Empathy in depression: Egocentric and altercentric biases and the role of alexithymia

Journal of Affective Disorders

Volumn 199, Issue , 2016, Pages 23-29

  Hoffmann, Ferdinand ^a   Banzhaf, Christian ^b   Kanske, Philipp ^a   Gärtner, Matti ^b   Bermpohl, Felix ^b   Singer, Tania ^a  

^a MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN COGNITIVE AND BRAIN SCIENCES   (Germany)

^b CHARITÉ UNIVERSITÄTSMEDIZIN BERLIN   (Germany)

Author keywords

Alexithymia; Depression; Egocentric bias; Empathy

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ALEXITHYMIA; ALTERCENTRIC BIAS; ARTICLE; CLINICAL ARTICLE; CONTROLLED STUDY; DECISION MAKING; DEFENSE MECHANISM; DEPRESSION; DISTRESS SYNDROME; EGOCENTRIC BIAS; EMOTIONALITY; EMPATHY; FEMALE; GROUP DYNAMICS; HUMAN; MALE; MENTAL PATIENT; PRIORITY JOURNAL; TACTILE STIMULATION; AFFECT; EMOTION; EMOTIONAL DISORDER; MIDDLE AGED; MORALITY; PERCEPTION; PHYSIOLOGY; PSYCHOLOGY;

ADULT; AFFECT; AFFECTIVE SYMPTOMS; DEPRESSION; EMOTIONS; EMPATHY; FEMALE; HUMANS; JUDGMENT; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; MORALS; SOCIAL PERCEPTION;

EID: 84962674007     PISSN: 01650327     EISSN: 15732517     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.03.007     Document Type: Article

References (61)

