Through all of our every-day life, we suffer the effects of empathy in some way, shape, or form. As humans, we are anatomically built to empathize with others, but about 1.6% of us are designed to be overly empathetic, so much that they reach the extent of physically feeling what is felt by the observed person. This rare occurrence is the result of an ability known as Mirror-Touch Synesthesia. Mirror-Touch Synesthesia is a condition in which cross-activation occurs between normally separate senses. Simply put, the activation of one cortical area in the brain caused by the stimulus triggers the activation of another cortical area, in this case, observing someone else being touched triggers the sensation of feeling for MT synesthetes (Mitchell, …show more content…
In the brains of synesthetes, this process is intensified. There are several different theories as to why this phenomenon occurs, but before we get too deep into those, we will explore the science behind the two senses that are merged in MT synesthetes, sight and touch. For the majority of people, the senses of touch and vision are completely separate, but in synesthetes, the senses co-mingle. Before we can understand how this happens, we need to understand the basic science behind each of the two. Approximately 1/4 of our brain activity is dedicated to visual perception. That means 25% of our brain power is responsible for taking the images formed on the retina and translating them into a picture that we understand; the brain tends to "focus on vision because so much of our world is visual," (Rose, Charlie). The process in which these images are formed is really quite simple. First, rays of light form an incomplete image on the retina in the back of the eye. From that point, over one hundred million photoreceptors collect, compress, and send the image through the optic nerve which, in turn, sends the image to the back of the brain for it to be …show more content…
Before we can reveal MT synesthesia's relation to higher empathetic feelings, we first need to know exactly what empathy is. Robert L. Katz better explains what it is when he states that "we see, we feel, we respond, and we understand as if we were, in fact, the other person. We stand in his shoes, We get under his skin. Often we are not unaware of our empathizing." Since its discovery, there were always ideas that MT synesthetes are more empathetic. Following this idea, were the tests to see if they were, in fact, better at understanding how someone feels, and the tests have proven that they are, indeed, more empathetic. After considering that "empathy is experienced by a process of simulation," ("Mirror-Touch Synesthesia") and what empathy is, this makes complete sense. The synesthetes are constantly in a sate of simulating what others are feeling while observing them. They truly are "not unaware of their empathizing" because they are physically feeling what the other party is feeling. They could be thought of as "passengers in a car, [pressing] on the floor in a moment of physically experienced empathy with the driver," (Katz). They would be the "passenger" who is physically feeling the same sensation that the "driver," the other person, is feeling. This is why they feel
Anne Louise Oaklander then proceeds to discuss touch. She explains that senses have evolved specialized organs to process senses that were already discussed in this forum. Touch however, as Oaklander explains, can be perceived all throughout the body- something she likes to refer to as “somatosensation.” Oaklander defines somatosensation as: “A product of a number of different kind of sensory processes all chiming in to give you a perception.” All these sensory processes are somehow connected with processes in the brain.
To be able to understand how empathy works between a certain group of people, it is necessary to know what empathy means. I found an interesting definition of empathy, as a crucial component of the helping relationship, a need to understand people ' distress, and to provide supportive interpersonal communication. Empathy is the ability to recognize the emotions of others. Empathy does not mean that we live other people’ emotions, but it means that we understand other people ' emotions from our experiences. Empathy does not mean to cancel your personality, but to understand how people perceive the reality. It is the ability to read information coming through nonverbal channels. In this
The widely popular research on mirror neurons and various applications of the research findings began with an important, but unexpected finding in the brains of macaque monkeys. The original studies did not intend to look at mirror neurons and in fact the existence of mirror neurons was found by accident. Neuroscientist Giacomo Rizzolatti and his colleagues found a group of cells that fired whenever a monkey prepared to act on a stimulus as well as when it watched another monkey act on the stimulus (Winerman, 2005). For example, the monkeys showed a similar pattern of activation when they were performing a simple motor action like grasping a peanut and when they watched another monkey perform the same action (Winerman, 2005). In other words, monkey see, monkey fire -- monkey do, monkey fire. This grouping of cells was called "mirror neurons." The ...
Burton defines empathy as the ability to not only recognize but also to share another person’s or a fictional character’s or a sentient beings’ emotions. It involves seeing a person’s situation from his or her own perspective and then sharing his or her emotions and distress (1). Chismar posits that to empathize is basically to respond to another person’ perceived state of emotion by experiencing similar feelings. Empathy, therefore, implies sharing another person’s feeling without necessary showing any affection or desire to help. For one to empathize, he or she must at least care for, be interested in or concerned about
Empathy is used to create change in the world by reaching out to the emotions of people and attending to them. It is used to help others learn and decide on matters that would not be reasonable without feelings attached to them. Empathy helps bring together communities that would have long ago drifted apart, but instead welcomed all who were different. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This attribute of human-beings really allows us to not only attend to situations as if they were our own, but it allows us to feel most of what others feel because humans are very much alike in some ways. In many of the articles and novels that we have read this quarter, characters from different pieces of context have portrayed empathy whether it was toward
Empathy is imperative to teach kids from a young age in order to help them recognize mental states, such as thoughts and emotions, in themselves and others. Vital lessons, such as walking in another’s shoes or looking at a situation in their perspective, apprehends the significance of the feelings of another. Our point of view must continuously be altered, recognizing the emotions and background of the individual. We must not focus all of our attention on our self-interest. In the excerpt, Empathy, written by Stephen Dunn, we analyze the process of determining the sentiment of someone.
