WHAT IS EMPATHY? NEUROBIOLOGICAL BASES - GEOGRAFÍA - 2024

The empathy is a complex skill that allows us to identify and share the emotions they feel other single individuals observe. This ability is essential for social animals, since for a society to function properly it is necessary to understand the thoughts, actions and intentions of others, and be able to transmit our own.

To be able to feel empathy, the correct functioning of two brain regions is essential; the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex. These regions are related to motivation and perception of our own sensations.

The insula is related to visceral perception, for example the feeling of knot in the stomach when we see another person cry. For its part, the cingulate cortex would be more related to motivation, since it has a fundamental role in identifying errors and the behavior necessary to avoid them.

Studies on empathy

Throughout history there have been numerous studies that relate these areas to empathy. It could be said that the "mother" of these studies is Tania Singer, who demonstrated in a study with macaques that when experiencing pain the same structures were activated as when seeing another individual experiencing it.

Later, the same author found that this effect was also observed in humans. For example, a study with couples recorded the brain activity of the female partner when she received a painful stimulation and when she saw that her partner suffered the same stimulation.

As a result, it was found that in both cases the same areas were activated; the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex. In subsequent studies it has been found that these areas are activated when we see an unknown person suffering, and even when we observe videos or photos in which individuals appear with expressions of pain.

Sensory simulation

A very interesting phenomenon also related to empathy is sensory simulation, which is responsible for us perceiving sensory sensations when we see another person who is receiving a sensory stimulus.

In one study it was found that the secondary somatosensory cortex was activated in individuals when they stroked their legs, as well as when they watched videos of other people being stroked as well.

Real test

Let's do a test, look at the following image:

Differences of empathy with other concepts in Psychology

Throughout history, multiple definitions have been given to the word empathy, therefore it is convenient to differentiate it from other phenomena with which it is often confused.

Sympathy

The sympathy is defined as the ability to feel positive emotions toward other people or negative when we see suffering.

Unlike empathy, feeling sympathy does not mean feeling the same as the individual we observe. For example, when a person we feel sympathy for is angry, we tend to feel sorry rather than anger.

Emotional contagion

The emotional contagion occurs when we feel the same emotion that the person we are watching, but do not identify as persons but as their own.

An example of emotional contagion would be the fact that a baby begins to cry when he sees another crying. In this case we would not be talking about empathy, since the baby is unable to know why he is crying.

Fortunately, emotional contagion usually occurs in the face of positive emotions, we often feel happy because the people around us are happy.

Theory of mind

The theory of mind is the ability to infer what another person is thinking or the intentions they have just by looking at them and, unlike empathy, without the need to share their emotions.

A good example of the difference between these two phenomena is the behavior of people who suffer from a psychopathic personality disorder.

These people usually have a correct theory of mind, therefore they are able to understand what other people think, but they do not have a correct empathic capacity, which is why they are immune to the emotions of others. That is, they are capable of knowing what the other person is feeling, but they do not share that emotion.

Physiological basis of empathy: the mirror n euronas

Mirror neurons are essential to feel empathy, these neurons are also activated when we perform an action and when we see that another person is doing it.

So when we see a person performing an action, our brain behaves like a mirror, mentally imitating the individual we are observing, hence its name.

The discovery of mirror neurons was one of the most important of the 20th century for the field of neuroscience. These types of neurons were accidentally discovered in 1980 by two Italian researchers, Rizzolati and Pellegrino.

These researchers sought to monitor the neuronal mechanisms that were activated when performing a motor action, for this they recorded the neuronal activity with electrodes of a macaque while it took peanuts and ate them.

At one point, one of the researchers took a peanut and ate it, discovering that the monkey had activated the same areas of the brain, specifically the F5 area of ​​the ventral premotor cortex.

So you could say that mirror neurons were discovered thanks to the appetite of one of the researchers.

In subsequent investigations it has been found that it is not necessary to see another individual performing an action for these neurons to activate, it is enough to listen to him or infer that said action is being carried out.

Given the above description, it might seem that mirror neurons are only in charge of motor simulation, but thanks to them we can know what a person is doing and why they are doing it, that is, what their objective is.

Where are mirror neurons located?

Mirror neurons have been found in humans in the F5 motor area, Brodmann area 44 (part of the premotor cortex), and in the posterior parietal cortex.

These regions are not directly connected, they do so through the superior temporal sulcus, a structure with which they communicate in a bidirectional way, that is, they send and receive information.

Broadman's area 44, which is part of Broca's area involved in the motor production of speech, would help us to know the objective of the action, while the inferior parietal cortex would be in charge of coding the movements necessary to carry out said action. In such a circuit, the superior temporal sulcus would act as a link between the two structures and would not have “mirror” properties.

When do mirror neurons develop?

Our mirror neurons appear to be active from birth, since imitation behaviors are innate and can be observed from a very early age.

Mirror neurons develop as the individual grows, so that imitation behaviors are perfected little by little through experience. That is, the more experience with a specific behavior, the greater the activation of mirror neurons and the greater the improvement of the simulation.

The evolutionary value of mirror neurons is evident, since they facilitate learning through observation, as well as the transmission of information.

It is as if these neurons are adopting each other's perspective, as if they are performing a virtual reality simulation of someone else's action.

For example, in a study conducted by Buccino in 2004, it was observed that virtually imitating playing the guitar activated the mirror neurons of musicians who had previously played the guitar more than those of people who had never played the guitar.

References

1. Antonella, C., & Antonietti, A. (2013). Mirror neurons and their function in cognitively understood empathy. Consciousness and Cognition, 1152–1161.
2. Carlson, NR (2010). Control of Movement. In NR Carlson, Physiology of Behavior (pp. 280-282). Boston: Pearson.
3. Carmona, S. (2014). Social Cognition. In Redolar, Cognitive Neuroscience (pp. 702-706). Madrid: PAN AMERICAN MEDICAL.
4. Lamma, C., & Majdandzic, J. (2014). The role of shared neural activations, mirror neurons, and morality in empathy - A critical comment. Neuroscience Research, 15-24.
5. Singer, T., Seymour, B., O'Doherty, J., Kaube, H., Dolan, R., & Frith, C. (2004). Empathy for Pain Involves the Affective but not Sensory Components of Pain. Science, 466-469.