A group of Italian scientists destroyed the existing stereotype about the psychological and social factors that affect a person's ability to feel someone else's pain. It turned out that mirror neurons in the brain are responsible for this quality.
Empathy for someone else's pain or empathy is observed both in humans and in mammals. This quality was explained from the point of view of psychology. At the same time, practicing psychologists have repeatedly encountered cases when empathy had to be dulled using specially developed methods. This was done when empathy prevented a person from fulfilling his professional duties. This applies to dentists, surgeons and law enforcement officers.
However, recent studies have shown that it is the mirror neurons of the brain, depending on their development, that send the impulse that leads to empathy at the physiological level. A quarter of a century ago, these neurons were identified when the reaction of primates to all kinds of actions of their relatives was studied.
Despite the discovery of Italian scientists, psychologists believe that the development of neurons directly depends on the human psyche and social adaptation.
Victor Karelsky