Aging is associated with changes in the neural circuits underlying empathy

Although the neurodevelopment of empathy from childhood to adolescence has been documented, no study has yet examined it across a life span aging perspective. Sixty-five healthy participants from 3 age groups (young, middle-aged, old) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while presented with visual stimuli depicting body parts being injured, either accidentally by oneself or intentionally by another, thus isolating pain and agency as 2 variables of interest. Older adults reported less dispositional emotional empathy as assessed by the interpersonal reactivity index, and their unpleasantness ratings were more sensitive to intentional harm. The response in anterior insula and anterior mid-cingulate cortex to others' pain, indicative of emotional empathy, showed an age-related decline, whereas the response in medial prefrontal cortex and posterior superior temporal sulcus to perceived agency did not change with age. Dynamic causal modeling demonstrated that their effective connectivity remained stable. The pattern of hemodynamic response was not related to regional gray matter volume loss. These findings suggest that the neural response associated with emotional empathy lessened with age, whereas the response to perceived agency is preserved.