Empathy is not a Feeling – It is a Survival Characteristic of Mirror Neurons
- May 5, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 5, 2024
Written by: Flávia Rigonato Rodrigues, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Being an empath has been trendy these days. But did you know that empathy goes beyond just “wanting to be empathetic?" Empathy is a natural part of the human being because it is found in our mirror neurons.
What are Mirror Neurons?
Mirror neurons are cells located in the premotor cortex. and were discovered "by chance" in 1994 by neuroscientists Giacomo Rizzolatti, Leonardo Fogassi and Vittorio Gallese, from the University of Parma in Italy. They found that observing other people's actions can activate the same brain regions of those who observe them. That is, through visual perception, a simulation of the observed acts occurs.
Mirror neurons have been considered one of the most important discoveries of the last decades in neuroscience. They have also been an object of interest in the treatment of certain neurological disorders.
It was found that these neurons also play a fundamental role in the perception of intentions and the experience of empathy and may have been essential for the development of our abilities through the advance of learning and communication.
In practice…
When we observe a person performing an act of kindness, such as offering a flower to someone, we immediately understand that attitude. Similarly, if we witness an act of aggression, we identify the expression of anger instantly. While in the first case, we feel pleasure and our behavior is of approximation, in the second, we feel displeasure, and our attitude is of aversion. This capacity for empathy, that is, the recognition of another person's emotion, is a highly adaptive characteristic linked to the survival of the species. This occurs due to the existence of a specific neural system called mirror neurons.
We understand the action of the others automatically as if they were ourselves.
When we watch a movie and get emotional with certain scenes, we are activating the same brain areas that the actor is having—the greater the identification of the experience in us, the greater the neuronal activation.
So we can say that we are all naturally empaths. There is no escaping that. What we have to do is to develop this inner power by practicing more frequently.
As Carl Rogers said, "I have found it of enormous value when I can permit myself to understand another person."
Flávia Rigonato Rodrigues, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Flávia Rigonato Rodrigues is an ESL Brazilian teacher. She’s been teaching English for almost 30 years and runs her own school called Business Talk® English and Immersion. Apart from teaching in a classroom, she takes people to hotels for a whole English-speaking weekend. She’s a postgraduate in psycho pedagogy and also neuroscience and behavior. She’s recently become a TEDx Speaker. Her main focus is about FLA-Foreign Language Anxiety and mindfulness meditation to help people speak a foreign language with no barriers.
