Mirror-touch synaesthesia: the role of shared ... - UCL Discovery

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Chapter 4
extraversion [n = 120, r = .185, p = < .05], agreeableness [n = 120, r = .524, p = <
.001], and conscientiousness [n = 120, r = .201, p = < .05]. The personal distress
subscale was found to correlate negatively with extraversion [n = 120, r = -.256, p = <
.01] and conscientiousness [n = 120, r = -.283, p = < .01], but positively with the
neuroticism trait [n = 120, r = .532, p = < .001].
4.4 Discussion
Experiment 2 sought to examine findings of heightened emotional reactivity in
mirror-touch synaesthesia documented in experiment 1. The study aimed to clarify if
enhanced emotional reactivity was specific to enhanced other-orientated emotional
empathy or to self related processes, and to investigate previous trends towards
significantly higher levels of cognitive empathy in mirror-touch synaesthetes. Using a
larger sample of mirror-touch synaesthetes and a new control group, the findings first
replicate previous reports of heightened emotional reactivity, but not other
components of empathy, in mirror-touch synaesthesia. They then confirm that
heightened emotional reactivity in mirror-touch synaesthesia is not linked with
heightened personal distress, indicating that heightened empathy in mirror-touch
synaesthesia is indeed other rather than self-oriented. Further, the findings indicate
that emotional reactivity does not reflect a less emotionally stable personality type –
scores on emotional reactivity component of the EQ were not related to neuroticism /
emotional stability personality trait.
Mirror-touch synaesthetes also differed from non-synaesthete controls on the
fantasizing scale of the IRI. This subscale reflects an individual’s ability to match
another’s feelings and behaviours onto their own. Previous findings indicate that
increased scores on the fantasizing subscale of the IRI are related with heightened
activations within the anterior insula and frontal operculum when witnessing others’