Previous studies have shown that addicts lack of empathy for others，however the neural mechanisms remain to be elucidated. In current study, an event-related potentials (ERPs) experiment was performed in healthy adults and withdrawal-induced craving smokers while subjects were viewing pictures with painful or neutral information, and was performing a pain judgment task or counting-task. The study is aimed to better understand the temporal dynamic processes in empathy for pain and the affect of craving process to the occurrence of empathy for pain. The ERP results in healthy adult demostrated early differentiation between painful and neutral stimuli at 180ms after sensory stimulation. The sLORETA source analyses results showed increased activation of parahippocapal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus and superior& inferior parietal lobule which work together in emotional memory and action-perception in this early state (100-300ms). A long-latency empathic response was observed after 380ms. The late long-latency empathic responses were mostly located in primary and secondary somatosensory cortex, inferior parietal gyrus, posterior insula and posterior cingulate cortex, which occur during the state of 400-600ms. The last components after 600ms activated in empathic response were ACC and AI regions which were related to accessing self-unpleasant and pain-rate of pain cues. The regions were temporal dynamically and hierarchically organized in process of empathy for pain. The ERP investigations between healthy adults and craving smokers suggested that the difference occurred at two stages: 1) One early stage (before 100ms) and 2) One late stage (after 600ms). The source analysis in craving smokers showed that smokers were not sensitive to pain cues from the early stage. In late stage, the processes of empathy for pain were slower and weaker in craving smokers compared with non-smokers. By comparing response between craving-increase-smokers and craving-not-increase smokers, we found that the difference occurred at the late stage (580-700ms). The source analysis of craving-increase smokers showed that no empathic responses areas were determined which imply that the increase of craving may repress the occurrence of empathy for pain. The empathic responses areas were found in craving-not-increase smokers, implying that the process of empathy for pain may inhibit the increase of craving.
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