1. American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth ed. 2000 American Psychiatric Association Washington DC
2. R.M. Bagby, J.D. Parker, and G.J. Taylor The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale - I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure J. Psychosom. Res. 38 1994 23 32
3. J. Bastiaansen, M. Thioux, and C. Keysers Evidence for mirror systems in emotions Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. B: Biol. Sci. 364 2009 2391 2404
4. C.D. Batson, J. Fultz, and P.A. Schoenrade Distress and empathy: two qualitatively distinct vicarious emotions with different motivational consequences J. Pers. 55 1987 19 39
5. F. Bermpohl, M. Walter, B. Sajonz, C. Lücke, C. Hägele, P. Sterzer, M. Adli, A. Heinz, and G. Northoff Attentional modulation of emotional stimulus processing in patients with major depression - alterations in prefrontal cortical regions Neurosci. Lett. 463 2009 108 113
6. G. Bird, and R. Cook Mixed emotions: the contribution of alexithymia to the emotional symptoms of autism Transl. Psychiatry 3 2013 e285
7. G. Bird, G. Silani, R. Brindley, S. White, U. Frith, and T. Singer Empathic brain responses in insula are modulated by levels of alexithymia but not autism Brain 2010 10.1093/brain/awq060
8. A. Carcione, G. Dimaggio, D. Fiore, G. Nicolo, M. Procacci, A. Semerari, and R. Pedone An intensive case analysis of client metacognition in a good-outcome psychotherapy: Lisa's case Psychother. Res. 18 2008 667 676
9. M.H. Davis A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy JSAS Cat. Sel. Doc. Psychol. 10 1980 85 104
10. F. De Vignemont, and T. Singer The empathic brain: how, when and why? Trends Cogn. Sci. 10 2006 435 441
11. J. Decety, and C. Lamm The role of the right temporoparietal junction in social interaction: how low-level computational processes contribute to meta-cognition Neuroscientist 13 2007 580 593
12. G. Dimaggio, P.H. Lysaker, A. Carcione, G. Nicolò, and A. Semerari Know yourself and you shall know the other... to a certain extent: multiple paths of influence of self-reflection on mindreading Conscious. Cogn. 17 2008 778 789
13. G. Dimaggio, G. Salvatore, D. Fiore, A. Carcione, G. Nicolò, and A. Semerari General principles for treating personality disorder with a prominent inhibitedness trait: towards an operationalizing integrated technique J. Pers. Disord. 26 2012 63 83
14. A. Etkin, and A.F. Schatzberg Common abnormalities and disorder-specific compensation during implicit regulation of emotional processing in generalized anxiety and major depressive disorders Am. J. Psychiatry 168 2011 968 978
15. J.H. Flavell Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: a new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry Am. Psychol. 34 1979 906 911
16. M. Franz, K. Popp, R. Schaefer, W. Sitte, C. Schneider, J. Hardt, O. Decker, and E. Braehler Alexithymia in the German general population Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 43 2008 54 62
17. Fydrich, T., Renneberg, B., Schmitz, B., Wittchen, H.-U., 1997. SKID II. Strukturiertes Klinisches Interview für DSM-IV, Achse II: Persönlichkeitsstörungen. Interviewheft. Eine deutschspeachige, erw. Bearb. d. amerikanischen Originalversion d. SKID-II von: MB First, RL Spitzer, M. Gibbon, JBW Williams, L. Benjamin, (Version 3/96)
18. V. Gallese The 'shared manifold' hypothesis. From mirror neurons to empathy J. Conscious. Stud. 8 2001 33 50
19. D. Grynberg, O. Luminet, O. Corneille, J. Grèzes, and S. Berthoz Alexithymia in the interpersonal domain: a general deficit of empathy? Pers. Individ. Dif. 49 2010 845 850
20. M. Hamilton A rating scale for depression J. Neurol., Neurosurg., psychiatry 23 1960 56 62
21. M. Hautzinger, M. Bailer, H. Worall, and F. Keller BDI Beck-Depressions-Inventar 1995 Verlag Hans Huber Bern
22. R. Hirschfeld, S.A. Montgomery, M.B. Keller, S. Kasper, A.F. Schatzberg, H.-J. Möller, D. Healy, D. Baldwin, M. Humble, and M. Versiani Social functioning in depression: a review J. Clin. Psychiatry 61 2000 268 275
23. F. Hoffmann, S. Koehne, N. Steinbeis, I. Dziobek, and T. Singer Preserved self-other distinction during empathy in autism is linked to network integrity of right supramarginal gyrus J. Autism Dev. Disord. 2015 10.1007/s10803-015-2609-0
24. F. Hoffmann, T. Singer, and N. Steinbeis Children's increased emotional egocentricity compared to adults is mediated by their difficulties in conflict processing Child Dev. 86 2015 765 780
25. K. Honkalampi, J. Hintikka, A. Tanskanen, J. Lehtonen, and H. Viinamäki Depression is strongly associated with alexithymia in the general population J. Psychosom. Res. 48 2000 99 104
26. J. Joormann, and I.H. Gotlib Emotion regulation in depression: relation to cognitive inhibition Cogn. Emot. 24 2010 281 298
27. A.S. Joyce, W.E. Piper, and J.S. Ogrodniczuk Therapeutic alliance and cohesion variables as predictors of outcome in short-term group psychotherapy Int. J. Group Psychother. 57 2007 269 296
28. P. Kanske, J. Heissler, S. Schönfelder, and M. Wessa Neural correlates of emotion regulation deficits in remitted depression: the influence of regulation strategy, habitual regulation use, and emotional valence Neuroimage 61 2012 686 693
29. P. Kanske, and S.A. Kotz Effortful control, depression, and anxiety correlate with the influence of emotion on executive attentional control Biol. Psychol. 91 2012 88 95
30. C. Keysers, and V. Gazzola Towards a unifying neural theory of social cognition Prog. Brain Res. 156 2006 379 401
