Abstract Title: Practitioner empathy and the duration of the common cold. Abstract Source: Fam Med. 2009 Jul-Aug;41(7):494-501. PMID: 19582635 Abstract Author(s): David P Rakel, Theresa J Hoeft, Bruce P Barrett, Betty A Chewning, Benjamin M Craig, Min Niu Article Affiliation: School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53715, USA. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Abstract: OBJECTIVE: This study's objective was to assess the relationship of empathy in medical office visits to subsequent outcomes of the common cold. METHODS: A total of 350 subjects ? 12 years of age received either a standard or enhanced physician visit as part of a randomized controlled trial. Enhanced visits emphasized empathy on the part of the physician. The patient-scored Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) questionnaire assessed practitioner-patient interaction, especially empathy. Cold severity and duration were assessed from twice-daily symptom reports. Nasal wash was performed to measure the immune cytokine interleukin-8 (IL-8). RESULTS: Eighty-four individuals reported perfect (score of 50) CARE scores. They tended to be older with less education but reported similar health status, quality of life, and levels of optimism. In those with perfect CARE scores, cold duration was shorter (mean 7.10 days versus 8.01 days), and there was a trend toward reduced severity (mean area under receiver-operator characteristics curve 240.40 versus 284.49). After accounting for possible confounding variables, cold severity and duration were significantly lower in those reporting perfect CARE scores. In these models, a perfect score also correlated with a larger increase in IL-8 levels. CONCLUSIONS: Clinician empathy, as perceived by patients with the common cold, significantly predicts subsequent duration and severity of illness and is associated with immune system changes. Article Published Date : Jul 01, 2009

Abstract Title: Induction of empathy by the smell of anxiety. Abstract Source: PLoS One. 2009;4(6):e5987. Epub 2009 Jun 24. PMID: 19551135 Abstract Author(s): Alexander Prehn-Kristensen, Christian Wiesner, Til Ole Bergmann, Stephan Wolff, Olav Jansen, Hubertus Maximilian Mehdorn, Roman Ferstl, Bettina M Pause Article Affiliation: Center of Integrative Psychiatry, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany. Abstract: The communication of stress/anxiety between conspecifics through chemosensory signals has been documented in many vertebrates and invertebrates. Here, we investigate how chemosensory anxiety signals conveyed by the sweat of humans (N = 49) awaiting an academic examination are processed by the human brain, as compared to chemosensory control signals obtained from the same sweat donors in a sport condition. The chemosensory stimuli were pooled according to the donation condition and administered to 28 participants (14 males) synchronously to breathing via an olfactometer. The stimuli were perceived with a low intensity and accordingly only about half of the odor presentations were detected by the participants. The fMRI results (event-related design) show that chemosensory anxiety signals activate brain areas involved in the processing of social emotional stimuli (fusiform gyrus), and in the regulation of empathic feelings (insula, precuneus, cingulate cortex). In addition, neuronal activity within attentional (thalamus, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex) and emotional (cerebellum, vermis) control systems were observed. The chemosensory perception of human anxiety seems to automatically recruit empathy-related resources. Even though the participants could not attentively differentiate the chemosensory stimuli, emotional contagion seems to be effectively mediated by the olfactory system. Article Published Date : Jan 01, 2009