Volunteers who viewed videos of actors plunging¹ their hands into ice-cold water, experienced a simultaneous drop in the temperature of their own hands.

 

Neuroscientist Neil Harrison, from the University of Sussex said: 'We believe that this mimicry³ of people's bodily response helps us understand how they are feeling.

 

'Humans are profoundly social creatures and much of humans' success results from our ability to work together in complex communities -- this would be hard to do if we were not able to rapidly empathise with each other and predict one another's thoughts, feelings and motivations.'

 

It's believed that 'mirror neurons' in the brain are behind the phenomenon.

 

Dr Harrison explained: 'Mirror neurons found in very specific parts of the brain are known to fire when we perform an action or observe a similar action in others – it has been proposed that more general mirror properties may also exist across many other brain areas.'

 

And the more naturally empathetic the person, the more likely they are to mimic² another person's responses, he added.

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