Comments on: I feel for you

By: site5000

site5000 — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:00:20 +0000

Well, when I get a sudden blow or some minor injury I smell something

By: Yassen

Yassen — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:12:47 +0000

Excellent posting and story!

I intent to write down these findings for a big newspaper (www.capital.bg) in my home country (Bulgaria). Since I will use some data from your posting, we have here a display between informal and formal media.

I will add as well your blog in my RSS reader.

Best regards,
Ya. Pekounov,
Freelancer Scientific Journalist and a PhD candidate

By: saxy

saxy — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 20:59:37 +0000

apy - after reading this article and SERIOUSLY thinking i am one of these people, I say that, yes even watching sexual situations, one … I feel whats going on, just by watching and nothing else.

By: The Situationist

The Situationist — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 16:48:51 +0000

[...] other worthwhile summaries of the research, go to Wired Science, or Neurophilosophy, or [...]

By: Qrystal Illusions

Qrystal Illusions — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:28:29 +0000

[...] looked that up just now. I came up with this article, which describes very briefly something called mirror-touch synaesthesia (MTS). (I haven’t taken this, but for those of you interested, here is your empathy quotient.) [I [...]

By: apy

apy — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 14:49:11 +0000

In all seriousness, does this happen for sexual content as well?

By: NLP Connections

NLP Connections — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 00:32:14 +0000

[...] empathy. The study is published in Nature Neuroscience but I’ve just discovered there’s also a great write-up over at The [...]

By: Manav

Manav — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:28:08 +0000

I think yes, they are implying a link between the two, but their argument suggests a measured link: only as far as the *experience-based* parts of affective empathy go. Whatever other parts there are- that constitute affective empathy- they are not implicated in this study; it is only the shared interpersonal representations of *physical* sensations that become hyperactivated in mirror-touch synesthetes. And this skewing of the physical sensation component contributes to a higher emotional reactivity profile– and then in sum, may cause mirror-touch synesthetes to feel greater empathy.

By: I.P.Lemur

I.P.Lemur — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 05:24:00 +0000

Thanks for this fascinating post. Are Bannisy & Ward suggesting that there is a _causal_ link such that the hyperactivation seen in synaesthete somatosenory cortical profiles results in greater empathy in this group (or even vice versa)?

(And good luck with the MSc!)