Circling Science

The neural bases of feeling understood and not understood

Sylvia A. Morelli, Jared B. Torre and Naomi I. Eisenberger · 2014

Evidence
Experiment
Kind
Journal article
peer-reviewed
Method
Brain imaging during experimentally varied feedback about participants’ emotional experiences
Sample
19 participants with usable brain-imaging data
Published
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(12), 1890–1896
Cautions
Small sample

Adjacent

Studies a related practice or mechanism, without testing Circling.

A brain-imaging experiment found different activity patterns when people felt understood or misunderstood, alongside differences in how much they liked the supposed listener.

What it doesn’t show

Only 19 participants contributed usable scans. The feedback was scripted rather than another person’s actual response, and understanding overlapped with validation. The study does not identify a diagnostic brain signature or establish lasting benefits from feeling understood.

Summary based on the abstract and the full text’s methods, results and discussion.

Directions that build on it

  1. What being met is like

    Builds on 9 works · 5 funding routes

    What do people actually experience in the moments they describe as being seen or met?

Links

Cite

Morelli, S. A., Torre, J. B., & Eisenberger, N. I. (2014). The neural bases of feeling understood and not understood. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(12), 1890–1896. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nst191