How we empathize with others: a neurobiological perspective.

Abstract in brief

• Empathy involves internally simulating the emotional and mental states of others, facilitated by two neural processing modes: bottom-up, which directly shares emotional states through mirroring systems, and top-down, which involves cognitive perspective-taking and understanding others' feelings through control and inhibition mechanisms.
• Neurobiological research shows that empathy is a complex process influenced by various modulating factors, meaning that the brain's response to others' emotions can vary depending on different internal and external influences.
• The top-down process, also called theory of mind, requires imagining and fully understanding others' feelings by actively controlling and inhibiting certain responses, complementing the more automatic bottom-up neural sharing systems.]