Sometimes it’s not easy. In many situations it is difficult to integrate into a world with so many ups and downs, very noisy, selfish and dishonest, the senses of very sensitive or very sensitive people (SSPs) are as vulnerable as they are privileged. what others do not feel, and they do so with such intensity that they are shown the world with a series of realities that escape others.
What really makes a person as sensitive as that?Why do they suffer more than others, why is love so intense and so painful in your relationships?
- In 2014.
- An interesting study was published at Stony Brook University in New York.
- Which aimed to explain the brain characteristics of a high-sensitivity person (PAS) and how it could differ from that of people who are not.
- Or at least do not have such a clear emotional openness.
The results of the work carried out by six researchers were published in the journal “Brain and Behavior”. Here’s some information. I’m sure you’ll be surprised.
It is estimated that approximately 20% of the population has the basic characteristics that define a high sensitivity. Is it common for them to spend much of their lives not knowing that they belong to this privileged little group and that they somehow have to live with invisible glasses?that makes them see the world differently and with a more open and vulnerable heart.
Studies at Stony Brook University have shown that people with high sensitivity have an emotional brain with great empathy. Are brains fully oriented towards sociability and bonding with others?
What does that mean? What researchers have concluded is, fundamentally, that their brain processes show an excess of arousal in the neural areas related to emotions and interactions: they are able to decipher and intuit the feelings of those in front of them, but in turn, they face a very fundamental problem.
The rest of the world does not have the same empathy, so there is a clear imbalance in relation to this sensitivity and the sensitivity of those around it, and they are considered different.
To reach these conclusions, various tests were carried out, such as MRI tests that allowed the brain processes of people diagnosed with SBP and others not diagnosed to study, for this purpose they were exposed to different stimuli in order to check biochemical activity. and the different structures that make up brain activity.
The results were very visible in two respects
Surely you have heard of mirror neurons, which perform a social function, are mainly found in humans and primates, located in the lower frontal cortex of the brain, close to the area of language, are mainly related to empathy and our ability to capture, process and interpret the emotions of others.
In people with high sensitivity, the activity of mirror neurons is continuous and very noticeable, since childhood.
The insula is a small structure housed deep in our brain, it is located in the insular cortex which, in turn, is linked to the limbic system, the basic structure of our emotions that gives us a more subjective and intimate view of reality.
In fact, the scientists in this study call the insula the “seat of consciousness,” which brings together much of our thoughts, intuitions, feelings, and perceptions of everything we experience at all times. And it is not surprising to know that, in people with high sensitivity, this “Magic” structure has a great activity compared to those without high sensitivity.
The study also concludes that, in addition to being more sensitive to the visual stimuli associated with human faces and emotions, they also have a lower limit on many physical stimuli, such as bright lights or loud sounds, even when they activate pain-related brain structures. Something curious, no doubt.
Very sensitive people have a trait, a way of feeling and understanding the world through a finer and more precise sensory system, and that’s not what they have, that’s what they are, that’s why they must learn to live with their hearts and with this. wonderful gift, because suffering is not an obligation, but an option that is not worth choosing.
Image courtesy of Kelly Vivanco