Can guilt enhance sensitivity to other’s suffering? An EEG investigation into moral emotions and pain empathy

Abstract As a unique form of empathy, pain empathy often has a close relationship with society and morality. Research has revealed that moral emotions can influence pain empathy. The underlying physiological mechanism still needs to be further examined to understand how moral emotions affect pain empathy. This study employs EEG and Machine Learning techniques, using a painful image induction paradigm to explore the impact of moral emotion (guilt)—on pain empathy and its neural mechanisms. Participants without pain sensation were instructed to observe and evaluate pictures of an anonymous hand in painful or non-painful pictures under feelings of guilt or neutral emotion. Results found slower reaction times and higher pain ratings for painful pictures. Furthermore, guilt led to higher pain ratings. Under conditions of painful pictures, guilt-induced greater P3(350-450ms) amplitudes and higher α oscillations and enhanced the functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex, the central frontal region, and the parieto-occipital lobe. K-nearest neighbor can effectively classify high and low-pain empathy under guilt emotion. The result showed that guilt promotes the brain’s processing of painful picture, causing individuals to pay high attention and engage in deep cognitive processing. This study provides insights into enhancing empathy and fostering interpersonal relationships.