Question: Are perceptions developed by a person or are they passed on subconsciously from other individuals?

Helen O'Connor answered on 24 Jun 2011:

We perceive the world around us (sight, smell, sound, touch, taste) first through our senses – and then our brain takes in information from our senses to ‘perceive’ or make sense of those senstation. Our perception develops over time as we understand more about the world – but our perception can still be tricked by things like optical illusions.

Scientists have also discovered that we are also able to do what is called “empathise” with other people – this means that we can share or experience what they are feeling – like sadness or pain.

One piece of research showed people photographs of the hands and feet of other people in situations that looked painful, and at the same time used technology to look at what was happening in their brains. The brain pictures showed that when looking at the pictures of other people in pain, their own brain reacted as if it was in pain too.