Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Response to Smith’s Letter to the Editor ‘Emotional Empathy in Autism Spectrum Conditions: Weak, Intact, or Heightened?’

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ashwin, C., Chapman, E., Colle, L., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2006). Impaired recognition of negative basic emotions in autism: A test of the amygdala theory. Social Neuroscience, 1(3–4), 349–363.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bacon, A. L., Fein, D., Morris, R., Waterhouse, L., & Allen, D. (1998). The responses of autistic children to the distress of others. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 28, 129–142.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S., & Wheelwright, S. (2004). The empathy quotient (EQ). An investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, and normal sex differences. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34, 163–175.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Batson, C. D. (1991). The altruism question: Towards a social-psychological answer. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beall, P. M., Moody, E. J., McIntosh, D. N., Hepburn, S. L., & Reed, C. L. (2008). Rapid facial reactions to emotional facial expressions in typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 101(3), 206–223. [Epub 2008 Jun 17].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Becchio, C., Pierno, A., Mari, M., Lusher, D., & Castiello, U. (2007). Motor contagion from gaze: The case of autism. Brain, 130(Pt 9), 2401–2411.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Behrmann, M., Thomas, C., & Humphreys, K. (2006). Seeing it differently: Visual processing in autism. Trends in cognitive sciences, 10(6), 258–264. [Epub 2006 May 19. Review].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ben Shalom, D., Mostofsky, S. H., Hazlett, R. L., Goldberg, M. C., Landa, R. J., Faran, Y., et al. (2006). Normal physiological emotions but differences in expression of conscious feelings in children with high-functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 395–400.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernier, R., Dawson, G., Panagiotides, H., & Webb, S. (2005). Individuals with autism spectrum disorder show normal responses to a fear potential startle paradigm. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35, 575–583.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berthoz, S., & Hill, E. L. (2005). The validity of using self-reports to assess emotion regulation abilities in adults with autism spectrum disorder. European Psychiatry, 20, 291–298.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bird, G., Leighton, J., Press, C., & Heyes, C. (2007). Intact automatic imitation of human and robot actions in autism spectrum disorders. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 274, 3027–3031.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blair, R. J. (1999). Psychophysiological responsiveness to the distress of others in children with autism. Personality and Individual Differences, 26, 477–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blakemore, S. J., Bristow, D., Bird, G., Frith, C., & Ward, J. (2005). Somatosensory activations during the observation of touch and a case of vision-touch synaesthesia. Brain, 128(Pt 7), 1571–1583.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bölte, S., Feineis-Matthews, S., & Poustka, F. (2008). Brief report: Emotional processing in high-functioning autism–physiological reactivity and affective report. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(4), 776–781. [Epub 2007 Sep 20].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brian, J., Bryson, S. E., Garon, N., Roberts, W., Smith, I. M., Szatmari, P., et al. (2008). Clinical assessment of autism in high-risk 18-month-olds. Autism, 12(5), 433–456.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bryson, S. E., Zwaigenbaum, L., Brian, J., Roberts, W., Szatmari, P., Rombough, V., et al. (2007). A prospective case series of high-risk infants who developed autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(1), 12–24. [Epub 2007 Jan 9].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bufalari, I., Aprile, T., Avenanti, A., Di Russo, F., & Aglioti, S. M. (2007). Empathy for pain and touch in the human somatosensory cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 17(11), 2553–2561.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Capps, L., Kasari, C., Yirmiya, N., & Sigman, M. (1993). Parental perception of emotional expressiveness in children with autism. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 475–484.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cattaneo, L., Fabbri-Destro, M., Boria, S., Pieraccini, C., Monti, A., Cossu, G., et al. (2007). Impairment of actions chains in autism and its possible role in intention understanding. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(45), 17825–17830. [Epub 2007 Oct 26].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Charman, T., Swettenham, J., Baron-Cohen, S., Cox, A., Baird, G., & Drew, A. (1997). Infants with autism: An investigation of empathy, pretend play, joint attention, and imitation. Developmental psychology, 33(5), 781–789.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Corona, R., Dissanayake, C., Arbelle, S., Wellington, P., & Sigman, M. (1998). Is affect aversive to young children with autism? Behavioral and cardiac responses to experimenter distress. Child Development, 69(6), 1494–1502.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. H. (1996). Empathy: A social psychological approach. Boulder, CO: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, G., Meltzoff, A. N., Osterling, J., Rinaldi, J., & Brown, E. (1998). Children with autism fail to orient to naturally occurring social stimuli. