The Neuroscience of Empathy: Understanding the Brain’s Role in Compassion and Connection
Do you have a movie that always makes you cry? Mine is The Fountain, and it has never once failed to make me bawl my eyes out. It is so effective that I even use it as a catharsis tool when I feel like I just need to express big emotions that I can’t seem to find on my own. Also, if you haven’t seen it, this is my shameless plug to go watch it immediately. Just make sure you bring along a lot of Kleenex.
So why does watching the perils of actors on a digital screen bring up such big emotions in our own brains and bodies? The answer is empathy.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. While our competitive Western culture often downplays empathy, dismissing it as a non-essential skill or worse, as a weakness, it’s actually a complex neural process that is crucial for human connection and social harmony. At its core, empathy allows us to not just recognize what another person is feeling but to actually feel with them, fostering a deep sense of compassion and understanding. But what happens in the brain to make empathy possible? Let’s dive into the neuroscience behind this powerful human capability.
Empathy’s Neural Circuitry
Like most complex states, empathy involves multiple brain regions working together (fitting, since it evolved to help humans survive as a pack of social animals rather than vulnerable loners). Key brain players include the mirror neuron system, the anterior insula, and the medial prefrontal cortex.
Mirror neurons allow us to mimic or “mirror” the emotional experiences of others, providing a neural basis for empathy. When you see someone wince in pain, your mirror neurons activate as if you were experiencing the pain yourself, helping you understand their distress. Want to know something especially cool about the mirror neuron system? It develops before we are a year old, which means even as infants who have not yet developed the language and concepts to define and describe emotions, we are still able to pick up on and mimic the feelings of others (here is a popular example that made its rounds on the Internet a few years ago, where a baby experiences a whole rollercoaster of emotions while her mom sings a sad song to her: https://blog.oup.com/2013/11/why-does-this-baby-cry-when-her-mother-sings-viral-video/).
The anterior insula plays a crucial role in emotional awareness, linking our emotional experiences with our perception of others’ emotions. This brain region helps us feel the physical manifestations of emotions, such as a quickened heartbeat or a stomach knot, when we empathize with someone else’s emotional state. Interestingly (although perhaps not surprisingly for regular F&W readers), the anterior insula also plays a major role in managing our environmental predictions and helping to activate automatic responses; it does this by using the priors we have learned to expect from the different stimuli we are sensing in any given moment. So in the case of empathy, emotional cues we see/hear/smell(?)/taste(???) from the people around us are processed by the anterior insula and used to automatically activate whatever emotional responses we might associate with those cues.
Meanwhile, the medial prefrontal cortex is involved in cognitive aspects of empathy, such as perspective-taking. It allows us to distinguish between our own emotional states and those of others, enabling us to “put ourselves in someone else’s shoes” without losing sight of the self-other boundary. As is the case with any prefrontal cortex function, this is a very conscious and logical type of experience, and is likely the main one you notice in a moment of empathy because it is at the “front of your mind” (figuratively and literally — the prefrontal cortex is the very front of your brain!).
Empathy vs. Sympathy: A Neural Distinction
It’s essential to differentiate between empathy and sympathy, as they involve different neural processes. While empathy involves feeling with someone, sympathy involves feeling for someone — a distinction that might seem subtle, but is significant in the realm of social interaction. Sympathy is more about offering comfort from a distance, without fully engaging in another person’s emotional experience. If you were paying attention in the last section, you may be thinking to yourself, “Hey, that sounds like it would be a process that happens in the prefrontal cortex,” and gold star to you — that is exactly right (also, if you thought this to yourself, may I offer you my most joyful congratualtions, as you are officially a Neuroscience Nerd).
Sympathy engages the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (which is a super-duper logical and cognitive part of the brain that helps us with task planning and inhibition of other brain regions — it’s like the uptight guy who walks into the room and totally brings down the whole party). It also activates the supramarginal gyrus, which essentially helps us transform raw sounds into language when we are listening or using our verbal memory. Together, these regions contribute to a sympathy response by allowing us to recognize someone’s emotional state and generate a supportive response without necessarily mirroring their feelings. It’s all up in the front of our brain, where those messy, disorganized emotions are frowned upon. The resulting brain activation patterns can be viewed as a form of emotional containment, where the brain’s executive functions assess the situation and decide on an appropriate, comforting response. While sympathy might not entail the direct emotional mirroring characteristic of empathy, it still plays a crucial role in social interactions, fostering kindness and support from a standpoint of understanding and concern. But it can come off as just a little bit cold, since it doesn’t actually incorporate any kind of emotional response in the person who is feeling it.
Neuroscientific studies suggest that empathy leads to more altruistic behavior and a stronger connection than sympathy does, as it engages deeper emotional processing regions within the brain. Sympathy, however, allows us to maintain protective boundaries on our own emotional state. So just like everything else in neuroscience (and probably just life in general), it is important to balance them accordingly in order to thrive, since they are both essential for maintaining the social fabric, offering support, and promoting emotional well-being in our communities.
Cultivating Empathy
Fortunately, empathy is not a fixed trait; it can be cultivated and strengthened over time. Here are some practical steps you can take to foster empathy in your own life and grow your human superpower to explore the inner worlds of different characters and viewpoints:
- Active Listening: Begin by practicing active listening. This means fully concentrating on what is being said rather than just passively ‘hearing’ the message of the speaker. Active listening involves listening with all senses — giving full attention to the speaker, understanding their message, responding thoughtfully, and remembering the discussion. This practice helps in understanding the emotions and experiences of others from their perspective.
- Vulnerability: Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Sharing your own feelings and experiences can create a space for deeper connection and mutual understanding. Vulnerability can be a powerful tool for building empathy as it invites others to share their own stories, creating a cycle of empathy and understanding.
- Diverse Experiences: Seek out and engage with stories and experiences different from your own. This could be through books, movies, or conversations with people from different backgrounds. Exposure to diverse perspectives can challenge your assumptions and broaden your understanding of the complex tapestry of human experiences.
- Empathy Exercises: Participate in empathy exercises or workshops. These can provide structured ways to explore empathy, offering techniques and practices to enhance your empathetic understanding. For instance, role-playing exercises can help you practice putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.
- Mindfulness and Reflection: Incorporate mindfulness practices into your daily routine. Mindfulness can increase your awareness of your own emotions as well as those of others. Reflect on your interactions with others, considering how you can better show empathy and understanding in future engagements.
- Seek Feedback: Don’t hesitate to ask for feedback on your empathetic interactions. Sometimes, an outside perspective can offer valuable insights into how you’re perceived and how you can improve your empathic engagement with others.
- Community Involvement: Get involved in community service or volunteer work. Being in service to others can expose you to a wide range of perspectives and needs, deepening your capacity for empathy by connecting with individuals in varied situations and walks of life.
Bringing It All Together
Understanding the neuroscience of empathy helps us recognize its importance not just in our personal relationships but in the broader social fabric. Our brains are literally wired to be empathetic in order to survive. So don’t be afraid to lean into your feelings for others’ feelings — your prefontal cortex will be there to make sure you don’t lose yourself in the process.
Diving Deeper
For those interested in exploring the neuroscience of empathy further, check out “The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World” by Jamil Zaki. This book offers insightful perspectives on how empathy works and how it can be nurtured in ourselves and our communities. Also, go watch The Fountain.
Call to Action
Reflect on your own experiences of empathy. How does understanding its neural basis affect your view of empathy and its role in your life? Share your thoughts and engage in discussions that promote empathy and understanding in your circles and beyond. Together, we can cultivate a more compassionate world, one empathetic interaction at a time.
