The relationship between mirror-touch synaesthesia and empathy: New evidence and a new screening tool

Abstract

People with mirror-touch synaesthesia (MTS) report tactile sensations on their own body when seeing another person being touched. Although this has been associated with heightened empathy and emotion perception, this finding has been disputed. Here, we conduct two experiments to explore this relationship further. In Experiment 1, we develop a new screening measure for MTS. We show that MTS is related to vicarious experiences more generally, but is not a simple exaggerated version of normality. For example, people with MTS report videos of scratching as "touch" rather than "itchiness" and have localized sensations when watching others in pain. In Experiment 2, we show that MTS is related to increased emotional empathy to others and better ability to read facial expressions of emotion, but other measures of empathy are normal. In terms of theoretical models, we propose that this is more consistent with a qualitative difference in the ability to selectively inhibit the other and attend to the self.

Enhanced self-reported affect and prosocial behaviour without differential physiological responses in mirror-sensory synesthesia

“…Several studies do report on the relation between mirror-sensory synesthesia and social skills. Banissy et al [20] and Ward et al [19] showed that mirror-sensory synesthetes are better at judging subtle facial expressions, but not at recognition of faces, consistent with the idea that enhanced mirror-abilities in the somatosensory system can improve social perception through simulation. In another study by Baron-Cohen et al [28] however, synesthetes did not perform better on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test, an assessment of 'theory of mind' abilities and social understanding [42], and they scored lower on the Social Skills component of the Empathy Quotient.…”

“…Enhanced responses in the tactile mirror-system in non-synesthetes have been related to enhanced empathy ratings [5,17], suggesting that the more sensitive the tactile mirror system is, the more empathic individuals are. It is therefore not surprising that mirror-sensory synesthesia is related to enhanced empathy [1,18,19]. Because of enhanced socio-cognitive abilities [20], atypical self-other representations have also been proposed as the main mechanism of mirror-sensory synesthesia [21,22], with more inclusive representations of the 'self' facilitating the incorporation of others' experiences into their own body [23].…”

“…In mirror-sensory synesthesia, stronger empathy is expected because synesthetes experience on their own body any unpleasant sensation they observe on others: being more sensitive to other people's misfortunes, they would be more motivated to relieve others' suffering [24]. Heightened empathy in mirror-sensory synesthetes [1,18,19,25] has mainly been reported on the Emotional Reactivity subscale of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) questionnaire [26]. Ward et al [19] also report marginal correlations of mirror-sensory synesthesia scores with the Personal Distress and Empathic Concern subscales of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index [27].…”

“…Heightened empathy in mirror-sensory synesthetes [1,18,19,25] has mainly been reported on the Emotional Reactivity subscale of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) questionnaire [26]. Ward et al [19] also report marginal correlations of mirror-sensory synesthesia scores with the Personal Distress and Empathic Concern subscales of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index [27]. The subscores are relevant because empathy has both emotional and cognitive components: shared feelings and emotions, and reasoning about others' mental states and perspective taking, respectively.…”

Visual body form and orientation cues do not modulate visuo-tactile temporal integration

“…To assess MTS, participants filled out a screening questionnaire. Two participants had a score >7 (they scored 10 and 12), which Ward et al [51] suggest is a potential indication of MTS.…”