{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:36:46Z","timestamp":1787027806133,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":109,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,30]],"date-time":"2025-10-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761782400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Italian Ministry of University and Research","award":["2022-NAZ-0168"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022-NAZ-0168"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Empathy is essential for successful social functioning, mediating different aspects of social cognition in everyday life. An intriguing aspect is the involvement of empathy even in basic neural mechanisms of action perception, thanks to its association with the Mirror Neuron System (MNS). The present retrospective study explores whether individual differences in cognitive and affective empathy, measured by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) questionnaire, can predict motor resonance\u2014the enhancement of motor cortex reactivity during the observation of biological movements\u2014during transitive and intransitive action observation. Methods: Data from 160 healthy subjects who participated in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) experiments assessing corticospinal excitability during action observation were retrospectively analyzed using multiple linear regression models. Participants filled the IRI and observed intransitive single-digit finger movements (n = 80) or grasping actions directed at different targets (intransitive, object-directed, social-directed; n = 80) synchronized with TMS over the primary motor cortex, allowing the investigation of how action features modulate the relationship between participants\u2019 empathic traits and motor resonance magnitude. Results: Results show that empathic traits do not affect motor resonance during intransitive movements, whereas they do when motor resonance is measured during the observation of transitive actions. Cognitive empathy, particularly the perspective-taking scale, significantly predicts motor resonance magnitude when observing goal-directed actions. Meanwhile, affective empathy, specifically the empathic concern scale, predicts motor resonance while observing social action. Conclusions: These findings highlight that different facets of empathy are significantly related to humans\u2019 ability to understand others\u2019 actions through inner simulation mechanisms, particularly concerning action goals and social relevance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci15111174","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,31]],"date-time":"2025-10-31T01:23:59Z","timestamp":1761873839000},"page":"1174","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Empathic Dimensions Influence Motor Resonance Magnitude During Transitive but Not Intransitive Action Observation: A Retrospective Investigation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3741-0404","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giacomo","family":"Guidali","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Franca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"},{"name":"PhD Program in Neuroscience, Department of Medicine & Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eleonora","family":"Arrigoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michela","family":"Picardi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurorehabilitation Sciences, Casa di Cura Igea, 20144 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8231-9255","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alberto","family":"Pisoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2921-8658","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nadia","family":"Bolognini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"},{"name":"Laboratory of Neuropsychology, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20122 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"435","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2006.08.008","article-title":"The Empathic Brain: How, When and Why?","volume":"10","author":"Singer","year":"2006","journal-title":"Trends Cogn. 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