title: 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.
authors.affiliation: a School of Psychological Sciences , Monash University , Clayton , Australia.
authors.forename: Melita J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Giummarra
authors.forename: Bernadette M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Fitzgibbon
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Vicarious; mechanism; pain; touch