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 28(6), 479–485.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, G., Toth, K., Abbott, R., Osterling, J., Munson, J., Estes, A., et al. (2004). Early social attention impairments in autism: Social orienting, joint attention, and attention to distress. Developmental psychology, 40(2), 271–283.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dziobek, I., Rogers, K., Fleck, S., Bahnemann, M., Heekeren, H. R., Wolf, O. T., et al. (2008). Dissociation of cognitive and emotional empathy in adults with Asperger syndrome using the multifaceted empathy test (MET). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 464–473.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N. (2007). Empathy-related responding and prosocial behaviour. Novartis Foundation Symposium, 278, 71–80.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frith, U. (2004). Emanuel Miller lecture: Confusions and controversies about Asperger syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(4), 672–686. [Review].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frith, U., & de Vignemont, F. (2005). Egocentrism, allocentrism, and Asperger syndrome. Consciousness and Cognition, 14, 719–738.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gallese, V. (2007). Before and below ‘theory of mind’: Embodied simulation and the neural correlates of social cognition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 362(1480), 659–669. [Review].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Garon, N., Bryson, S. E., Zwaigenbaum, L., Smith, I. M., Brian, J., Roberts, W., et al. (2009). Temperament and its relationship to autistic symptoms in a high-risk infant sib cohort. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37(1), 59–78.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gazzola, V., & Keysers, C. (2009). The observation and execution of actions share motor and somatosensory voxels in all tested subjects: Single-subject analyses of unsmoothed fMRI data. Cerebral Cortex, 19(6), 1239–1255.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hadjikhani, N., Joseph, R. M., Manoach, D. S., Naik, P., Snyder, J., Dominick, K., et al. (2009). Body expressions of emotion do not trigger fear contagion in autism spectrum disorder. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 4(1), 70–78. [Epub 2009 Jan 17].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hermans, E. J., Putman, P., & van Honk, J. (2006). Testosterone administration reduces empathetic behavior: A facial mimicry study. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31(7), 859–866.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hermans, E. J., van Wingen, G., Bos, P. A., Putman, P., & van Honk, J. (2009). Reduced spontaneous facial mimicry in women with autistic traits. Biological Psychology, 80(3), 348–353. [Epub 2008 Dec 24].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, E., Berthoz, S., & Frith, U. (2004). Brief report: Cognitive processing of own emotions in individuals with autistic spectrum disorder and in their relatives. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34, 229–235.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hirstein, W., Iversen, P., & Ramachandran, V. S. (2001). Autonomic responses of autistic children to people and objects. Proceedings. Biological sciences, 268(1479), 1883–1888.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys, K., Minshew, N., Leonard, G. L., & Behrmann, M. (2007). A finegrained analysis of facial expression processing in high-functioning adults with autism. Neuropsychologia, 45, 685–695.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, P. L., Brunet, E., Meltzoff, A. N., & Decety, J. (2006). Empathy examined through the neural mechanisms involved in imagining how I feel versus how you feel pain. Neuropsychologia, 44(5), 752–761.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keysers, C., Wicker, B., Gazzola, V., Anton, J. L., Fogassi, L., & Gallese, V. (2004). A touching sight: SII/PV activation during the observation and experience of touch. Neuron, 42, 335–346.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuusikko, S., Haapsamo, H., Jansson-Verkasalo, E., Hurtig, T., Mattila, M. L., Ebeling, H., et al. (2009). Emotion recognition in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(6), 938–945.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kylliäinen, A., & Hietanen, J. K. (2006). Skin conductance responses to another person’s gaze in children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(4), 517–525.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Landry, R., & Bryson, S. E. (2004). Impaired disengagement of attention in young children with autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(6), 1115–1122.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, R. D., Ahern, G. L., Schwartz, G. E., & Kaszniak, A. W. (1997). Is alexithymia the emotional equivalent of blindsight? Biological Psychiatry, 42(9), 834–844. [Review].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lombardo, M. V., Barnes, J. L., Wheelwright, S. J., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2007). Self-referential cognition and empathy in autism. PLoS One, 2, e883.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lombardo, M. V., Chakrabarti, B., Bullmore, E. T., Wheelwright, S. J., Sadek, S. A., Suckling, J., Baron-Cohen, S., & MRC AIMS Consortium. (2009). Shared neural circuits for mentalizing about the self and others. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, in press.