31. N. Ladegaard, E.R. Larsen, P. Videbech, and P.H. Lysaker Higher-order social cognition in first-episode major depression Psychiatry Res. 216 2014 37 43
32. J.M. Leppänen Emotional information processing in mood disorders: a review of behavioral and neuroimaging findings Curr. Opin. Psychiatry 19 2006 34 39
33. P. Lysaker, A. Gumley, B. Luedtke, K. Buck, J. Ringer, K. Olesek, M. Kukla, B. Leonhardt, R. Popolo, and G. Dimaggio Social cognition and metacognition in schizophrenia: evidence of their independence and linkage with outcomes Acta Psychiatr. Scand. 127 2013 239 247
34. P.H. Lysaker, B.P. McCormick, G. Snethen, K.D. Buck, J.A. Hamm, M. Grant, G. Nicolò, and G. Dimaggio Metacognition and social function in schizophrenia: associations of mastery with functional skills competence Schizophr. Res. 131 2011 214 218
35. D.J. Martin, J.P. Garske, and M.K. Davis Relation of the therapeutic alliance with outcome and other variables: a meta-analytic review J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 68 2000 438
36. C.F. Murphy, F.M. Gunning-Dixon, M.J. Hoptman, K.O. Lim, B. Ardekani, J.K. Shields, J. Hrabe, D. Kanellopoulos, B.R. Shanmugham, and G.S. Alexopoulos White-matter integrity predicts stroop performance in patients with geriatric depression Biol. Psychiatry 61 2007 1007 1010
37. F. Murphy, B. Sahakian, J. Rubinsztein, A. Michael, R. Rogers, T. Robbins, and E. Paykel Emotional bias and inhibitory control processes in mania and depression Psychol. Med. 29 1999 1307 1321
38. G. Nicolò, A. Semerari, P.H. Lysaker, G. Dimaggio, L. Conti, S. D'Angerio, M. Procacci, R. Popolo, and A. Carcione Alexithymia in personality disorders: correlations with symptoms and interpersonal functioning Psychiatry Res. 190 2011 37 42
39. J.S. Ogrodniczuk, W.E. Piper, and A.S. Joyce The negative effect of alexithymia on the outcome of group therapy for complicated grief: what role might the therapist play? Compr. Psychiatry 46 2005 206 213
40. J.S. Ogrodniczuk, W.E. Piper, and A.S. Joyce Effect of alexithymia on the process and outcome of psychotherapy: a programmatic review Psychiatry Res. 190 2011 43 48
41. Y. Paelecke-Habermann, J. Pohl, and B. Leplow Attention and executive functions in remitted major depression patients J. Affect. Disord. 89 2005 125 135
42. J.D. Parker, G.J. Taylor, and R.M. Bagby Alexithymia and the recognition of facial expressions of emotion Psychother. Psychosom. 59 1993 197 202
43. D. Premack, and G. Woodruff Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behav. Brain Sci. 1 1978 515 526
44. Schmidt, K.-H., Metzler, P., 1992. Wortschatztest: WST. Beltz
45. S. Schreiter, G. Pijnenborg, and M. Aan Het Rot Empathy in adults with clinical or subclinical depressive symptoms J. Affect. Disord. 150 2013 1 16
46. G.J. Siegle, W. Thompson, C.S. Carter, S.R. Steinhauer, and M.E. Thase Increased amygdala and decreased dorsolateral prefrontal BOLD responses in unipolar depression: related and independent features Biol. Psychiatry 61 2007 198 209
47. P.E. Sifneos The prevalence of 'alexithymic' characteristics in psychosomatic patients Psychother. Psychosom. 22 1973 255 262
48. G. Silani, G. Bird, R. Brindley, T. Singer, C. Frith, and U. Frith Levels of emotional awareness and autism: an fMRI study Soc. Neurosci. 3 2008 97 112
49. G. Silani, C. Lamm, C.C. Ruff, and T. Singer Right supramarginal gyrus is crucial to overcome emotional egocentricity bias in social judgments J. Neurosci. 33 2013 15466 15476
50. T. Singer, and C. Lamm The social neuroscience of empathy Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1156 2009 81 96
51. T. Singer, B. Seymour, J. O'Doherty, H. Kaube, R.J. Dolan, and C.D. Frith Empathy for pain involves the affective but not sensory components of pain Science 303 2004 1157 1162
52. N. Steinbeis, B.C. Bernhardt, and T. Singer Age-related differences in function and structure of rSMG and reduced functional connectivity with DLPFC explains heightened emotional egocentricity bias in childhood Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 10 2015 302 310
53. P. Sterzer, T. Hilgenfeldt, P. Freudenberg, F. Bermpohl, and M. Adli Access of emotional information to visual awareness in patients with major depressive disorder Psychol. Med. 41 2011 1615 1624
54. L.A. Stone, and K.A. Nielson Intact physiological response to arousal with impaired emotional recognition in alexithymia Psychother. Psychosom. 70 2001 92 102
55. G.J. Taylor, and R.M. Bagby New trends in alexithymia research Psychother. Psychosom. 73 2004 68 77
56. P. Thoma, I. Zalewski, H.G. von Reventlow, C. Norra, G. Juckel, and I. Daum Cognitive and affective empathy in depression linked to executive control Psychiatry Res. 189 2011 373 378
57. J.D. Waring, A. Etkin, J.F. Hallmayer, and R. O'Hara Connectivity underlying emotion conflict regulation in older adults with 5-HTTLPR short allele: a preliminary investigation Am. J. Geriatr. Psychiatry 22 2013 946 950
58. G. Wilbertz, E.-L. Brakemeier, I. Zobel, M. Härter, and E. Schramm Exploring preoperational features in chronic depression J. Affect. Disord. 124 2010 262 269
59. Wittchen, H.-U., Wunderlich, U., Gruschwitz, S., Zaudig, M., 1997. Skid-i. Strukturiertes Klinisches Interview für DSM-IV
60. L. Wolkenstein, M. Schönenberg, E. Schirm, and M. Hautzinger I can see what you feel, but I can't deal with it: impaired theory of mind in depression J. Affect. Disord. 132 2011 104 111
61. L. Wolkenstein, M. Zeiller, P. Kanske, and C. Plewnia Induction of a depression-like negativity bias by cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation Cortex 59 2014 103 112