It appears that sympathetic concern is considered the mediator between the innate and higher cognitive empathy systems.

The structures of the brain believed to underlie sympathetic concern are the anterior insular cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (Decety, 2011a).

The implicated empathetic functions of these separate structures are believed to be:

• The anterior insular cortex in understanding others’ feelings and physical states (but not others’ intentions or beliefs) (Lamm & Singer, 2010);

• The medial prefrontal cortex in emotional judgments (such as attention to and valuation of thoughts, self-referencing of actions, and recognition of alternative choices) (Seitz, Nickel, & Azari, 2006); and

• The ventromedial prefrontal cortex in integrating thoughts and emotions to produce the empathic response (Shamay-Tsoory, Tomer, Goldsher, Berger, & Aharon-Peretz, 2004).

Progress to Cognitive Empathy

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