You ever wonder why some people shed tears unnecessarily? Just cry over little things and trivial issues? Some people are just so soft and emotional that you wonder if they are suffering from depression. Scientists have discovered that being sensitive may have to do with your genes.
Over the years, scientists have conduct gene research with the aim of trying to explain how the genes we were born with affect us in our everyday lives.
One human quality that genetics has attempted to help explain is sensitivity. People who are highly sensitive tend to respond more emotionally to their environments. They are more inclined to cry during sad movies, jump to use social media to share something that moved them and feel heightened levels of sympathy for poor people and their friends who just got dumped. Most notably, they focus more on the negative things in their environment than the positive things.
Where do these traits come from? Why are some people more likely than others to respond more powerfully to their environment? In other words, why are some people very sensitive? It turns out the answers to these questions do, indeed, have something to do with the way a person was born.
Researchers found that being sensitive is an innate trait that’s identifiable by physiological reactions, patterns of brain behavior and genes.
In their study, 18 participants viewed photos of either frowning or smiling faces. The researchers then scanned the participants’ brain activity while they looked at the photos to assess how emotional their responses were. They found that people, who were considered to have sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) had greater blood flow to areas of the brain involved with emotion, awareness and empathy — indicating physical evidence of the presence of the sensitivity trait. This occurred regardless of whether they were looking at the sad or happy photo.
After studying the cholinergic system – a system in our bodies that determines how we respond to new environments and how sensitive we are to stimuli, study reveals that cholinergic system becomes activated when we experience “expected uncertainty,” which happens when we’re placed in situations where we predict we will learn something new.
And while this specific genetic variant is rare — only one percent of the population actually have it — it gives valuable insight into the way psychologists and scientists study behavioral patterns in relation to both genetics and environment.
So, if you’ve sobbed while watching movies, impulsively shared a video on Facebook of a kitten rolling around in a patch of grass that made you tear up, or found yourself crying with your best friend when her boyfriend dumped her, take comfort in the fact that you were probably born this way — soft and empathetic.
