Investigation on Empathy Towards Humans and Robots using fMRI
Do we use the same brain regions when we see someone violently treating humans versus robots (👱 vs 🤖)?
Today, I read an interesting paper about neuroscience and robotics.
Authors:
Astrid Rosenthal-von der Pütten
Frank P. Schulte
Sabrina C. Eimler
Sabrina Sobieraj
Laura Hoffmann
Stefan Maderwald
Matthias Brand
Nicole C. Krämer
I wrote a summary:
Previously, the authors demonstrated that people respond differently when observing robots treated affectionately (e.g., gentle touches, stroking) versus violently (e.g., punching, choking).
In the current study, the researchers investigated whether these different interactions elicit similar or distinct brain activations in humans, reflecting emotional responses to these interactions.
In this fMRI study, 14 adults (both female and male) watched videos showing affectionate and violent treatment toward a human woman, a dinosaur robot, and a box.
Interestingly, the results revealed no significant brain activation differences across all conditions (woman, robot, and box) for the positive interactions.
However, for the violent interactions, there was greater activation in the right putamen region, which is involved in emotional distress, when participants watched the woman compared to the robot.
Self-ratings indicated that participants viewed the affectionate interactions with the robot more positively and the violent interactions with the robot more negatively compared to those involving the woman.
There were no significant differences in empathy levels toward the woman versus the robot.
These findings suggest few differences in brain and emotional responses to human versus robot interactions.
🤔 I think the use of an animated baby dinosaur robot in this study may have contributed to the emotional engagement, as it likely effectively elicited both positive and negative emotions in participants.
🤔 It is intriguing to me that brain responses did not vary much between the emotional treatments of both the human/robot and the box.
🤔 Although the study's sample size is small, I think the results may reflect humans' high capacity for empathy, regardless of whether the object of empathy is biological or non-biological.