Where do we feel empathy and how does it work? Well, everything we feel or do is controlled by the brain. So, when you feel empathy, your brain is generating this feeling by activating certain areas of the brain that are important for empathy. Research on empathy shows that one of the major areas of the brain that is activated when you see a friend in pain is an area that scientists call S1. This area of the brain is not only responsible for empathy, but it is also active when you are in pain yourself. For instance, if you hit your knee, the S1 area also activates. This is very interesting, because it means that the pain you actually feel in your body may be similar to the empathy you feel for a friend's pain. In other words, this may mean that when you see your friend in pain, your brain activates as if you yourself were in pain. This is why sometimes it feels painful to see someone else in pain.

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Go to source: https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00059