Psychologists at Stony Brook University, NY, suggest that about 20% of the population are genetically predisposed to be more aware and empathic. Now, in a new study, they explore which regions of the brain are implicated in this. They publish their findings in the journal Brain and Behavior.

Stony Brook’s Elaine Aron, PhD, claims that about 20% of the population are “highly sensitive people” (HSP), who display heightened awareness to subtle stimuli – whether positive or negative – and process information more thoroughly.

To investigate whether these traits can be associated with identifiable behaviors, genes, physiological reactions and patterns of brain activity, Dr. Aron and co-author Dr. Arthur Aron, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain scans of HSP individuals.

The team scanned the brains of 18 married individuals as these participants were shown photographs of smiling or sad faces. The faces either belonged to people who were strangers to the subjects, or they were the faces of their husbands or wives.

The two Dr. Arons describe the team’s findings:

“We found that areas of the brain involved with awareness and emotion, particularly those areas connected with empathetic feelings, in the highly sensitive people showed substantially greater blood flow to relevant brain areas than was seen in individuals with low sensitivity during the 12-second period when they viewed the photos.”

“This is physical evidence within the brain that highly sensitive individuals respond especially strongly to social situations that trigger emotions, in this case of faces being happy or sad,” they add.