Into the looking glass: Broadening models to explain the spectrum of sensory and affective vicarious experiences

Abstract

Ward and Bannisy’s proposed conceptual framework—Threshold Theory and Self-Other Theory—for mirror touch synesthesia are welcomed as an explanation of mechanisms giving rise to innocuous vicarious phenomena. Herein we propose that these vicarious, or synesthetic, experiences should be considered along a spectrum of experiences, from innocuous through to noxious or threatening sensations. In particular, we would like to see these theories considered within a broader framework to explain the multitude of vicarious experiences that seem to share fundamental neurophysiological and trait characteristics.

Keywords:

• Vicarious
• pain
• touch
• mechanism