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Updated: May 10, 2026
04:27
Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans
Published on: March 15, 2019
Mirror-like brain responses to observed touch and personality dimensions
Michael Schaefer1, Michael Rotte, Hans-Jochen Heinze
1Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg Magdeburg, Germany.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|June 12, 2013
Summary
Viewing others being touched activates somatosensory brain regions. This vicarious somatosensory activation correlates with personality traits like openness and conscientiousness, influencing social perception.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Growing interest in neural mechanisms of social interaction perception.
- Emerging evidence suggests somatosensation plays a role in social perception.
- Vicarious somatosensory responses observed in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) when viewing others touched, linked to empathy.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the interaction between Five-Factor-Model personality traits and vicarious activation in somatosensory brain regions.
- Explore how personality traits beyond empathy influence social perception.
- Determine if personality traits modulate neural responses to observed touch.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study.
- Participants viewed video clips of non-painful touch to a hand.
- Control condition included identical visual and motion elements without touch.
Main Results:
- Confirmed vicarious somatosensory activation in response to viewing touch.
- A trend for positive correlation between vicarious activation in SI and openness to experience.
- Strong correlation between mirror-like responses in the insula and conscientiousness.
Conclusions:
- Vicarious brain responses to observed touch are influenced by individual personality traits.
- Conscientiousness may be linked to self-control processes modulating insula responses.
- Personality traits interact with neural mechanisms underlying social perception of touch.
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