Empathy is a key cornerstone of human social behavior, but the complex neural interactions underlying this behavior are not yet fully understood. Previous hypotheses have suggested that the same brain regions that allow humans to feel pain in their own bodies might activate when perceiving the pain of others.
But, a new study reports our ability to empathize with those in pain is grounded in cognitive neural processes rather than sensory processes.
The findings show that the act of perceiving others’ pain (i.e., empathy for others’ pain) does not appear to involve the same neural circuitry as experiencing pain in one’s own body, suggesting that they are different interactions within the brain.
“The research suggests that empathy is a deliberative process that requires taking another person’s perspective rather than being an instinctive, automatic process,” said Tor Wager, the senior author of the study, director of the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at CU-Boulder.
PR:http://www.colorado.edu/news/features/empathy-others-pain-rooted-cognition-rather-sensation
Paper:https://elifesciences.org/content/5/e15166
Corina Marinescu
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