The document provides an overview of the neuroscience perspective of compassion. It discusses how compassion is defined as a sensitivity to suffering coupled with a desire to alleviate it. Several brain areas are implicated in compassion, including the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, supramarginal gyrus, anterior insula, and amygdala. Practicing loving-kindness meditation can help train the brain in compassion by activating areas involved in reward and affiliation. Personal benefits of compassion include increased positive emotions and improved physical health.

1. Neuroscience Perspective of Compassion
Dr.Suresh Kumar Murugesan PhD
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2. About the Presenter
● Dr.Suresh Kumar Murugesan is a passionate Professor,Researcher
and Positive Mental Health Practitioner from Madurai,Tamil Nadu,
India
● At present he is Heading the department of Psychology,The
American College,Madurai and Adjunct Professor of School of
Behavioural Sciences and Education at TAU
● He is very keen in learning new research studies in behavioural
Sciences and open to learn.
● His ultimate aim is to make impression in the field of Knowledge
● His area of specializations are Psychometry,Psychotherapy,Positive
Psychology
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3. Disclaimer
● This presentation is prepared
for learning purpose only and
all the images and pictures
used in this presentation are
taken from google image
search.
● Due recognition was given to
all the material collected from
the various sources.
● Any name or reference is
missed kindly bring it to the
notice of the presenter for
inclusion.
● Email -
sureshkumar800@yahoo.com
Thank you
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4. “ Love and compassion are
necessities, not luxuries. Without
them humanity cannot survive.” –
The Dalai Lama
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5. The Concept
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6. Compassion
Scientists define compassion as a sensitivity to the suffering of another,
coupled with a desire to alleviate their suffering.
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7. Compassion
Studies have found that, in general, similar and close others cause people to
feel more compassion.
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11. The Neuroscience Perspective
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12. Brain and
Compassion
1. Compassion goes beyond feeling with the other to feeling
for the other.
2. Unlike empathy, compassion increases activity in the areas
of the brain involved in dopaminergic reward and
oxytocin-related affiliative processes, and enhances
positive emotions in response to adverse situations
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13. Prefrontal Cortex
● Many prefrontal regions have been implicated in the representation
of emotion sub-components and emotion regulation.
● Electrophysiological and neuroimaging data suggest that increased
activity in the dorsolateral (Davidson, Pizzagalli, Nitschke, Putnam,
2002; Herrington, Mohanty, Kovan, Fisher, Stewart, Banich, Webb,
Miller, & Heller, 2005; Pizzagalli, Oakes, Fox, Chung, Larson,
Abercrombie, Schaefer, Benca & Davidson, 2004),
● orbitofrontal (Nitschke, Nelson, Rusch, Fox, Oakes, & Davidson,
2004; Kringelbach & Rolls, 2004),
● ventromedial (Hamann, Ely, Hoffman & Kilts, 2002), and
● frontopolar cortex (Pochon, Levy, Fossati, Lehericy, Poline, Pillon, Le
Bihan, Dubois B, 2002; Kensinger & Schacter, 2006) predict the
experience of basic positive emotions such as happiness and/or
pleasure.
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14. The prefrontal cortex -
Functions
The prefrontal cortex is a structure that plays an important
role in a variety of functions, including:
● emotional processing—Nauta (1971) viewed the
frontal cortex as “the major, although not only,
neocortical representative of the limbic system (pg
182);”
● executive functioning, including working memory,
emotion regulation, and self monitoring (Miller &
Cohen, 2001); and
● earning (Miller & Cohen, 2001).
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15. ACC
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is an area of
the brain known to be involved in the control of a
number of automatic processes, such as the
regulation of blood pressure and heart rate.
It is also thought to be important in higher level
functions, including reward anticipation, impulse
control, decision-making, and emotion.
