Children hardwired for empathy, say brain researchers

Last Updated: Friday, July 11, 2008 | 12:13 AM ET Comments13Recommend20
CBC News

Children aged seven to 12 appear naturally inclined to feel empathy for others in pain, suggests a recent brain scan study.

University of Chicago researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine responses in children to animated photos of people experiencing pain, either inflicted accidentally or intentionally.

Previous MRI scans of adults show that the regions of the brain that process first-hand experience of pain light up when shown each type of photo. In addition, scans show activity in areas of the brain linked to social interaction and moral reasoning when adults see images of someone intentionally hurting another person.

But since there have been no MRI studies of children's developing brains, it was unknown whether the same two areas would light up.

The researchers reasoned that if those areas did in fact show activity —especially those areas linked to social interaction and moral reasoning — it would suggest children are born empathetic and that it is not entirely due to their upbringing.

Researchers showed 17 children animated photos of people in pain. The group included nine girls and eight boys.

The images of non-intentional pain showed a person accidentally dropping a heavy bowl on their hand. Images of deliberately caused pain showed a person purposely stepping on another's toe.

The study, published in the journal Neuropsychologia on Friday, showed that when the children saw animations of someone who was either accidentally or purposefully hurt, the parts of their brain that process first-hand experience of pain lit up, just as they did in adults.

More importantly, when shown photos of people intentionally hurt, the children's brains showed activity in those areas engaged in social interaction and moral reasoning.

"It is thus worth emphasizing that the regions selectively associated with the perception of an agent harming the other belong to the neural systems underlying moral thinking," wrote lead author Jean Decety.

"Although our study did not tap into explicit moral judgment, perceiving an individual intentionally harming another person is likely to elicit the awareness of moral wrongdoing in the observer."

Subsequent interviews with the children showed they were in fact aware of wrongdoing in the photos.

"Thirteen of the children thought that the situations were unfair, and they asked about the reason that could explain this behaviour," Decety said in a news release.

He concludes that programming for empathy is something that is "hardwired" into the brains of normal children, and not entirely the product of parental guidance or other nurturing.

Decety said he hopes other researchers can build on his study to help understand how brain impairments influence anti-social behavior, such as bullying.