How Empathetic are Your Genes?

A recent study has found evidence of a genetic link to how much empathy we have. When asked to define empathy, most people would say it’s the ability to relate to the feelings of others, but its more than just that. It also has to do with figuring out the thoughts, intentions, and motivations of others and provides subtext for communication.  The study included 46,861 participants who used 23 and me and took a diagnostic tool called the EQ, which tells you how empathetic you are. 

They found some interesting things. First, it seems that 10 % of our ability to empathize with others comes from our genes. Although women generally scored slightly higher on the EQ test than men, none of the genes believed to be involved have anything to do with sex. They are however associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders. This makes sense as people on the spectrum often have trouble with empathy.

The EQ test can be taken here, if you are interested. I scored 17. After taking it, I can’t help but wonder about something. Since people are answering questions about themselves, couldn’t their perspective be skewed a bit due to lack of objectivity? Would that fact make this a less than effective tool for a scientific study?  It is interesting nonetheless. 

Source

Genetics Influence Human Empathy

Empathy is a complex part of a person’s mind and allows people foster emotionally charged relationships with others. A lack of empathy is usually associated with behavioral issues, making finding out the variables that control a person’s empathy levels important. Around 46,000 23AndMe customers took part in an experiment to see if empathy levels were influenced by genetics, run by a group of scientists from the University of Cambridge and Institut Pasteur. The genetic information of the participants was then compared to their empathy quotient or EQ scored (a 50-question long test to help rate one’s empathy level) to see how much of the difference in the EQ score could be attributed to a participant’s genetics. According to the article around 10 percent could be attributed to genetic factors. However, the sample of people used was not representative of the world’s diversity.

The experiment sounded fascinating due to its hard-to-quantify subject even though it was sparsely detailed in the news article on how the calculation went from EQ score to the difference in empathy level. The news article did bring up doubt about the experiment (issues with the sample size and diversity) which is refreshing to see.

News Article- http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2018/03/12/genetics-of-empathy/#.Wq3SqUxFzIU
Other article- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-017-0082-6

KNOWINGLY TAKING PLACEBO PILLS EASES PAIN

A new study is the first to demonstrate that patients who knowingly take placebos or "fake pills" for lower back pain, still resulted in a 30 percent ease in pain and 29 percent decrease in disability when compared to the control group. This study essentially redefines the effects placebo pills has on health and wellness. A paper published in the journal Pain demonstrated how those given open-label placebo pills had improvements which, superseded those of patients who only received the traditional medications for lower back pain. 

                

         

Ted Kaptchuk, director of the Program for Placebo Studies and Therapeutic Encounter at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard medical School states, "These findings completely turn our understanding of the placebo effect on its head. This new research demonstrates that the placebo effect is not necessarily elicited by patients' conscious expectation that they are getting an active medicine, as long thought. Taking a pill in the context of a patient-clinician relationship--even if you know it's a placebo--is a ritual that changes symptoms and probably activates regions of the brain that modulate symptoms." When a patient interacts with their doctors or nurses during treatment, the psychological effect of feeling cared for, of empathy and of trust, can lead to a positive physiological effect, whether the medication is active or not.

While it shouldn't replace medications for tumors or other extreme ailments, the study shows that the placebo effect holds precedent and can to relieve symptoms, such as back pain to a degree without invoking a physiological effect on the body.

References:

    1. Beth Isreal Deaconess Medical Center. "Knowingly taking placebo pills eases pain, study finds." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 October 2016. <www.scienccedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161014214919.htm>.

    2. Claudia Carvalho, Joaquim Machado Caetano, Lidia Cunha, Paula Rebouta, Ted J. Kaptchuk, Irving Kirsch. open-label placebo treatment in chronic low back pain. PAIN, 2016; 1 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000700

New empathy gene

 

A new geneassociated with our ability to be empathetic has been identified. This new empathy gene is associated with how a person's oxytocin receptors function. Oxytocin is a hormone that is often associated with nurturing and love because it plays a large role in bonding, trust, and empathy. Oxytocin levels largely influx during orgasm and childbirth which helps form the bonds of lovers and families. This new research shows that there are three variants of the gene: those with the GG gene variant tend to be more empathetic and social whereas those who have at least one version of A_ or even two AA tend to be less empathetic and have more mental issues such as autism.

Due to the studies small original sample size many contemporary geneticists are criticizing the findings calling them useless in such a small sample size. On the other hand the lead author of the article, Aleksandr Kogan of the University of Toronto explains that he thinks the findings are accurate due to the fact that there have been dozens of studies on this gene over the last decade and the findings all seem to be consistent with empathy. He goes on to furthur state that these should be treated as preliminary findings and that more work should be done in this area. I think this is an interesting discovery because it furthur extends the idea that we as human beings are influenced by both our genetics and our environment and this just shows how we are predisposed to being a certain way through our genetics but how we will turn out ultimately relies on our environment.

article link: http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/17/telltale-signs-youve-got-the-love-hormone-gene/#more-47134

image link: http://www.google.com/imgres?q=empathy&hl=en&biw=1031&bih=771&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=hj5AjsD_MME3jM:&imgrefurl=http://www.themindovermatter.com/333/empathy-walking-borrowed-shoes/&docid=BG_kI_i6EWsInM&imgurl=http://www.themindovermatter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empathy.gif&w=153&h=151&ei=HKPJTuPpO8bl0QGM0pDwDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=838&vpy=228&dur=4880&hovh=120&hovw=122&tx=104&ty=75&sig=106633486466244511688&page=1&tbnh=120&tbnw=122&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0