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The aim of this study is to evaluate the empathic ability and its functional brain correlates in post-traumatic stress disorder subjects (PTSD). Seven PTSD subjects and ten healthy controls, all present in the L'Aquila area during the earthquake of the April 2009, underwent fMRI during which they performed a modified version of the Multifaceted Empathy Test. PTSD patients showed impairments in implicit and explicit emotional empathy, but not in cognitive empathy. Brain responses during cognitive empathy showed an increased activation in patients compared to controls in the right medial frontal gyrus and the left inferior frontal gyrus. During implicit emotional empathy responses patients with PTSD, compared to controls, exhibited greater neural activity in the left pallidum and right insula; instead the control group showed an increased activation in right inferior frontal gyrus. Finally, in the explicit emotional empathy responses the PTSD group showed a reduced neural activity in the left insula and the left inferior frontal gyrus. The behavioral deficit limited to the emotional empathy dimension, accompanied by different patterns of activation in empathy related brain structures, represent a first piece of evidence of a dissociation between emotional and cognitive empathy in PTSD patients. The present findings support the idea that empathy is a multidimensional process, with different facets depending on distinct anatomical substrates., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Trait neuroticism is suggested to be related to measures of volume and function of the hippocampus, a brain structure located in the medial temporal lobe that is critical for human navigation and orientation. In this study, we assessed whether measures of trait neuroticism and self-concept are correlated with the human ability to orient by means of cognitive maps (i.e. mental representations of an environment that include landmarks and their spatial relationships). After controlling for gender differences, which are well-known in spatial orientation abilities, we found that measures of neuroticism (i.e. negative affect, emotional stability) and self-concept (i.e. self-esteem) were correlated with individual differences in the rate at which cognitive maps were formed; the same measures were generally unrelated to the ability to make use of cognitive maps, as well as the ability to orient using visual path integration. The relationships (and lack thereof) between personality traits and the spatial orientation skills, as reported in the present study, are consistent with specific neural correlates underlying these factors, and may have important implications for treatment of disorders related to them., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Topographical orientation relies on the integrity of several cognitive functions and different strategies that individuals may adopt while navigating in the environment. Although previous studies have shown an age-related decline in navigational ability, these have not clarified the precise function or strategy that is affected. We hypothesized that aging may have an adverse effect on the ability to form and use a 'cognitive map', a mental representation of the environment. We had young and older participants solve a navigational task in a virtual environment designed to assess cognitive map use. Older participants required more time to form a cognitive map of the environment than young individuals and required more time and made more errors when subsequently using the cognitive map for orientation. These results suggest that decreased efficacy in both forming and using cognitive maps makes a significant contribution to the age-related decline in orientation skills.

Several studies provide evidence that mental imagery is critical for human navigation. However, the contribution of different mental imagery abilities to the individuals' skill of using specific orientation strategies remains unclear. In the present study we assessed a variety of mental imagery skills and investigated their contribution in relationship with the selective individuals' ability of forming and using a mental representation of the environment, namely a cognitive map. Indeed, despite the use of alternative strategies that individuals may adopt while moving along the same well-known route, cognitive maps are critical for orientation since they allow individuals to reach any target location from any place in the environment. We found that the ability to form a cognitive map was related to the specific ability of performing mental rotations of simple geometrical shapes, and the ability to imaging ourselves moving on a map. Other imagery skills such as the ability to generate mental images from memory or the ability of mentally manipulate objects were not correlated with the individuals' performance in forming the cognitive map. Moreover, we revealed gender differences in forming a cognitive map, as well as in performing some of the mental imagery tests. We discuss these findings in order to shed more light on the specific role of mental imagery in human topographical orientation.