Just watching another person shiver can cause our own temperature to drop, scientists have found.

科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，看著別人發(fā)抖，我們自己的體溫也會(huì)下降。

Volunteers who viewed videos of actors plunging their hands into ice-cold water, experienced a simultaneous drop in the temperature of their own hands.

當(dāng)視頻中的演員將手放入冰冷的水中時(shí)，觀看視頻的志愿者們自己的手部溫度也會(huì)同時(shí)下降。

Neuroscientist Neil Harrison, from the University of Sussex said: ‘We believe that this mimicry of people’s bodily response helps us understand how they are feeling.

蘇塞克斯大學(xué)（The University of Sussex）的神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)科學(xué)家尼爾·哈里森（Neil Harrison）說，“我們認(rèn)為這種人體反應(yīng)的模擬行為可以幫助我們理解他人的感受。

‘Humans are profoundly social creatures and much of humans’ success results from our ability to work together in complex communities – this would be hard to do if we were not able to rapidly empathise with each other and predict one another’s thoughts, feelings and motivations.’

“人類是極度社會(huì)化的生物，我們所獲得的很多成功都來源于在復(fù)雜社會(huì)中的相互合作，如果無法快速理解他人的感受或是預(yù)測他人的想法、感受和動(dòng)機(jī)，我們將難以合作。”

It’s believed that ‘mirror neurons’ in the brain are behind the phenomenon.

科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，這種現(xiàn)象的背后是大腦中的“鏡像神經(jīng)元”在起作用。

Dr Harrison explained: ‘Mirror neurons found in very specific parts of the brain are known to fire when we perform an action or observe a similar action in others – it has been proposed that more general mirror properties may also exist across many other brain areas.'

哈里森博士解釋道，“僅在大腦特定部分存在的鏡像神經(jīng)元在我們完成一個(gè)動(dòng)作或是觀察到他人做出相似動(dòng)作時(shí)會(huì)發(fā)揮作用，有人提出，大腦其他區(qū)域可能存在更多的鏡像特質(zhì)。”

And the more naturally empathetic the person, the more likely they are to mimic another person’s responses, he added.

他補(bǔ)充道，“一個(gè)人越容易與他人產(chǎn)生同感，就越有可能模仿他人的反應(yīng)。”