When the body resonates with the pain of the other: Empathy Bodyssence in Parkinson's disease.

Summary

Empathy relies on bodily processes, but how Parkinson's disease (PD) disrupts this is unclear. Using a neurophenomenological approach, 42 people with PD watched pain-related videos while their self-reports, postural movement, heart rate, and electrodermal activity were recorded. Phenomenological interviews after exposure revealed two distinct empathic modes: Resonance Bodyssence, where emotions tightly couple with bodily sensations and movement, and Marginal Resonance Bodyssence, a more observational, cognitively mediated response with reduced bodily resonance. Integrating first-person data with quantitative measures shows that interindividual variability in motor and physiological responses in PD reflects distinct embodied empathic engagements, advancing an embodied account of empathy as a heterogeneous, dynamically enacted phenomenon.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Empathy plays a fundamental role in social bonding and intersubjective understanding. While recent research has emphasized how bodily processes shape empathic engagement and underlie individual differences, the impact of bodily disruptions on empathic experience in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains largely unexplored. In this study, we used a neurophenomenological approach to investigate Empathy Bodyssence in PD, conceived as an enacted organization of bodily, affective, and meaning-related dimensions of experience, by integrating first-person experiential data with motor, physiological, and self-report measures. Forty-two individuals with PD watched pain-related and baseline videos. Empathic engagement was assessed through self-reports, postural movement, and physiological recordings (heart rate and electrodermal activity). Following exposure, participants underwent phenomenological interviews designed to capture their experience of witnessing another's suffering. The interview data were analyzed through an iterative, multistage process involving independent coding, triangulation, and advanced analytical tools (CAQDAS, inter-rater agreement assessment, and interactive dashboards) to ensure analytical depth and rigor. Phenomenological analysis enabled us to categorize participants into two groups, distinguished by high versus low levels of bodily resonance in response to viewing pain. These phenomenological groupings were then integrated with quantitative data to reveal two distinct structures through which individuals with PD embodied empathy: Resonance Bodyssence, a response in which emotions are tightly coupled with bodily sensations and movement; and Marginal Resonance Bodyssence, a more observational and cognitively mediated response, marked by reduced bodily resonance. By using phenomenological structure as an organizing level of analysis, the present study shows how interindividual variability in motor and physiological responses in PD is enacted as distinct embodied modes of empathic engagement. In doing so, it advances neurophenomenological approaches and provides a more nuanced, embodied account of empathy in PD as a heterogeneous and dynamically enacted phenomenon.