Noted: It turns out that just as recent brain-imaging studies have begun to reveal the physical evidence of empathyâ??s erosion, they are now also beginning to show definitive signs of its cultivation as well. A group of researchers led by Richard Davidson, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, published a study in a March 2008 edition of the Public Library of Science One, showing that the mere act of thinking compassionate thoughts caused significant activity and physical changes in the brainâ??s empathic pathways. â??People are not just stuck at their respective set points,â? Davidson has said of the studyâ??s results. â??We can take advantage of our brainâ??s plasticity and train it to enhance these qualities. . . . I think this can be one of the tools we use to teach emotional regulation to kids who are at an age where theyâ??re vulnerable to going seriously off track.â?
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