The University of Virginia has carried out research about empathy by investigating the human brain. They have evidence from their studies that our brains are wired up to connect with others so strongly that it experiences what they experience just as if it happens to us.
So how did they come to this conclusion?. Participants in the study underwent fMRI brain scans during which they were threatened with an electrical shock. The extra factor here was that while in the scanner they held the hand of a close friend or a stranger. So the threat of the electrical shock could also go to the hand holder.
Results showed that regions of the brain responsible for threat response became active under threat of shock to the self; which was expected. When researchers threatened to shock a stranger, those same brain regions showed virtually no activity. However when they threatened to shock a friend, the brain regions showed activity nearly identical to that displayed when the participant was threatened.
So people close to us really can become part of ourselves? Take some time to have a look at the article.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/08/22/study-to-the-human-brain-me-is-we/
