The role of subcortical regions in affective empathy

Empathy, a cornerstone of human social cognition, has primarily been studied through the lens of cortical neural mechanisms, with limited attention given to the involvement of subcortical structures. This study investigates the evolutionary and functional role of subcortical pathways in empathic processing through a novel dichoptic presentation paradigm that leverages the unique properties of monocular visual processing. We hypothesized that subcortical visual pathways might play a crucial role in rapid emotional processing and subsequent empathic responses. Using a target discrimination task, we compared reaction times following empathy-eliciting versus neutral images under two conditions: same-eye presentation (where both stimulus and target were shown to one eye) and different-eye presentation (where stimulus and target were shown to separate eyes). Our findings revealed significant response delays following empathy-eliciting images only in the same-eye condition, suggesting that monocular, predominantly subcortical, pathways are integral to initial empathic reactions. These results challenge the traditional corticocentric view of empathy and social cognition, indicating instead that empathic processing emerges from the intricate interplay between subcortical and cortical networks. This research provides compelling evidence for the evolutionary foundations of empathy and suggests a fundamental reassessment of how we conceptualize the neural architecture underlying social cognitive processes.