Nature, 439(7075). Read More