Connecting minds and sharing emotions through mimicry: A neurocognitive model of emotional contagion

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
Eliska Prochazkova, Mariska E Kret

Abstract

During social interactions, people tend to automatically align with, or mimic their interactor's facial expressions, vocalizations, postures and other bodily states. Automatic mimicry might be implicated in empathy and affiliation and is impaired in several pathologies. Despite a growing body of literature on its phenomenology, the function and underlying mechanisms of mimicry remain poorly understood. The current review puts forward a new Neurocognitive Model of Emotional Contagion (NMEC), demonstrating how basic automatic mimicry can give rise to emotional contagion. We combine neurological, developmental and evolutionary insights to argue that automatic mimicry is a precursor to healthy social development. We show that (i) strong synchronization exists between people, (ii) that this resonates on different levels of processing and (iii) demonstrate how mimicry translates into emotional contagion. We conclude that our synthesized model, built upon integrative knowledge from various fields, provides a promising avenue for future research investigating the role of mimicry in human mental health and social development.

References

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Citations

Mar 14, 2018·Evolutionary Psychology : an International Journal of Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and Behavior·Dennis Küster
Sep 1, 2017·Cognition & Emotion·Mariska E Kret
Oct 27, 2018·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience·Paola SessaRoy Luria
Mar 8, 2019·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Monika Wróbel, Kamil K Imbir
May 12, 2018·Cognition & Emotion·Marco BrambillaMariska E Kret
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Feb 23, 2020·PloS One·Sara BorgomaneriAlessio Avenanti
Jul 18, 2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Eliska ProchazkovaMariska E Kret
Apr 26, 2020·American Journal of Primatology·Daan W LamérisMariska E Kret
Nov 18, 2018·Psychological Science·Martyna A GalazkaNouchine Hadjikhani
Nov 11, 2019·Brain Topography·Igor Riečanský, Claus Lamm
Oct 10, 2020·Scientific Reports·Chun-Ting HsuSakiko Yoshikawa
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Jan 24, 2020·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Elisabetta PalagiIvan Norscia
Jan 29, 2020·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Mariska E KretZanna Clay
Feb 1, 2020·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·J E C AdriaenseC Lamm
Jan 29, 2021·Developmental Psychobiology·Giada CordoniElisabetta Palagi
Feb 14, 2021·Scientific Reports·Gonçalo CosmeDiana Prata
Jan 17, 2021·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Elisabeth G I NieuwburgMariska E Kret
Jan 21, 2021·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Eliala A SalvadoriEvin Aktar
Jan 29, 2021·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience·Julia C BassoRachel Rugh
Mar 12, 2020·Behavioural Processes·Veronica MaglieriElisabetta Palagi
Feb 23, 2021·Developmental Science·Molly S HeltTaylor M Sorensen
Apr 27, 2021·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Celine De MeulemeesterPatrick Luyten

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