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Related Concept Videos

Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

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The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
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Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:24

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The somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes is crucial for interpreting sensory data such as touch, temperature, and proprioception. The somatosensory cortex, situated in the parietal lobes, plays a vital role in interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature, and proprioception—awareness of body position. This specialized brain region features an organized structure wherein neurons at the top primarily process sensations originating from the lower body. In contrast, those at...
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Empathy02:34

Empathy

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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. 
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Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

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The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the...
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Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch01:15

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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.
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Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

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The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex....
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 4, 2025

Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans
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Dispositional empathy predicts primary somatosensory cortex activity while receiving touch by a hand.

Michael Schaefer1, Anja Kühnel2, Franziska Rumpel3

  • 1Medical School Berlin, Calandrellistr. 1-9, 12247, Berlin, Germany. michael.schaefer@medicalschool-berlin.de.

Scientific Reports
|May 29, 2021
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Summary

Highly empathic individuals show heightened primary somatosensory cortex activity during touch. This suggests that empathy influences how we process our own physical sensations, potentially through focused attention.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology
  • Social Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • Empathy involves brain networks like the insula and anterior cingulate cortex.
  • Somatosensory cortices are implicated in empathy, particularly in processing touch.
  • The role of somatosensory cortex activity in empathy during self-touch perception remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between somatosensory cortex activity and dispositional empathy.
  • To explore how receiving touch influences this relationship.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
  • Participants received tactile stimulation on their palm, either from an experimenter's hand or a rubber hand.
  • Empathy levels, including personal distress and perspective-taking, were assessed.

Main Results:

  • BOLD (Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent) responses in the primary somatosensory cortex correlated with empathy traits.
  • This association was observed regardless of whether the touch was delivered by a real hand or a rubber hand.
  • Higher dispositional empathy was linked to stronger activation in somatosensory areas during tactile perception.

Conclusions:

  • Individuals with higher empathy may exhibit enhanced attention to both others' perceptions and their own sensations.
  • Dispositional empathy might modulate tactile processing via top-down attentional mechanisms.
  • Findings suggest a link between how we process touch and our capacity for empathy.