There was however no evidence of left-right mirroring of these temperature effects p>0.1). Although the cold videos produced changes in the viewers’ body temperatures, it had no effect on their heart rate. However, with the discovery of mirror neurons within the premotor cortex, which respond during both performance and observation of a conspecific performing the same action, a potential neural mechanism mediating how we understand other people's actions and intentions was proposed [15] , [16] . After each video participants gave subjective ratings for both the observed water temperature (“How Hot or Cold is the Water?”) and the temperature of the actor's hand (“How Hot or Cold is the Actor's Hand?”) using a keyboard controlled visual analogue scale ranging from ‘Very Cold’ (far left) through ‘Neutral’ (centre) to ‘Very Hot’ (far right). For the study, the researchers had 36 participants sit in a temperature-controlled room and watch videos of actors placing one of their hands in either visibly steaming water, ice water, or neutral still water. Dr Harrison explains: “We think that this is probably because the warm videos were less potent - the only cues that the water was warm was steam at the beginning of the videos and the pink colour of the actor's hand (whereas blocks of ice were clearly visible throughout the duration of the cold video).
– Struggling to keep warm this winter? You may want to avoid other people who look cold: A new study published in PLOS ONE suggests humans experience "temperature contagion." Subjects saw their own temperatures sink after watching videos of people putting their hands in chilly water, per a press release from the University of Sussex. Their left hands became colder by an average of 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit, while their right hands' temperatures dropped by an average of 0.1 degrees, Real Clear Science reports. The researchers classified that temperature change as "significant." Such sympathetic coldness could be an adaptive trait, says lead researcher Dr. Neil Harrison. "Humans are profoundly social creatures, and much of humans' success results from our ability to work together in complex communities," he explains. "This would be hard to do if we were not able to rapidly empathize with each other and predict one another's thoughts, feelings, and motivations." When the 36 subjects saw videos of people putting their hands in warm water, however, the subjects' body temperatures stayed the same—perhaps because the cold was more evident than the heat in the videos, Harrison notes. The "cold" clips showed blocks of ice throughout, whereas the "hot" ones only briefly showed steam at their start. "There is also some evidence to suggest that people may be more sensitive to others appearing cold than hot," he points out. Yawning is among other contagious behaviors, as Medical Daily notes—and even dogs are susceptible.