For humans, our ability to understand other people’s actions, and the intentions behind those actions, are enabled by our mirror neuron system (Cattaneo & Rizzolatti, 2009). Most crucial throughout infancy and toddler years, the mirror neuron system (MNS) allows for simple tasks such as imitation, which later becomes vital to the development of our social cognitive skills (Iacoboni & Dapretto, 2006). The MNS is located in the F5 sector of our ventral premotor cortex and is known to discharge upon sensation of movement, however not firing to simple body displacements. Cattaneo and Rizzolatti explain there are two sets of mirror neurons, parietofrontal mirror neurons and premotor mirror neurons (2009). The entire system works together, first with the parietofrontal mirror neurons learning of the action that is taking place, followed by the premotor neurons sending a signal when they understand the reason behind that particular action (Cattaneo & Rizzolatti, 2009). The MNS system is not only activated during observation, but also while listening to sounds and emotion (Iacoboni & Dapretto, 2006; Dapretto el al., 2005...
Imagine a world where numbers, letters, tastes, and sounds have color. Imagine a world where letters and numbers have personalities. For a synesthete, this is their world. Synesthesia occurs from a cross wiring in the brain. Instead of one sense being used in a particular action, multiple senses are used. Although little medical knowledge is known about the condition, it is fascinating and continues to impact our world.
Empathy is one of the great mysteries of life. Why do people feel empathy? Do others deserve empathy? Is feeling empathy a strength or weakness? These questions may forever go unanswered, or they may not even have an answer. Even if they are answered, they may only be speculation. One author shows his take on the matter with one of his books. In The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien uses Gollum and Thorin to show that people do deserve empathy, no matter how horrible they may be.
Society for Neuroscience. (2010, October 28). Blind people perceive touch faster than those with sight. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from
Increasing amount of research in recent years has added to developing knowledge of phantom limb pain (PLP). In this research proposal I aim to test the mirror therapy as an effective treatment in PLP. Phantom limb pain occurs in at least 90% of limb amputees. PLP may be stimulated by disconnection between visual feedback and proprioceptive representations of the amputated limb. Therefore, I will research both the neurobiology behind this phenomenon and whether illusions and/or imagery of movement of the amputated limb (mirror therapy) is effective in alleviating PLP of lower limbs. Mirror therapy has been used with noted success in patients who have had upper body amputation, but has not been determined in lower limb amputations. I would like to identify if form of treatment is equally effective in lower limb amputations. Yet, to consider mirror therapy as an effective means of treatment, one must understand PLP in its entirety. The main concern being if a limb is no longer attached to the body, how can neurons in the limb transport signals to the nervous system in order for the body to detect sensations? The biological significance of this project is to determine what occurs on the sensory level to cause PLP. Once that is discovered we can address whether or not mirror therapy is a plausible form of treatment.
Empathy can be expressed in many different methods. It can be expressed through a simple touch or a thoughtful action. People can express empathy- which is the ability to feel what another is feeling, the ability to live and experience the feelings of another without direct connection to that person's situation. However, this is not solely owned by homosapiens. This gift to feel empathy and then express it through different means is shared with all mammals, especially with canines. There is a lot of scientific debate around whether or not dogs can feel empathy. In reality, there are multitude of ways in which dogs can express empathy and two means in which empathy can be expressed would be through emotional contagion and prosociality.
With each of our senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, and hear), information is transmitted to the brain. Psychologists find it problematic to explain the processes in which the physical energy that is received by the sense organs can form the foundation of perceptual experience. Perception is not a direct mirroring of stimulus, but a compound messy pattern dependent on the simultaneous activity of neurons. Sensory inputs are somehow converted into perceptions of laptops, music, flowers, food, and cars; into sights, sounds, smells, taste ...
Sensation refers to the process of sensing what is around us in our environment by using our five senses, which are touching, smell, taste, sound and sight. Sensation occurs when one or more of the various sense organs received a stimulus. By receiving the stimulus, it will cause a mental or physical response. It starts in the sensory receptor, which are specialized cells that convert the stimulus to an electric impulse which makes it ready for the brain to use this information and this is the passive process. After this process, the perception comes into play of the active process. Perception is the process that selects the information, organize it and interpret that information.
Interestingly, the same type of brain arousal takes place whether people actually do finger tapping or only imagine it. What surprised Sutton most, however, was the detection of remarkably similar activity in much larger networks spanning areas of the cortex dealing with both input from the senses and output signals to the muscles. "Patterns of activity in small, more primitive areas of the brain are recapitulated in larger, more advanced parts," Sutton says. "This means that nature did not have to develop new rules of operation for different levels of the brain from small clusters of cells to large systems."