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The relationship between mirror-touch synaesthesia and empathy: new evidence and a new screening tool
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 12:35 authored by Jamie WardJamie Ward, Patricia Schnakenberg, Michael J BanissyPeople with mirror-touch synaesthesia (MTS) report experiencing tactile sensations on their own body when seeing another person being touched. Although this has been associated with heightened empathy and emotion perception, this finding has recently been disputed. Here, we conduct two experiments to explore this relationship further. In Study 1, we develop a new screening measure for MTS. We show that MTS is related to vicarious experiences more generally (including to itch and pain), but is not a simple exaggerated version of normality. For example, people with MTS report videos of scratching as ‘touch’ rather than ‘itchiness’ and have localized sensations when watching others in pain. In Study 2, we show that MTS is related to increased emotional empathy to others and better ability to read facial expressions of emotion, but other measures of empathy are normal-to-low. In terms of theoretical models, we propose that this is more consistent with a qualitative difference in the ability to selectively inhibit the other and attending to the self, which leads to heightened activity in shared self-other representations (including a mirror system for touch, but also includes other kinds of vicarious experience).
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Cognitive NeuropsychologyISSN
0264-3294Publisher
Taylor & FrancisExternal DOI
Issue
5-6Volume
35Page range
314-332Department affiliated with
- Psychology Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2018-03-21First Open Access (FOA) Date
2019-05-17First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2018-03-21Usage metrics
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