Browsing by Author "Coutinho, Joana"
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- Brain circuits involved in understanding our own and other’s internal states in the context of romantic relationshipsPublication . Esménio, Sofia; Soares, José Miguel; Oliveira-Silva, P.; Gonçalves, Óscar F.; Decety, Jean; Coutinho, JoanaSocial interactions require the capacity to understand both our and other’s internal states. These semi-independent skills, the ability to understand oneself and others, seem to rely on the same type of representations and recruit similar brain areas. In this study, we looked at the neural basis of self and other processing in the context of an interaction with a significant other. Fourty-two participants in a monogamous relationship completed an fMRI task in which they watched a set of video-vignettes of his/her romantic partner expressing emotional contents. Participants were asked to elaborate on his/her spouse´s experience (other condition) and on his/her own experience when watching the video-vignettes (self-condition). The results showed a significant overlap in the brain activation for both conditions (e.g. anterior insula, posterior cingulate/precuneus, inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule). In addition, the self-condition recruited brain areas associated with interoceptive processing and affect sharing (e.g., posterior insula), whereas the other-condition engaged brain areas involved in the cognitive representation of another’s internal states and self-other distinction (e.g., fusiform, supramarginal gyrus, angular gyrus and temporoparietal junction).
- Empathy by default: correlates in the brain at restPublication . Silva, Patrícia Oliveira; Maia, Liliana; Coutinho, Joana; Frank, Brandon; Soares, José Miguel; Sampaio, Adriana; Gonçalves, ÓscarBackground: Empathy, defi ned as the ability to access and respond to the inner world of another person, is a multidimensional construct involving cognitive, emotional and self-regulatory mechanisms. Neuroimaging studies report that empathy recruits brain regions which are part of the social cognition network. Among the different resting state networks, the Default Mode Network (DMN) may be of particular interest for the study of empathy since it has been implicated in social cognition tasks. Method: The current study compared the cognitive and emotional empathy scores, as measured by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, with the patterns of activation within the DMN, through the neuroimaging methodology of resting-state functional magnetic resonance. Results: Results suggest a signifi cant positive correlation between cognitive empathy and activation of the bilateral superior medial frontal cortex nodes of the DMN. Contrastingly, a negative correlation was found between emotional empathy and the same brain region. Conclusions: Overall, this data highlights a critical role of the medial cortical regions of the DMN, specifi cally its anterior node, for both cognitive and emotional domains of the empathic process.
- Evidências de validade da versão portuguesa do ìndice de Reatividade Interpessoal para CasaisPublication . Coutinho, Joana; Beiramar, Ana; Silva, Carla; Lema, Alberto; Lima, Vânia; GraceIII, Randolph; Oliveira-Silva, Patrícia; Gonçalves, Óscar; Sampaio, AdrianaEste estudo teve como principal objetivo traduzir e adaptar para língua portuguesa o Índice de Reatividade Interpessoal para Casais (IRIC), analisando as propriedades psicométricas da versão portuguesa. Esse é um instrumento de avaliação da empatia em casais, que resultou da adaptação de uma das mais usadas escalas de empatia, o Índice de Reatividade Interpessoal de Davis, para o contexto das relações íntimas. O IRIC avalia dimensões de empatia cognitiva (tomada de perspetiva) e emocional (preocupação empática), importantes para a estabilidade e satisfação das relações conjugais. A escala original foi traduzida para português e administrada a 148 sujeitos que estavam numa relação amorosa há pelo menos um ano. A maioria dos sujeitos eram mulheres com uma média de idades de 27 anos. Os resultados revelam uma estrutura fatorial semelhante à escala original, valores adequados de consistência interna (alfa de Cronbach=0,82) e bons níveis de validade externa com uma escala de ajustamento diádico.
- "Neurobiological correlates of empathy in couples: a study of central and peripheral measures” grant 87/12Publication . Coutinho, Joana; Oliveira-Silva, Patrícia; Gonçalves, Óscar; Perrone, Kristin; Decety, Jean
- Nodes of the default mode network implicated in the quality of empathic responses: a clinical perspective of the empathic responsePublication . Oliveira-Silva, Patrícia; Maia, Liliana; Coutinho, Joana; Moreno, Ana Filipa; Penalba, Lucia; Frank, Brandon; Soares, José Miguel; Sampaio, Adriana; Gonçalves, Óscar F.The ability to empathize with another person's inner experience is believed to be a central element of our social interactions. Previous research has focused on cognitive (e.g., theory of mind) and emotional (e.g., emotional contagion) empathy, and less on behavioral factors (i.e., the ability to respond empathically). Recent studies suggest that the Default Mode Network (DMN) mediates individual variability in distinct empathy-related behaviors. However, little is known about DMN activity during actual empathic responses, understood in this study as the ability to communicate our understanding of the others’ experience back to them. This study used an empathy response paradigm with 28 participants (22-37 years old) to analyze the relationship between the quality of empathic responses to 14 empathy-eliciting vignettes and patterns of attenuation in the DMN. Overall, the results suggest that high levels of empathic response, are associated with sustained activation of the DMN when compared with lower levels of empathy. Our results demonstrate that the DMN becomes increasingly involved in empathy-related behavior, as our level of commitment to the other's experience increases. This study represents a first attempt to understand the relation between the capacity for responding in a supportive way to others’ needs and the intra-individual variability of the pattern of the DMN attenuation. Here we underline the critical role that the DMN plays in high-level social cognitive processes and corroborate the DMN role in different psychiatric disorders associated with a lack of empathy.
