Mirror-touch synaesthesia
Mirror-touch synaesthesia
We might have seen people closing their eyes upon seeing a violent scene in screen while watching movies in a TV or in a theatre. Some of us would not dare to see the footages of affected people in the devastating natures fury such as earthquake, tsunami, etc. Some would literally feel pain on their body if his/her friend got injury. Quite a few are different. Not many on earth shows compassion toward mankind, like the Saint Vallalar Said, Vaadiya payirai kandapothellam vaadinen” (I would shed tears on seeing the crops which are withering for want of water), there are only a few put into other shoes. What if a person having too much of empathy or heightened empathic ability? Is it a neurological condition? Lets see.
There is a
condition called Mirror touch synesthesia
(MTS). It is the conscious experience of tactile sensations induced by seeing
someone else touched.1
The
term “mirror” refers to the idea that a person mirrors the sensations they see
when someone else is touched. This means when they see a person touched on the
left, they feel the touch on the right 2.
Mirror
touch synesthesia (MTS) describes a rare condition that causes people to mirror
sensations they see and then experience emotional and physical touch. For
example, feeling pain, to an extent, after seeing someone get hurt. 3
The
term synesthesia is
a rough translation of the Greek meaning “senses coming together” or paired sensation
of empathy. It refers to when the activation of one sense, or part of a sense,
triggers another unrelated sense. Health experts may refer to those who
experience synesthesia as synesthetes.3
Who
is getting affected?
According to the
University of Delaware, an estimated 2 in 100 people have this condition. A lot of research
surrounding mirror touch synesthesia focuses on the concept that people with
this condition are more empathetic than those who don’t have the condition.
Empathy is the ability to deeply understand a person’s feelings and emotions2.
Most people with the
condition report having it since childhood.
Mechanism
Currently,
researchers theorize that mirror touch synesthesia may be the result of an
overactive sensory system. Researchers theorized that people with mirror
touch synesthesia have enhanced sensations of social and cognitive recognition
compared with others.2
Type
The
first is mirror, where a person experiences a sensation of touch on the
opposite side of their body as another person is touched. The second is an
“anatomical” subtype where a person experiences a sensation of touch on the
same side.2
Diagnosis
Currently,
there are no specific diagnostic criteria for identifying MTS nor any accurate
tests to help diagnose the condition. Typically, most people will self-report
symptoms3
Symptoms
- feeling pain in the opposite
side of the body when another person feels pain
- feeling a sensation of touch
when you see another person being touched
- experiencing different
sensations of touch when another person is touched, such as:
- itching
- tingling
- pressure
- pain
- sensations varying in severity
from a mild touch to a deep, stabbing pain
Dr Joel Salinas, an
assistant professor of behavioral neuroscience at Harvard University says,” We all have a mental mirroring system, in
which 'our brains are creating a 3D virtual reality like the situation we are
in, we are just not aware of it.4
References:
2. https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/mirror-touch-synesthesia)
3. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/mirror-touch-synesthesia
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