Is the Pain of Others Painful for Us?

You have probably experienced moments when seeing others in pain made you feel as if you were in pain too. You might see someone cut their finger and feel your heart 'bleed,' or when a hammer accidentally hits your friend's thumb, you might let out a deep sigh. Most of us think this is an emotional reaction to the pain of those we love, not a real sensation of pain. However, scientists say that parts of the brain, specifically the anterior insula and cingulate cortex, activate when we experience pain ourselves or when we see others in pain. According to the Daily Mail, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences state that the activation of these brain areas allows us to feel the pain that an injured person experiences, even if we are not hurt ourselves. Dr. Anita Touche, a neuroscientist at this center, says, 'The reality is that our brain also analyzes the pain and other unpleasant events around us.' Touche adds, 'Experiencing the pain of others is very important for social connections as it enables us to understand the pain of others.' For this research, scientists compared brain activity when a person gets injured and when they see others getting injured. When someone, for example, injures their finger with a hammer, they experience physical pain. In this case, the person becomes more alert to avoid getting their hand under the hammer again. However, when they see their friend getting hit by a hammer, they feel a 'sympathetic' pain. In this situation, even though nothing physically happens to them, the same signs of being struck appear in their brain. The person feels distressed and, like their friend, moves away from the hammer, even though it has not caused them any pain. Although previous research had shown that the anterior insula and cingulate cortex in the brain are activated during both types of pain (physical and empathetic), it was not clear how these activities align. Dr. Tanya Singer, director of the Max Planck Institute, says that we need to put an end to the question of whether pain is pure or artificial. In the new model proposed by scientists, pain results from the interaction of multiple factors, including sensory and emotional processes.