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16. The subgenual anterior
cingulate cortex (sgACC)
When the participants were learning how
to help others, a specific part of the ACC
was activated called the subgenual
anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC); this
region was the only area to light up on
brain scans, and it was not triggered while
learning actions which favored the
individual. - Dr. Patricia Lockwood
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17. The supramarginal
gyrus
The supramarginal gyrus is
a part of the cerebral cortex
and is approximately
located at the junction of
the parietal, temporal and
frontal lobe is responsible
for compassion - Tania Singer
et al 2013
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18. Brain and
Compassion
The brain areas
responsible for empathy
and compassion are
● the anterior
insula,
● the anterior
midcingulate
cortex,
● somatosensory
cortex, and
● the right
amygdala
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19. The anterior insular
cortex
Mount Sinai (2012) School of Medicine in New York
has identified that the anterior insular cortex, is the
activity center of human empathy and compassion.
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20. Compassion and Psychopath
The brain area responsible for compassion is failed to be activated among
Psychopath while witnessing pain of others but ventral striatum which involve
pleasure is activated
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21. The
neuroscience of
compassion
● From a neuroscience point of view, healthy compassion
seems to involve two components in a complex interplay
○ an arousal component, and
○ a higher-order reappraisal or self-regulation component.
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22. The neuroscience of
compassion
1. Arousal on witnessing an event that elicits
compassion involves
a. increased heart rate and nausea, symptoms like those
experienced during personal threat or pain.
b. Left unchecked, this can soon turn into personal
distress.
2. The reappraisal component of compassion,
however, which is mediated by higher-order brain
areas in the prefrontal cortex, seems to protect from
personal distress
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23. Personal benefits of
Compassion
Though compassion is interpersonal, it has also been
empirically linked with personal benefits, including
● increased positive emotions (Dunn, Aknin, & Norton,
2008),
● improved physical health (Carson et al., 2005; Kok
et al., 2013), and
● a reduced immunological stress response (Pace et
al., 2010)
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24. Why?
A scientific understanding of how and when compassion arises could help
promote a more compassionate society.
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25. Ways to be
Compassionate
Many studies have shown that mindfulness
meditation that includes LKM (loving-kindness
meditation) can rewire our brain.
Practicing LKM is easy.
All we have to do is take a few minutes
everyday to sit quietly and systematically send
loving and compassionate thoughts to:
1. Family and friends
2. Someone with whom we have tension
or a conflict
3. Strangers around the world who are
suffering
4. Self-compassion, forgiveness and
self-love to our self.
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26. Reference
1. Lila Liberman (2021). The Neuroscience of Compassion. https://uplift.love/the-neuroscience-of-compassion/
2. Toward a Neuroscience of Compassion. Available from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305672507_Toward_a_Neuroscience_of_Compassion [accessed Nov 08 2021].
3. Aditi Subramaniam (June 6, 2020). Understanding the neuroscience of compassion.
https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/understanding-the-neuroscience-of-compassion-846357.html
4. Neuroscience News (May 22, 2013). Brain Can Be Trained in Compassion.
https://neurosciencenews.com/neuroscience-brain-activity-compassion-training-153/
5. William Mobley (November 8, 2021). The Neurobiology of Compassion.
https://health.ucsd.edu/news/topics/compassion/qas/Pages/neurobiology.aspx
6. G. Chierchia, T. Singer, Chapter 20 - The Neuroscience of Compassion and Empathy and Their Link to Prosocial Motivation and Behavior,
Editor(s): Jean-Claude Dreher, Léon Tremblay, Decision Neuroscience, Academic Press, 2017, Pages 247-257, ISBN 9780128053089,
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-805308-9.00020-8.
