Understanding Empathy and Brain Functions

We humans are good at reading faces and bodies. We can look at someone and feel what the other person is feeling. Empathy is one of our finer traits, and it may be because we have some special wiring in our brains. Empathy means____

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In the past, studying brain functions was difficult because we couldn’t look into a living brain. The invention of functional MRIs (fMRIs), hailed as a major scientific breakthrough, changed all that. Hailed means_____

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Now scientists can conduct research on how the different parts of the brain work. Conduct means_________

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Neurons, or nerve cells, orchestrate the relaying of chemical signals from one neuron to the next. Orchestrate means______

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Digital computer programs can show simulations of how large groups of nerve cells operate so that scientists don’t have to use live cells. Simulation means_______

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Oxytocin is a molecule found in mammals that causes changes in the affective domain. For example, it contributes to the bond between parents and children and increases feelings of trust between people. Affective means______

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Experiments done in several countries have validated the notion that when oxytocin floods the brain, most people feel empathy for others. This is now an accepted view in scientific research. Validated means_______

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Though the public is skeptical, most scientists seem to agree that human beings, as well as some animals, have a biological basis for moral behavior. Skeptical means____

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Scientific discoveries need to be verified, and, until that happens, people should not go overboard about their significance or assume their absolute truth.

• • underestimate

• exaggerate

Once findings have been confirmed, universities and other scientific institutions begin transmitting the results of the research to colleagues and students.

• • spreading

  
  

• • criticizing