Lifeboat Foundation

Can we measure empathy?

𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐔𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞-𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧

𝘼 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙮𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙖 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙥𝙨𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚’𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙣𝙚𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.

Using intracranial electroencephalographic (iEEG) recordings and single-cell recordings from the human insulae in patients with epilepsy who have electrodes embedded in their brains, scientists have analyzed the contribution of the insula in our ability to understand the pain of others. The study improves our understanding of the inherent differences in people’s ability to empathize and react to the pain of others, as well as potential mechanisms for the lack of empathy in certain neuropsychiatric conditions.