An ability to perceive and empathize with others’ pain is rooted in cognitive neural processes instead of sensory ones, according to results of a new study led by researchers at the University of Colorado.

Their results show that the act of understanding others’ pain does not appear to involve the same neural circuitry as experiencing pain in one’s own body. This suggests that they are different interactions within the brain.

“The research suggests that empathy is a deliberative process that requires taking another person’s perspective rather than being an instinctive, automatic process,” said Tor Wager, the senior author of the study, in a news release. He is the director of CU’s Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience.

A study detailing researchers results was published online today in the journal eLife.

The researchers discovered that the brain patterns when the volunteers observed pain didn’t overlap with the brain patterns when volunteers experienced pain themselves, according to the release. Instead, while observing pain, the volunteers showed brain patterns that were consistent with mentalizing, which involves imagining another’s thoughts and intentions.

The National Institutes of Health provided funding for the study.