- Psychophysiological synchrony during verbal interaction in romantic relationshipsPublication . Coutinho, Joana; Oliveira‐Silva, Patrícia; Fernandes, Eugénia; Gonçalves, Oscar F.; Correia, Diogo; Mc‐Govern, Kristin Perrone; Tschacher, WolfgangPrevious studies about romantic relationships have shown that the reciprocal influence between partners occurs not only at the behavioral and socio‐emotional levels, but also at the psychophysiological level. This reciprocal influence is expressed in a pattern of physiological synchrony between partners (i.e., coordinated dynamics of the physiological time series). The main aim of the present study was to explore the presence of a pattern of physiological synchrony in electrodermal activity (EDA) during a couple interaction task. A second objective was to compare the synchrony levels during a negative interaction condition versus a positive interaction condition. Finally, we analyzed the association between synchrony and self‐perception of empathy, dyadic empathy, and relationship satisfaction. Thirty‐two couples (64 individuals) participated in this study. Each couple performed a structured interaction task while the EDA of both partners was being registered. The quantification of synchrony was based on the cross‐correlation of both members' EDA time‐series. In order to control for coincidental synchrony, surrogate datasets were created by repeatedly shuffling the original data of spouses X and Y of a dyad and computing synchronies on the basis of the shuffled data (pseudosynchrony values). Our results confirmed the presence of significant EDA synchrony during the interaction. We also found that synchrony was higher during the negative interactions relative to the positive interactions. Additionally, physiological synchrony during positive interaction was higher for those couples in which males scored higher in dyadic empathy. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
- The Portuguese version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and its relationship with psychopathological symptomsPublication . Coutinho, Joana; Ribeiro, Eugénia; Raquel Ferreirinha; Dias, PauloBackground: Emotion dysregulation is a unifier dimension of several psychopathological symptoms thus an instrument that measures it is needed. Objectives: To adapt to Portuguese the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and study its psychometric qualities. A second goal was to explore the association between DERS dimensions and specific types of psychopathology symptoms. Method: The original measure was translated to Portuguese and completed by a sample of 324 individuals who also completed the Brief Symptom Inventory. Results: The results show a very similar factor structure to the original measure: good testretest stability, very good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = ,93) and good external validity with BSI. The analysis performed with the subset of 115 individuals that composed the clinical sample showed that psychopathologic individuals present more difficulties in emotion regulation than normal individuals. Through the correlation analysis between the different DERS and BSI subscales, we found that the Strategies and Goals subscales present the highest level of association with all the psychopathological symptoms. Discussion: This may suggest that these two dimensions are present in various psychological disorders and could, therefore, be included in psychological interventions focused on emotion regulation skills.
- Using resting-state DMN effective connectivity to characterize the neurofunctional architecture of empathyPublication . Esménio, Sofia; Soares, José M.; Oliveira-Silva, P.; Zeidman, Peter; Razi, Adeel; Gonçalves, Óscar F.; Coutinho, JoanaNeuroimaging studies in social neuroscience have largely relied on functional connectivity (FC) methods to characterize the functional integration between different brain regions. However, these methods have limited utility in social-cognitive studies that aim to understand the directed information flow among brain areas that underlies complex psychological processes. In this study we combined functional and effective connectivity approaches to characterize the functional integration within the Default Mode Network (DMN) and its role in self-perceived empathy. Forty-two participants underwent a resting state fMRI scan and completed a questionnaire of dyadic empathy. Independent Component Analysis (ICA) showed that higher empathy scores were associated with an increased contribution of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to the DMN spatial mode. Dynamic causal modelling (DCM) combined with Canonical Variance Analysis (CVA) revealed that this association was mediated indirectly by the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) via the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL). More specifically, in participants with higher scores in empathy, the PCC had a greater effect on bilateral IPL and the right IPL had a greater influence on mPFC. These results highlight the importance of using analytic approaches that address directed and hierarchical connectivity within networks, when studying complex psychological phenomena, such as empathy.
- When our hearts beat together: cardiac synchrony as an entry point to understand dyadic co‐regulation in couplesPublication . Coutinho, Joana; Pereira, Alfredo; Oliveira-Silva, Patrícia; Meier, Deborah; Lourenço, Vladimiro; Tschacher, WolfgangThe degree to which romantic partners' autonomic responses are coordinated, represented by their pattern of physiological synchrony, seems to capture important aspects of the reciprocal influence and co‐regulation between spouses. In this study, we analyzed couple's cardiac synchrony as measured by heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV). A sample of 27 couples (N = 54) performed a structured interaction task in the lab where they discussed positive and negative aspects of the relationship. During the interaction, their cardiac measures (HR and HRV) were recorded using the BIOPAC System. Additional assessment, prior to the lab interaction task, included self‐report measures of empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index and Interpersonal Reactivity Index for Couples) and relationship satisfaction (Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale). Synchrony computation was based on the windowed cross‐correlation of both partner's HR and HRV time series. In order to control for random synchrony, surrogate controls were created using segment‐wise shuffling. Our results confirmed the presence of cardiac synchrony during the couple's interaction when compared to surrogate testing. Specifically, we found evidence for negative (antiphase) synchrony of couple's HRV and positive (in‐phase) synchrony of HR. Further, both HRV and HR synchronies were associated with several dimensions of self‐report data. This study suggests that cardiac synchrony, particularly, the direction of the covariation in the partners' physiological time series, may have an important relational meaning in the context of marital interactions.