Unifying social cognition

Christian Keysers

Valeria Gazzola

pp. 1-35

in: Jaime A. Pineda (ed), Mirror neuron systems, New York City, Humana Press, 2009

Abstract

Humans have an almost uncanny capacity: they can simply observe other conspecifics and get deep intuitive insights into their minds. Since the discovery of mirror neurons, this capacity seems a little less mysterious. Here, we will review evidence that suggests that when we witness the actions, sensations, and emotions of other individuals, we activate our premotor, parietal, somatosensory, and emotional structures as if we were performing similar actions or experiencing similar emotions and sensations. These activations are stronger in more empathic individuals. These activations are stronger in more empathic individuals. This suggests that empathy relies, at least in part, on our brain's spontaneous transformation of what we see in what we would have felt.