Fig. 5.

Interpartner coupling predicts (A) touch-related analgesia in the target and (B) touch-related empathic accuracy of the observer. The brain-to-brain links on the right side show the pattern of coupling in clusters 2 (A) and 1 (B). The figures include a regression line with a 95% confidence interval. The y axis represents interpartner coupling loadings on cluster 2 (A) and cluster 1 (B). Empathic accuracy was defined as the absolute difference between the partners’ pain ratings divided by the sum of both partners’ pain ratings. A small discrepancy between the partners’ ratings corresponds to high empathic accuracy. Analgesia was calculated as the percentage difference between each woman’s final rating in the no-touch–pain and touch–pain conditions and her rating in the pain-alone condition.