![]() Learning how these interactions vary between us, as in mirror-sensory synaesthesia, can therefore provide a powerful opportunity to gain unique insights into the functioning of empathy in us all.Studies have explored behavioral and neural responses to the observation of pain in others. Interactions between self-other representation and vicarious perception are thought to be important to how we all experience empathy. This can be interpreted as a greater tendency to blur the boundaries between the self and other – altered self-other representation. That is to say that their judgements about their own body (such as its movement or position) are more strongly influenced by the presence of other people even in the absence of viewing touch or pain. The reason for this is that mirror-sensory synaesthetes show broader differences in how they represent other people even when observed touch or pain is absent. In this way, mirror-sensory synaesthesia has been construed as an extreme end-point of a continuum – a sliding scale of the intensity in which we share the states of others.īut the question of whether mirror-sensory synaesthesia is a continuum is a subject of debate. What appears to be happening in mirror-sensory synaesthesia is that this mechanism is overactive. This is a skill known as vicarious perception. When we see somebody else experiencing a state, we tend to activate similar areas of the brain that are involved in the first-hand experience of that state. It is true to say that if we look in the brains of mirror-sensory synaesthetes, they recruit a similar brain network that we all use. Say you saw a spider crawling across someone’s hand – you might want to pull your hand away. It may be possible for us all to relate to the experiences reported by mirror-sensory synaesthetes to some degree. They report embodying that feeling, as it were. For instance, some people say that they really appreciate if they see a couple holding hands in the streets or see two people hugging because they say they can almost feel the warmth of the sensation. It is also common for people to experience both mirror-touch and mirror-pain synaesthesia.Īlthough in the lab we focus mainly on the sensory consequences of mirror-touch and mirror-pain synaesthesia, the experience of these types of synaesthesia are often much richer. This appears to affect a much higher amount of people – around 17% of the population. ![]() One related experience is known as mirror-pain synaesthesia, where people report feeling sensations (such as pain) on their own body when viewing pain to others. ![]() We now know that there are also other types of mirror-sensory synaesthetes. The experience of feeling touch on their own body when viewing touch to other people is thought to affect around 1.5% of the population. The first case of mirror-sensory synaesthesia was reported in 2005, and the first group study of mirror-sensory synaesthesia was published in 2007. © Michael Bowles, Wellcome Collection Mirror-touch and mirror-pain ![]() These films explore the world of a mirror-sensory synaesthete based on interviews held between Daria and mirror-sensory synaesthetes that we have worked with. We have also recently worked with the artist Daria Martin, who has made two films about mirror-sensory synaesthesia, which are currently showing at London’s Wellcome Collection. I’ve been studying mirror-sensory synaesthesia for over a decade with my collaborator Jamie Ward. These people report literally sharing the sensations of others. Let’s say they saw someone being touched on the face: they would feel it on their face. That is to say that seeing other people’s experiences evokes tactile sensations on their own body. People with mirror-sensory synaesthesia report experiencing first-hand sensations when viewing touch or pain to others. There are many different types of synaesthesia, but I’ll consider just one here: mirror-sensory synaesthesia. This is not the normal sensory interactions that might happen day to day, but unusual merging – words may evoke tastes, for example, or music might evoke perceptions of colour. Synaesthesia is a rather rare experience where the senses get merged. For instance, if I was to ask you “what do words taste like?” you may wonder what I am talking about – but, for some people with synaesthesia, this is a natural way of perceiving the world. Very subtle changes in how the brain develops, or in how it responds, can lead to us experiencing the world in vastly different ways. It has remarkable capacity for development. Your brain is a fascinating piece of machinery.
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