BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

How do you cool your lips After a summers kiss How do you rid the sweat After the body bliss How do you turn your eyes From the romantic glare How do you block the sound of a voice You'd know anywhere Study may explain roots of empathy By Julie Steenhuysen When people say "I feel your pain," they do not mean it literally, but certain people really do feel something that appears to be an extreme form of empathy, British researchers said on Sunday. They said watching someone being touched triggers the same part of the brain as actual touch, and this connection helps explain how we understand what other people are feeling. People who experience a tactile sense of touch when they see another person being touched -- something called mirror-touch synesthesia -- was first studied in 2005 in one person. But researchers at University College London have now studied 10 people with the same condition. "It suggests there is a link between certain aspects of the tactile system an...

By Julie Steenhuysen When people say "I feel your pain," they do not mean it literally, but certain people really do feel something that appears to be an extreme form of empathy, British researchers said on Sunday. They said watching someone being touched triggers the same part of the brain as actual touch, and this connection helps explain how we understand what other people are feeling. People who experience a tactile sense of touch when they see another person being touched -- something called mirror-touch synesthesia -- was first studied in 2005 in one person. But researchers at University College London have now studied 10 people with the same condition. "It suggests there is a link between certain aspects of the tactile system and empathy," said Michael Banissy of the university's department of psychology, whose work appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Banissy and colleagues first did a series of experiments to authenticate peoples' claims that...