Human Brains Are
Hardwired for Empathy, Friendship
Perhaps
one of the most defining features of humanity is our capacity for empathy --
the ability to put ourselves in others' shoes. A new University of Virginia
study strongly suggests that we are hardwired to empathize because we closely
associate people who are close to us -- friends, spouses, lovers -- with our
very selves.
"With familiarity, other people become part of ourselves," said James Coan, a psychology professor in U.Va.'s College of Arts & Sciences who used functional magnetic resonance imaging brain scans to find that people closely correlate people to whom they are attached to themselves. The study appears in the August issue of the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
"Our
self comes to include the people we feel close to," Coan said.
In
other words, our self-identity is largely based on whom we know and empathize
with. Coan and his U.Va. colleagues conducted the study with 22 young adult
participants who underwent fMRI scans of their brains during experiments to
monitor brain activity while under threat of receiving mild electrical shocks
to themselves or to a friend or stranger.
The researchers found, as they expected, that regions of the brain responsible for threat response -- the anterior insula, putamen and supramarginal gyrus -- became active under threat of shock to the self. In the case of threat of shock to a stranger, the brain in those regions displayed little activity. However when the threat of shock was to a friend, the brain activity of the participant became essentially identical to the activity displayed under threat to the self.
The researchers found, as they expected, that regions of the brain responsible for threat response -- the anterior insula, putamen and supramarginal gyrus -- became active under threat of shock to the self. In the case of threat of shock to a stranger, the brain in those regions displayed little activity. However when the threat of shock was to a friend, the brain activity of the participant became essentially identical to the activity displayed under threat to the self.
"The
correlation between self and friend was remarkably similar," Coan said.
"The finding shows the brain's remarkable capacity to model self to
others; that people close to us become a part of ourselves, and that is not
just metaphor or poetry, it's very real. Literally we are under threat when a
friend is under threat. But not so when a stranger is under threat."
Coan
said this likely is because humans need to have friends and allies who they can
side with and see as being the same as themselves. And as people spend more
time together, they become more similar.
"It's
essentially a breakdown of self and other; our self comes to include the people
we become close to," Coan said. "If a friend is under threat, it
becomes the same as if we ourselves are under threat. We can understand the
pain or difficulty they may be going through in the same way we understand our
own pain."
This
likely is the source of empathy, and part of the evolutionary process, Coan
reasons. "A threat to ourselves is a threat to our resources," he
said. "Threats can take things away from us. But when we develop
friendships, people we can trust and rely on who in essence become we, then our
resources are expanded, we gain. Your goal becomes my goal. It's a part of our
survivability."
People
need friends, Coan added, like "one hand needs another to clap."
Story Source:
The
above story is based on materials provided by University of Virginia. The original article was written by Fariss
Samarrai.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further
information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
1. L. Beckes, J. A. Coan,
K. Hasselmo. Familiarity promotes the blurring of self and other in the
neural representation of threat. Social Cognitive and Affective
Neuroscience, 2012; 8 (6): 670 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nss046
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University of Virginia (2013, August 22). Human brains are
hardwired for empathy, friendship. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 22,
2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130822085804.htm