Mirrors in the Mind

A person can watch someone else grasping an object and know what the other person is doing and why they are doing it. This left scientists wondering how the brain understands this action and intention so quickly. Scientists believed that in order to understand someone’s actions the brain uses a sophisticated reasoning process, involving the comparison of similar previous experiences. The brain could then conclude what the other person was doing and why they were doing it. This process may occur in some situations, most likely in situations where it hard to figure out what the other person is doing, but the ability to comprehend so quickly and so effortlessly lead scientists to believe there was a better explanation. A research center in Italy discovered that certain neurons in a monkey’s brain were emitted when the monkey performed a simple action, in this case picking up fruit. These same neurons were emitted when the monkey saw the same action being performed by another individual. Researchers named these cells mirror neurons. Mirror neurons program models for specific actions. Not only does another person’s action happen before our eyes, but it also seems to take place inside our brain. This surprisingly agrees with the theory philosophers believed that in order for a person to fully understand another’s actions he had to experience it within himself.

Scientists began to study the brain’s motor cortex, particularly an area called F5 that deals with hand and mouth movements to learn more about mirror neurons. By observing monkeys performing simple tasks, the scientists could see the specific groups of neurons that were released. This same process occurred in the monkey’s brain when they watched a person perform the task. This suggested that neuron activity involved in a performing an action is the same regardless of whether the person is performing it or someone else. Scientists would usually eliminate the subject in order to determine its function, but eliminating the neurons would only result in such general cognitive shortages that it would not be possible to understand the effects of the missing neurons. Scientists focused their attention on trying to discover whether mirror neurons are involved in understanding the action or just visually registering it. They began testing the monkeys by performing an action with a distinctive sound and then performing the same action, but alone allowing the monkey to hear the sound. Many of the same neurons were released in both cases. Scientists also found that mirror neurons were released when the monkey did not see the action, but had adequate clues to create a representation of the action in their mind. Scientists began to wonder if a mirror neuron system was also present in humans. People watching someone else grasping objects and performing simple gestures were found to have an increase in neural activation in the muscles that would be involved in doing that action. Scientists also held experiments involving external measures of cortical activity like electroencephalography to support the theory of a mirror neuron system. Investigations done in a hospital in Milan used positron-emission tomography to examine the activity of the neurons in human brains. Watching others perform certain actions stimulated neuron in three main areas of the brain’s cortex. These were the superior temporal sulcus, the inferior parietal lobule, and the inferior frontal gyrus. The superior temporal sulcus contains neurons that respond to watching moving body parts. The other two are the areas where scientists had recorded mirror neurons in monkeys.

Actions we perform are really a series of linked motor acts established by our intent. Different neurons are emitted when a person picks a flower up to smell it as opposed to when a person picks up a flower to hand it to someone else. This was observed in monkeys who picked up food to eat it and also picked up food to put it inside a container. This allowed researchers to believe that the motor system is organized in neural chains, encoding the specific goal of the individual. Researchers also found a link between the motor organization of intentional actions and the ability to comprehend the intentions of others. The neurons in the monkey’s brain matched the same ones released when an experimenter performed the task. Tests on humans showed that the brain responds differently when viewing a person pick up a cup to drink it as to viewing a person pick up a cup to clean up. Researchers believe that the mirror neuron system may allow us to understand what other people feel as well as what they do.

Humans understand emotions in more than one way. When observing another person they may come to a logical conclusion as to what the other is feeling by sensory information, or they may experience the emotion by the release of mirror neurons. The same neurons are discharged when a person watches someone else experiencing disgust or pain as when that person experiences the feeling themselves. Dysfunction in this mirror system could possibly been seen in people with empathy deficits, like children with autism. It should be theoretically possible to heal motor impairments if the mirror neuron template is somewhat engraved on the brain by experience. The mirror system is also believed to play a role in the way we learn new skills. The experiments conducted used simple, highly practiced actions, and left scientists wondering how mirror neurons respond when we learn an action by imitation. In Germany guitar students had high neural activity in the parietofrontal area when the watched guitar experts play chords. The activity in this area was even higher when the students tried to imitate the teacher. Another region also became active known as the prefrontal area 46, which is associated with the planning of motor actions and memory. Scientists wonder if other animals exhibit mirror neurons and are currently running experiments with rats. They are also working with autistic children to see if they have motor deficits that might cause a dysfunction of the mirror neuron system. Many questions are still left unanswered such as the mirror system’s involvement in language. Mirror neurons may be what allows to communicate and connect with others without saying anything.

This article contains good information about mirror neurons and how they allow us to understand the actions and feelings of others. It seems amazing that when we watch someone doing something, our brain’s neural system reacts in the same way as when we perform the same task. I found it interesting how different mirror neurons are released when the same task is done but with a different intent. This area of study leaves many questions however as does any study involving the brain. The way God has designed our brains is incredible, and I think we will understand more and more about it, but will never be able to fully understand all of it.