The Wonderful Emotional Brain Of Hypersensitive People

It is sometimes difficult to adapt to this too noisy world, to this world full of selfishness and other double intentions.

The senses of hypersensitive people are a weakness, but also an opportunity. They can perceive what others do not perceive, and do so so intensely that the world then presents them with a range of realities that are overlooked by others.

What is hypersensitivity due to?  Is it genetic? Why do hypersensitive people suffer more than others?

Why for them is love so intense, but also so painful? Why do they appreciate solitude so much, why do they feel such a deep incomprehension from an early age?

In 2014, researchers at Stony Brook University (New York) carried out an interesting study, in which they tried to explain the peculiarities of the brain of a hypersensitive person, as well as the differences that exist between hypersensitive people and those who are not, or at least, those who do not have this emotional openness so characteristic of hypersensitivity.

The results of this study, which consisted of six surveys, are very interesting, and were published in the journal Brain and Behavior . Read the rest of this article to find out! We are sure you will be surprised.

The emotional brain of hypersensitive people

It is estimated that almost 20% of people  have the basic characteristics of hypersensitivity. Often these people spend most of their lives not knowing that they belong to this privileged little group.

In a way, they have always lived wearing “invisible glasses” that made them see the world differently, with a more open heart, but also more vulnerable.

The study carried out by researchers at Stony Brook University found that hypersensitive people have emotional brains with great empathy. They are fully oriented towards “sociability” and union with their peers.

In other words, these researchers have proven that the brain processes of hypersensitive people result in over-arousal in neural areas relating to emotions and interaction.

They are able to decipher and guess the feelings of the people they have in front of them. But, at the same time, they have to deal with a very simple problem …

Others don’t have the same empathy. There is therefore an obvious imbalance between the sensitivity of people who are hypersensitive, and those who are not. “They see themselves as different”.

To arrive at all these conclusions, the researchers carried out a battery of tests based on magnetic resonances, or on the study of the brain processes presented by people diagnosed as hypersensitive, in comparison with those of people who are not.

We therefore exposed these people to different stimuli, in order to observe the biochemical activity that takes place in the different brain structures.

Mirror neurons

You must have heard of mirror neurons before. They perform a social function, being mainly present in humans and in primates.

Located in the lower frontal cortex of the brain and very close to the language area, mirror neurons are particularly linked to empathy and our ability to sense, process, and interpret the emotions of others.

In hypersensitive people, their activity is continuous and very noticeable since childhood.

The insula

The insula is a small brain structure located very deep in our brain. Located in the insular cortex, it is linked to the limbic system , a basic structure in our emotions that brings us this more subjective and more intimate view of reality.

In fact, Stony Brook researchers nickname the insula “the seat of consciousness”, since it brings together most of our thoughts, intuitions, feelings and other perceptions of all that we can experience.

You will therefore not be surprised to learn that this “magic” structure is more active in people who are hypersensitive than in people who are not.

This study also shows that in addition to being receptive to visual stimuli related to human faces and emotions, hypersensitive people also exhibit a lower threshold in response to many physical stimuli, such as bright lights or loud sounds.

This activates in them the cerebral structures relating to pain… which is very curious.

Hypersensitive people have a way of feeling and understanding the world that passes through a sharper, finer neurosensory system. It is not what they have, but it is what they are.

During their life, they must learn to deal with their strong emotions as well as with this wonderful gift, because suffering is not a necessary step, but an option that is not worth keeping.