  • Magnee, M. J. C. M., de Gelder, B., van Engeland, H., & Kemner, C. (2007). Facial electromyographic responses to emotional information from faces and voices in individuals with pervasive developmental disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 1122–1130.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McIntosh, D. N., Reichmann-Decker, A., Winkielman, P., & Wilbarger, J. L. (2006). When the social mirror breaks: Deficits in automatic, but not voluntary, mimicry of emotional facial expressions in autism. Developmental Science, 9(3), 295–302.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Minio-Paluello, I., Baron-Cohen, S., Avenanti, A., Walsh, V., & Aglioti, S. M. (2009). Absence of embodied empathy during pain observation in Asperger syndrome. Biological Psychiatry, 65(1), 55–62. [Epub 2008 Sep 23].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, J. P., Macrae, C. N., & Banaji, M. R. (2006). Dissociable medial prefrontal contributions to judgments of similar and dissimilar others. Neuron, 50, 655–663.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Niedenthal, P. M. (2007). Embodying emotion. Science, 316, 1002–1005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nummenmaa, L., Hirvonen, J., Parkkola, R., & Hietanen, J. K. (2008). Is emotional contagion special? An fMRI study on neural systems for affective and cognitive empathy. NeuroImage, 43, 571–580.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oberman, L. M., Winkielman, P., Ramachandran, V. S. (2009). Slow echo: Facial EMG evidence for the delay of spontaneaous, but not voluntary emotional mimicry in children with autism spectrum disorders. Developmental Science, 12(4), 510–520.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ochsner, K. N., Knierim, K., Ludlow, D. H., Hanelin, J., Ramachandran, T., Glover, G., et al. (2004). Reflecting upon feelings: An fMRI study of neural systems supporting the attribution of emotion to self and other. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 16(10), 1746–1772.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ochsner, K. N., Beer, J. S., Robertson, E. R., Cooper, J. C., Gabrieli, J. D., Kihsltrom, J. F., et al. (2005). The neural correlates of direct and reflected self-knowledge. Neuroimage, 28(4), 797–814.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pierno, A. C., Mari, M., Lusher, D., & Castiello, U. (2008). Robotic movement elicits visuomotor priming in children with autism. Neuropsychologia, 46(2), 448–454. [Epub 2007 Sep 1].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Posner, M. I., & Rothbart, M. K. (1998). Attention, self-regulation and consciousness. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 353(1377), 1915–1927. [Review].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Preston, S. D., & de Waal, F. B. (2002). Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 25(1), 1–20. [discussion 20-71].

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Proverbio, A. M., Riva, F., & Zani, A. (2009). Observation of static pictures of dynamicactions enhances the activity of movement-related brain areas. PLoS One, 4(5), e5389.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rheingold, H., Hay, D., & West, M. (1976). Sharing in the second year of life. Child Development, 47, 1148–1158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, K., Dziobek, I., Hassenstab, J., Wolf, O. T., & Convit, A. (2007). Who cares? Revisiting empathy in Asperger syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(4), 709–715.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rothbart, M. K., & Ahadi, S. A. (1994). Temperament and the development of personality. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103(1), 55–66. [Review].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sagi, A., & Hoffman, M. L. (1976). Empathic distress in the newborn. Developmental Psychology, 12, 175–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saxe, R., Moran, J. M., Scholz, J., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2006). Overlapping and nonoverlapping brain regions for theory of mind and self reflection in individual subjects. Soc Cogn Aff Neurosci, 1, 229–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scambler, D. J., Hepburn, S., Rutherford, M. D., Wehner, E. A., & Rogers, S. J. (2007). Emotional responsivity in children with autism, children with other developmental disabilities, and children with typical development. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(3), 553–563.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Senju et al (2008 Aug). J Autism Dev Disord, 38(7):1250–1258. Epub 2008 Feb 22.

  • Sheese, B. E., Rothbart, M. K., Posner, M. I., White, L. K., & Fraundorf, S. H. (2008). Executive attention and self-regulation in infancy. Infant Behavior & Development, 31(3), 501–510. [Epub 2008 Apr 11].

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sigman, M. D., Kasari, C., Kwon, J. H., & Yirmiya, N. (1992). Responses to the negative emotions of others by autistic, mentally retarded, and normal children. Child Development, 63(4), 796–807.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silani, G., Bird, G., Brindley, R., Singer, T., Frith, C., & Frith, U. (2008). Levels of emotional awareness and autism: An fMRI study. Social Neuroscience, 3(2), 97–112.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, T., Seymour, B., O’Doherty, J., Kaube, H., Dolan, R. J., & Frith, C. D. (2004). Empathy for pain involves the affective but not sensory components of pain. Science, 303(5661), 1157–1162.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith A. (2009). Emotional empathy in autism spectrum conditions: Weak intact or heightened? JADD, (This issue).

