Exposure to violence reduces empathetic responses to other’s pain

• Short-term media violence exposure reduced pain ratings to other’s pain.
• Short-term media violence exposure reduced the activation of AI and aMCC to pain.
• Violence exposure modulated empathic responses to pain through desensitization.

Past researches showed that empathy for pain not only triggers a resonance mechanism between other and self, but also is modulated by contextual factors. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the present study demonstrated that short-term media violence exposure reduced both pain ratings and also the activation of anterior insula and anterior mid-cingulate cortex to other’s pain. Thus, violence exposure modulated empathic responses to other’s pain based on a physiological desensitization.