Neuroscientist Discusses Vicarious Brain Activity and Human Virtue

By Dr. Warren S. Brown :: 05/31/11

Watch Christian Keysers's talk on Vimeo.

Humans easily comprehend much of what is going on in the minds of other people. Such understanding comes from our capacity to vicariously experience something of their intentions, feelings, and emotions. How does the brain allow us to understand so much of the mind of another person?

Neuroscience research on this important question was the focus of the second lecture in the “Understanding Virtue” series delivered at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium on May 20. Neuroscientist Christian Keysers spoke on "The Vicarious Brain: The Neural Basis of Empathy, Learning by Observation, and Sociopathy." Keysers is Professor for the Social Brain at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, and also head of the Social Brain Lab of the prestigious Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences.

Keysers described the capacity of our brain to vicariously simulate aspects of the current activity of another person’s brain. This capacity allows us to understand the intentions of their actions, the things they are sensing, and the emotions they are having. This vicarious simulation involves “shared circuits”—that is, the activity in my brain circuits reflects the activity in similar circuits in your brain. As Keysers puts it, “Through shared circuits, the actions, emotions, and sensations of others are ‘translated’ into the language of our own actions, emotions and sensations.” This process generates an “implicit sharing and hence understanding of the states of others.” Such sharing of patterns of neural activity allows us to sympathize and empathize with one another, providing the basis for social virtues, particular those of caring and compassion. Keysers also described how absence of this form of vicarious brain activity might play a role in the marked absence of empathy evident in sociopathic behavior.

These conclusions come from research by Keysers (and other neuroscientists) showing that the activity of cells in particular areas of the brains of monkeys while the monkey moves in certain ways are very similar to the activity of these same cells when the monkey passively views another monkey (or human) acting in a similar way. Such neurons have come to be called “mirror neurons” and are thought to form the basis for understanding the intentions reflected in the actions of others. Similar sorts of brain cells have been found that mirror feelings of touch and pain, or emotions such as fear and disgust. Taken together, these brain processes allow us to comprehend much of what is going on in the minds of other people.

Keysers’ presentation, given before an audience of 250, was followed by a response from Fuller Professor of Christian Philosophy Nancey Murphy, who drew attention to important philosophical and theological questions about the human mind and personhood that these discoveries in neuroscience help to clarify. Murphy pointed to the “consilience” between the neuroscience of shared brain activity as described by Keysers and the “critique of the individualism that has been a profound element of modern ethical theories.” She noted that “Keysers’ research shows…the extent to which we are deeply affected by our relations with others.” As an alternative to the individualism of modern ethical theory, Murphy pointed to the dyadic and communal perspective found in Hebraic thought and the New Testament understandings of persons.

On the previous Thursday evening, theologian Stanley Hauerwas of Duke University gave a lecture on “Why Habit Matters: The Bodily Character of the Virtues," offered to an audience of more than 400 at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. This lecture was followed by a response from Caltech Professor of Philosophy Steven Quartz.

The lecture series was part of a two-day conference funded by a grant—“The Rationality of Ultimate Value: Emotion, Awareness, and Causality in Virtue Ethics and Decision Neuroscience”—awarded by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Science and Transcendence Advanced Research Series, to an interdisciplinary team of investigators that I lead in my role as director of Fuller’s Travis Research Institute. The project’s goal is a deeper understanding of the nature of virtue in relation to the transcendent, and studies moral exemplars and how they see the world, their psychological makeup, and their patterns of brain activity while making virtue-relevant decisions.

Warren S. Brown is director of the Lee Edward Travis Research Institute at Fuller and professor of psychology in the Department of Clinical Psychology.