Résumé/Abstract De nombreux travaux en psychologie et plus récemment en neurophysiologie conduise... more Résumé/Abstract De nombreux travaux en psychologie et plus récemment en neurophysiologie conduisent à postuler qu'il existe une équivalence fonctionnelle entre produire une action, l'imaginer, la verbaliser et l'observer. Ce modèle est séduisant car il offre une explication parcimonieuse des mécanismes cognitifs sous-tendant la génération d'une action intentionnelle et la reconnaissance des actions faites par autrui, et ainsi extraire les intentions. Il est en outre compatible avec une approche évolutionniste du ...
The contagion model of emotional propagation has almost become a dogma in cognitive science. We t... more The contagion model of emotional propagation has almost become a dogma in cognitive science. We turn here to the evolutionary approach to communicative interactions to probe the limits of the contagion model.
Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 2008
The Empathy Quotient (EQ) is a self-report that was developed to measure the cognitive and affect... more The Empathy Quotient (EQ) is a self-report that was developed to measure the cognitive and affective aspects of empathy. We further evaluated its validity in 2 studies. The psychometric qualities of the French version of the EQ, and its correspondence with 2 other measures of empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Empathy Scale of the Impulsiveness-Venturesomeness-Empathy Questionnaire), and with dimensions of the emotional state (depression and anxiety), were evaluated in a sample of 410 students (201 men and 209 women). Second, the clinical validity of the EQ was investigated in participants expected to have dysfunctional empathy. For this purpose, EQ scores of 16 people with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) were collected. The EQ showed satisfying internal, convergent, test-retest and discriminant validity. The confirmatory factorial analyses suggested a 3-factor structure offered a good fit to the data. The women's superiority in empathy was replicated. As expected,...
An important evolutionary function of emotions is to prime individuals for action. Although funct... more An important evolutionary function of emotions is to prime individuals for action. Although functional neuroimaging has provided evidence for such a relationship, little is known about the anatomical substrates allowing the limbic system to influence cortical motor-related areas. Using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and probabilistic tractography on a cohort of 40 participants, we provide evidence of a structural connection between the amygdala and motor-related areas (lateral and medial precentral, motor cingulate and primary motor cortices, and postcentral gyrus) in humans. We then compare this connection with the connections of the amygdala with emotion-related brain areas (superior temporal sulcus, fusiform gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, and lateral inferior frontal gyrus) and determine which amygdala nuclei are at the origin of these projections. Beyond the well-known subcortical influences over automatic and stereotypical emotional behaviors, a direct amygdala-motor pathway might provide a mechanism by which the amygdala can influence more complex motor behaviors.
Résumé/Abstract De nombreux travaux en psychologie et plus récemment en neurophysiologie conduise... more Résumé/Abstract De nombreux travaux en psychologie et plus récemment en neurophysiologie conduisent à postuler qu'il existe une équivalence fonctionnelle entre produire une action, l'imaginer, la verbaliser et l'observer. Ce modèle est séduisant car il offre une explication parcimonieuse des mécanismes cognitifs sous-tendant la génération d'une action intentionnelle et la reconnaissance des actions faites par autrui, et ainsi extraire les intentions. Il est en outre compatible avec une approche évolutionniste du ...
The contagion model of emotional propagation has almost become a dogma in cognitive science. We t... more The contagion model of emotional propagation has almost become a dogma in cognitive science. We turn here to the evolutionary approach to communicative interactions to probe the limits of the contagion model.
Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 2008
The Empathy Quotient (EQ) is a self-report that was developed to measure the cognitive and affect... more The Empathy Quotient (EQ) is a self-report that was developed to measure the cognitive and affective aspects of empathy. We further evaluated its validity in 2 studies. The psychometric qualities of the French version of the EQ, and its correspondence with 2 other measures of empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Empathy Scale of the Impulsiveness-Venturesomeness-Empathy Questionnaire), and with dimensions of the emotional state (depression and anxiety), were evaluated in a sample of 410 students (201 men and 209 women). Second, the clinical validity of the EQ was investigated in participants expected to have dysfunctional empathy. For this purpose, EQ scores of 16 people with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) were collected. The EQ showed satisfying internal, convergent, test-retest and discriminant validity. The confirmatory factorial analyses suggested a 3-factor structure offered a good fit to the data. The women's superiority in empathy was replicated. As expected,...
An important evolutionary function of emotions is to prime individuals for action. Although funct... more An important evolutionary function of emotions is to prime individuals for action. Although functional neuroimaging has provided evidence for such a relationship, little is known about the anatomical substrates allowing the limbic system to influence cortical motor-related areas. Using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and probabilistic tractography on a cohort of 40 participants, we provide evidence of a structural connection between the amygdala and motor-related areas (lateral and medial precentral, motor cingulate and primary motor cortices, and postcentral gyrus) in humans. We then compare this connection with the connections of the amygdala with emotion-related brain areas (superior temporal sulcus, fusiform gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, and lateral inferior frontal gyrus) and determine which amygdala nuclei are at the origin of these projections. Beyond the well-known subcortical influences over automatic and stereotypical emotional behaviors, a direct amygdala-motor pathway might provide a mechanism by which the amygdala can influence more complex motor behaviors.
Uploads