7. Kim, J.J., Parker, S.L., Doty, J.R. et al. Neurophysiological and behavioural markers of compassion. Sci Rep 10, 6789 (2020).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63846-3
8. Dowling T. (2018). Compassion does not fatigue!. The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne, 59(7), 749–750.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6005077/
9. Esch, T., & Stefano, G. B. (2011). The neurobiological link between compassion and love. Medical science monitor : international medical journal of
experimental and clinical research, 17(3), RA65–RA75. https://doi.org/10.12659/msm.881441
10. Chris Irons (2014). Compassion: Evolutionary understandings and the development of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT).
https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/members/sigs/spirituality-spsig/spirituality-special-interest-group-publications-chris-irons-compassion-ev
olutionary-understandings-and-cft.pdf?sfvrsn=d23087fb_2
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27. Reference
1. Trisha Dowling (July 2018). Compassion does not fatigue! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6005077/
2. Christopher Bergland (October 10, 2013). The Neuroscience of Empathy. Neuroscientists identify specific brain areas
linked to
compassion.https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201310/the-neuroscience-empathy.
3. Mount Sinai Medical Center. (2012, October 24). Area of the brain that processes empathy identified. ScienceDaily.
Retrieved November 24, 2021 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121024175240.htm
4. Tim Newman (August 16, 2016). Brain's empathy center identified.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/312349
5. Light, S. N., Coan, J. A., Zahn-Waxler, C., Frye, C., Goldsmith, H. H., & Davidson, R. J. (2009). Empathy is associated with dynamic change
in prefrontal brain electrical activity during positive emotion in children. Child development, 80(4), 1210–1231.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01326.x
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28. Comparison
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29. Comparison : Definition
Sympathy Empathy Compassion
A pity based response to
a distressing situation that
is characterised by lack of
rationale understanding
and the self preservation
of the observer
An affective response that
acknowledges and
individuals suffering
through emotional
resonance
A virtuous response that
seeks to address the
suffering and needs of a
person through rational
understanding and action
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30. Comparison : Defining Characteristics
Sympathy Empathy Compassion
● Observing
● Reacting
● Misguided
● Lack of
understanding
● Ego based
● Self preservation
● Acknowledgement of
suffering
● Understanding the
Person
● Affective response
●
● Supererogatory
● Non conditional
● Virtuous
● Altruistic
● Instrumental
● Actioned oriented
response
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31. Comparison : Response to Suffering
Sympathy Empathy Compassion
1. Acknowledgement 1. Acknowledgement
2. Understanding and
3. Emotional
Resonance
1. Acknowledgement
2. Understanding and
Emotional
Resonance linked
with action
3. Aimed at
understanding the
person and the
amaloration of the
suffering
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32. Comparison : Type of Response
Sympathy Empathy Compassion
A visceral reaction to a
distressing situation
Objective and affective
response to a distressing
situation
A proactive and targeted
response to a distressing
situation
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33. Comparison : Emotional State of Observer
Sympathy Empathy Compassion
Emotional Dissonance Emotional resonance and
emotional contagion
(Feeling with)
Emotional Engagement
and resilience
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34. Comparison : Motivators of Response
Sympathy Empathy Compassion
Pity/ Ego/ Obligation Circumstance
Affective state of
observers duty
Relatedness to patience/
Deservedness of
patience
Virtues / dispositional
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35. Comparison : Relationship of Observer to suffering
intended outcome
Sympathy Empathy Compassion
● External
● Self preservation of
observer
● Proximal Isomorphic
● Objective and
Affective
understanding of
sufferer
● Instrumental /
Relational /
Transmorphic
● Amelioration of
multifactorial
suffering
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36. Comparison : Patience reported outcome
Sympathy Empathy Compassion
● Demonstrated
● Patronised
● Overwhelming
● Compounded
suffering
● Heard
● Understood
● Validated
●
● Relief of suffering
● Enhances sense of
wellbeing
● Enhanced quality of
care giving
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37. Comparison : Examples
Sympathy Empathy Compassion
● I am so sorry
● This must be awful
● I can’t imagine what
it must be like
● Help me to
understand your
situation
● I get the sense that
you are feeling…
● I feel your sadness
● I know you are
suffering, but there
are things i can do to
help it be better?
● What can I do to
improve your
situation
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