Online Empathy
Scientific research on empathy started in the early 20th century. Only in 1992 did the development of cognitive neuroscience help di Pellegrino, Fadiga, Fogassi, Gallese and Rizzolatti to identify the mirror neurons related to representations of an Object from a Subject, verifying Lipps’ (1903) and McDugall’s (1908) suggestions on empathy. Primary empathy is related to the automatic matching of the feelings of the other person (Fischer, 1980). An example is the relationship newborns have between each other on their first days on the earth. Another verification of mirror neurons was made by Rizzolati and Arbib (1998), as well as identification of the areas where the mirror neurons are located, interacting with areas in both hemispheres (Broca area 44 and PE/PC).