The Neuroscience of Empathy, Compassion, and Self-Compassion provides contemporary perspectives on the three related domains of empathy, compassion and self-compassion (ECS). It informs current research, stimulates further research endeavors, and encourages continued and creative philosophical and scientific inquiry into the critical societal constructs of ECS. Examining the growing number of electrocortical (EEG Power Spectral, Coherence, Evoked Potential, etc.) studies and the sizeable body of exciting neuroendocrine research (e.g., oxytocin, dopamine, etc.) that have accumulated over decades, this reference is a unique and comprehensive approach to empathy, compassion and self-compassion. Provides perspectives on empathy, compassion and self-compassion (ECS), including discussions of cruelty, torture, killings, homicides, suicides, terrorism and other examples of empathy/compassion erosion Addresses autonomic nervous system (vagal) reflections of ECS Discusses recent findings and understanding of ECS from mirror neuron research Covers neuroendocrine manifestations of ECS and self-compassion and the neuroendocrine enhancement Examines the neuroscience research on the enhancement of ECS Includes directed-meditations (mindfulness, mantra, Metta, etc.) and their effects on ECS and the brain
Author(s): Larry Charles Stevens (editor); C. Chad Woodruff (editor)
Publisher: Academic Press
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 353
Cover
Title page
Copyright page
Dedication
Contents
Contributors
Preface
Chapter 1 - What Is This Feeling That I Have for Myself and for Others? Contemporary Perspectives on Empathy, Compassion, and S...
Origins
Definitions
Empathy
Compassion
Self-Compassion
And Their Absence: A World Without Empathy, Compassion, or Self-Compassion
Interrogatives and Polemics
References
Chapter 2 - The Brain That Feels Into Others: Toward a Neuroscience of Empathy
Definitional Quandaries of Empathy
Phylogeny and Comparative Ethology of Empathy
Contextual Factors Concerning Empathy
State-Dependent Aspects
Trait-Dependent Aspects
Measuring Empathy in Humans
Historical Aspects
Novel Experimental Procedures
Brain Mechanisms Involved in Empathy
Empathy in Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Summary and Future Directions
References
Further Reading
Chapter 3 - The Brain that Longs to Care for Others: The Current Neuroscience of Compassion
Compassion
The Emotional Experience of Compassion
The Intention to Help
Theory of Mind
Bottom-Up Experiencing versus Top-Down Regulation
An Integrated Theory of the Neuroscience of Compassion
Directions for Future Research
References
Chapter 4 - The Brain That Longs to Care for Itself: The Current Neuroscience of Self-Compassion
Self-Compassion
The Evolution of Compassion and of Self-Compassion
The Components of Self-Compassion
Self-Kindness versus Self-Judgment
Mindfulness versus Over-Identification
Mindfulness and Attentional Control
Mindfulness and Emotional Regulation
Mindfulness and Self-Awareness
A General Overview of the Neuroscience of Mindfulness
Common-Humanity versus Isolation
The Neuroscience of Self-Compassion
Directions for Future Research
References
Chapter 5 - Sometimes I Get So Mad I Could …: The Neuroscience of Cruelty
Defining Cruelty
Causes of Cruelty: Dehumanization and Otherization
Neural Markers of Dehumanization and Otherization
Why We Are Cruel: The Role of Threat Responses
Morality and Cruelty
Everyday Cruelty: Anger, Aggression, and Hatred
Anger and Aggression
Hatred
Jealousy
Envy and Schadenfreude
The Neuroscience of Populations Characterized by Cruelty
Cruelty and Personality Disorders
Summary of the Neuroscience of Cruelty
References
Further Readings
Chapter 6 - Reflections of Others and of Self: The Mirror Neuron System’s Relationship to Empathy
Discovery of MNs and Attempts to Measure Them
Using Neuroimaging to Infer MN Activation
Putative Measures of MNs and Empathy
Does Mu Suppression Reflect MNs? Yes, and then Some
Beta Rhythms and Mns
Do MNs Constitute or Contribute to Action Understanding?
Self–Other Discrimination in the MN System
Conclusions and Directions for Future Research
References
Chapter 7 - Why Does It Feel So Good to Care for Others and for Myself?
Overview and Questions
Caring for Others: Empathy and Compassion
Vasopressin
Preclinical Research
Clinical Research
Oxytocin
Preclinical Research
Clinical Research
OXTR Polymorphisms
Intranasal OT Administration Studies
OT Release Studies
Oxytocin and the Interactionist Perspective
Caring for the Self: Self-Compassion
Preclinical Research
Clinical Research
Conclusions and Directions for Future Research
References
Chapter 8 - Can We Change Our Mind About Caring for Others? The Neuroscience of Systematic Compassion Training
Introduction and Scope of the Review
Questions to Consider
Compassion Training Techniques Reviewed
Compassion Training Programs
Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT)
Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT)
Project for Empathy and Compassion Education (PEACE)
Highly Experienced Meditators
The Neuroscience of Systematic Compassion Training
Highly Experienced Meditators Exhibit Distinct Patterns of Brain Activity
Brief Compassion Training and Neurobiology
Overlapping but Distinct Systems
Directions for Future Research
Understanding the Current Limitations
Future Studies
References
Chapter 9 - Compassion Training from an Early Buddhist Perspective: The Neurological Concomitants of the Brahmavihāras
The Brahmavihāras in Early Buddhist Soteriology
Attentional Foundations of Contemplative Practice
The Neural Concomitants of Brahmavihāra Practices
Conclusions and Directions for Future Research
References
Further Readings
Chapter 10 - The Language and Structure of Social Cognition: An Integrative Process of Becoming the Other
Introduction
The Taxonomy of Social Cognition
The Role of Empathy in the Social Cognition Lexicon
What is Compassion?
Unifying Principles: Becoming/Knowing the Other
The Principle of Phylogenetic Continuity
The Principle of Ontogenetic Continuity
Constraints
Conclusions
References
Chapter 11 - Where Caring for Self and Others Lives in the Brain, and How It Can Be Enhanced and Diminished: Observations on the...
Empathy, Compassion, and Self-Compassion
Empathy
Compassion
Self-Compassion
Cruelty
Mirror Neurons
Hormones
Training
Brahmaviharas
Social Cognition
An Integrated Portrait of Compassion
The Empathy-to-Compassion (EtoC) Model
Final Thoughts
References
Index
Back Cover
