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Lastly, the widespread assumption that empathy is an automatic experience remains largely untested. It is also unknown whether differences in trait empathy reflect either variability in the automaticity of empathic responses or the capacity to feel empathy. In this study, 32 participants completed a diary study of helping behavior followed by an fMRI session, assessing empathic responses to sad images under three conditions: watching naturally, under cognitive load, and while empathizing. Across conditions, higher levels of self-reported experienced empathy were associated with greater activity in medial PFC (MPFC). Activity in MPFC was also correlated with daily helping behavior. Self-report of empathic experience and activity in empathy-related areas, notably MPFC, were higher in the empathize condition than in the load condition, suggesting that empathy is not a fully automatic experience. Additionally, high trait empathy participants displayed greater experienced empathy and stronger MPFC responses than low trait empathy individuals under cognitive load, suggesting that empathy is more automatic for individuals high in trait empathy. These results underline the critical role that MPFC plays in the instantiation of empathic experience and consequent behavior.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_00130","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2011,8,31]],"date-time":"2011-08-31T11:38:21Z","timestamp":1314790701000},"page":"235-245","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":210,"title":["The Neural Correlates of Empathy: Experience, Automaticity, and Prosocial Behavior"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Lian T.","family":"Rameson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Sylvia A.","family":"Morelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Matthew D.","family":"Lieberman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"281","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2012,1,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2021072913185969100_R1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.2307\/2786867","article-title":"Personality and social network involvement as predictors of helping behavior in everyday life.","volume":"53","author":"Amato","year":"1990","journal-title":"Social Psychology Quarterly"},{"key":"2021072913185969100_R2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"268","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn1884","article-title":"Meeting of minds: The medial frontal cortex and social cognition.","volume":"7","author":"Amodio","year":"2006","journal-title":"Nature Reviews Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913185969100_R3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.1023\/B:JADD.0000022607.19833.00","article-title":"The Empathy Quotient: An investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, and normal sex differences.","volume":"34","author":"Baron-Cohen","year":"2004","journal-title":"Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders"},{"key":"2021072913185969100_R4","volume-title":"The altruism question: Toward a social psychological answer.","author":"Batson","year":"1991"},{"key":"2021072913185969100_R5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"475","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1751-9004.2009.00186.x","article-title":"Using neuroscience to broaden emotion regulation: Theoretical and methodological considerations.","volume":"3","author":"Berkman","year":"2009","journal-title":"Social and Personality Psychology Compass"},{"key":"2021072913185969100_R6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"579","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.psych.54.101601.145030","article-title":"Diary methods: Capturing life as it is lived.","volume":"54","author":"Bolger","year":"2003","journal-title":"Annual Review of Psychology"},{"key":"2021072913185969100_R7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"312","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2004.11.043","article-title":"Viewing facial expressions of pain engages cortical areas involved in the direct experience of pain.","volume":"25","author":"Botvinick","year":"2005","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"2021072913185969100_R8","unstructured":"Brett, M., Anton, J. 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