Study: Human Brains Are Hardwired for Empathy

A new study from the University of Virginia suggests that human brains are hardwired for empathy, and that we often empathize with those to whom we are the closest because we associate them with ourselves. Twenty-two study partcipants underwent fMRI brain scans to detect activity while  under the threat of receiving mild electrical shocks to themselves, a friend or a stranger. The regions of the brain linked to threat response were active under the threat of shock to the participant and to a friend. There was little activity when a stranger was under the threat of an electrical shock. 

“If a friend is under threat, it becomes the same as if we ourselves are under threat. We can understand the pain or difficulty they may be going through in the same way we understand our own pain,” a researcher said. Click here to read the full story.