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# The complexity of understanding others as the evolutionary origin of empathy and emotional contagion

## Details

**Authors** Mafesson and Lachmann

**Year** 2019

**Publisher** Nature: Scientific Reports

**Discipline** Biology

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41835-5) 
10.1038/s41598-019-41835-5

## In authors' words

### Abstract

Contagious yawning, emotional contagion and empathy are characterized by the activation of similar neurophysiological states or responses in an observed individual and an observer. For example, it is hard to keep one’s mouth closed when imagining someone yawning, or not feeling distressed while observing other individuals perceiving pain. The evolutionary origin of these widespread phenomena is unclear, since a direct benefit is not always apparent. We explore a game theoretical model for the evolution of mind-reading strategies, used to predict and respond to others’ behavior. In particular we explore the evolutionary scenarios favoring simulative strategies, which recruit overlapping neural circuits when performing as well as when observing a specific behavior. We show that these mechanisms are advantageous in complex environments, by allowing an observer to use information about its own behavior to interpret that of others. However, without inhibition of the recruited neural circuits, the observer would perform the corresponding downstream action, rather than produce the appropriate social response. We identify evolutionary trade-offs that could hinder this inhibition, leading to emotional contagion as a by-product of mind-reading. The interaction of this model with kinship is complex. We show that empathy likely evolved in a scenario where kin- and other indirect benefits co-opt strategies originally evolved for mind-reading, and that this model explains observed patterns of emotional contagion with kin or group members.

### What they set out to do (purpose)

To research the origins of empathy and emotional contagion.

### What they found (results)

Empathy and emotional contagion originated from a cognitive process or function, and not only from social cooperation or coordination. Contagious yawning, emotional contagion and empathy are characterized by the activation of similar neurophysiological states or responses in an observed individual and an observer. While organisms cannot read the minds of other organisms, they do share very similar minds to members of their own species. As a result, organisms seem to be “constantly running simulations of what other minds might be doing.” This constant simulation isn’t always geared toward cooperation but rather is something animals do spontaneously.

## Commentary

### In short

Perspective taking is therefore a needed cognitive act that bolsters emotional connection to others, which, as social animals, is essential for evolutionary success, in both humans and other animals.

### In more detail

Additionally, perspective taking is thought to be the root of empathy. Mafessoni and Lachmann 2019 researched the origins of empathy and emotional contagion. They looked at the possibility that empathy and emotional contagion originated from a cognitive process or function, and not only from social cooperation or coordination. They stated that, “contagious yawning, emotional contagion and empathy are characterized by the activation of similar neurophysiological states or responses in an observed individual and an observer.” While organisms cannot read the minds of other organisms, they do share very similar minds to members of their own species. As a result, organisms seem to be “constantly running simulations of what other minds might be doing.” This constant simulation isn’t always geared toward cooperation but rather is something animals do spontaneously. Mafessoni and Lachmann also offer that the behavior of putting oneself as an actor in another’s mind requires embodied cognition. Embodied cognition means that the mind is connected to the body, and the mind also influences the body. This plays out socially, “as an actor’s cognition is embodied, even an observer’s cognition is required to be embodied, despite the risk of accidental coordination.” Thus, the spread of empathy and the contagion of emotion occurs in the mind and body, naturally. Perspective taking is therefore a needed cognitive act that

bolsters emotional connection to others, which, as social animals, is essential for evolutionary success, in both humans and other animals.

**Patterns it shows** P

**How to cite this** Mafesson and Lachmann (2019). The complexity of understanding others as the evolutionary origin of empathy and emotional contagion. Nature: Scientific Reports.