Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 3, 2026
04:27
Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans
Published on: March 15, 2019
12.0K
Empathy during consoling touch is modulated by mu-rhythm: An EEG study.
L Peled-Avron1, P Goldstein1, S Yellinek1
1Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Neuropsychologia
|April 27, 2017
Summary
Consoling touch, a behavior to alleviate suffering, activates empathy for pain. This study found that the brain activity (mu suppression) of a person offering touch while their partner experiences pain increases, correlating with empathy levels.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Social Psychology
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Consoling touch is a distress-alleviating behavior in response to suffering.
- Understanding the neural mechanisms of empathy for pain during social touch is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the electrophysiological correlates of empathy for pain during consoling touch.
- To examine the role of mu/alpha rhythm attenuation in the 'toucher' during empathetic responses.
Main Methods:
- Romantic couples participated in a paradigm involving consoling touch and induced pain.
- Electroencephalography (EEG) measured mu/alpha rhythm (8-13Hz) suppression in the toucher.
- Conditions included human touch (hand-holding) versus non-human touch (armrest) and pain versus no-pain.
Main Results:
- A significant interaction between touch and pain was observed in mu/alpha rhythms at central EEG sites.
- Touchers exhibited higher mu suppression when providing consoling touch to a partner in pain compared to control conditions.
- Mu suppression in the toucher correlated with situational empathy measures during consoling touch.
Conclusions:
- Consoling touch modulates neural activity associated with empathy for pain.
- Mu suppression serves as an electrophysiological marker of empathy during distress-alleviating touch.
- Findings highlight the interplay between social touch, empathy, and pain processing.
Related Concept Videos
02:34Empathy
10.2K
Some researchers suggest that altruism operates on empathy. Empathy is the capacity to understand another person’s perspective, to feel what he or she feels. An empathetic person makes an emotional connection with others and feels compelled to help (Batson, 1991). Empathy can be expressed in several ways, including cognitive, affective, and motor.
10.2K
01:15Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
8.3K
The history of therapeutic communication can be traced back to Florence Nightingale, who emphasized the importance of developing trusting relationships with patients. She taught that the presence of nurses with patients results in therapeutic healing.
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
8.3K