  • Spezio, M. L., Adolphs, A., Hurley, R. S. E., & Piven, J. (2007). Abnormal use of facial information in high-functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 929–939.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stel, M., van den Heuvel, C., Smeets, R. C. (2008). Facial feedback mechanisms in autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(7), 1250–1258.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Szatmari, P., Georgiades, S., Duku, E., Zwaigenbaum, L., Goldberg, J., & Bennett, T. (2008). Alexithymia in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(10), 1859–1865. [Epub 2008 May 13].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tani, P., Lindberg, N., Joukamaa, M., Nieminen-von Wendt, T., von Wendt, L., Appelberg, B., et al. (2004). Asperger syndrome, alexithymia and perception of sleep. Neuropsychobiology, 49, 64–70.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Théoret, H., Halligan, E., Kobayashi, M., Fregni, F., Tager-Flusberg, H., & Pascual-Leone, A. (2005). Impaired motor facilitation during action observation in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Current Biology, 15(3), R84–R85.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ungerer, J. A. (1990). The early development of empathy: Self-regulation and individual differences in the first year. Motivation and Emotion, 14, 93–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urgesi, C., Moro, V., Candidi, M., & Aglioti, S. M. (2006). Mapping implied body actions in the human motor system. Journal of Neuroscience, 26, 7942–7949.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Welsh, T. N., Ray, M. C., Weeks, D. J., Dewey, D., & Elliott, D. (2009). Does Joe influence Fred’s action? Not if Fred has autism spectrum disorder. Brain Research, 1248, 141–148. [Epub 2008 Nov 12].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wicker, B., Keysers, C., Plailly, J., Royet, J. P., Gallese, V., & Rizzolatti, G. (2003). Both of us disgusted in my insula: The common neural basis of seeing and feeling disgust. Neuron, 40, 655–664.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Willemsen-Swinkels, S. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Buitelaar, J. K., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & van Engeland, H. (2000). Insecure and disorganised attachment in children with a pervasive developmental disorder: Relationship with social interaction and heart rate. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 759–767.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J. H. G. (2008). Self–other relations in social development and autism: Multiple roles for mirror neurons and other brain bases. Autism Research, 1, 73–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yirmiya, N., Sigman, M. D., Kasari, C., & Mundy, P. (1992). Empathy and cognition in high-functioning children with autism. Child Development, 63(1), 150–160.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zahn-Waxler, C., & Radke-Yarrow, M. (1982). The development of altruism: Alternative research strategies. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.), The development of prosocial behavior. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahn-Waxler, C., Friedman, S. L., & Cummings, E. M. (1983). Children’s emotions and behaviors in response to infants’ cries. Child Development, 54, 1522–1528.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zahn-Waxler, C., Radke-Yarrow, M., Wagner, E., & Chapman, M. (1992). Development of concern for others. Developmental Psychology, 28, 126–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zaki, J., Bolger, N., Weber, J., & Ochsner, K. N. (2009). The neural bases of empathic accuracy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Epub ahead of print Jun 23].

  • Zwaigenbaum, L., Bryson, S., Rogers, T., Roberts, W., Brian, J., & Szatmari, P. (2005). Behavioral manifestations of autism in the first year of life. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 23(2-3), 143–152.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Psicologia La Sapienza, Universita’ di Roma, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Ilaria Minio-Paluello

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Autism Research Centre, Cambridge University, Douglas House, 18B Trumpington Rd, Cambridge, CB2 8AH, UK

    Michael V. Lombardo, Bhismadev Chakrabarti, Sally Wheelwright & Simon Baron-Cohen

  3. School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK

    Bhismadev Chakrabarti

Authors
  1. Ilaria Minio-Paluello
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael V. Lombardo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bhismadev Chakrabarti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sally Wheelwright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Simon Baron-Cohen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ilaria Minio-Paluello.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Minio-Paluello, I., Lombardo, M.V., Chakrabarti, B. et al. Response to Smith’s Letter to the Editor ‘Emotional Empathy in Autism Spectrum Conditions: Weak, Intact, or Heightened?’. J Autism Dev Disord 39, 1749–1754 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0800-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0800-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation