Meet mirror neurons

Day by day we observe a large number of behaviors of the people around us and for most of them, we attribute an explanation. Even when watching a music show or a theater, we sometimes feel the need to perform it.

It seems that in our relationships there is something more than simple curiosity, something like a kind of underlying synchronicity or contagion that influences them. Now, what happens, according to experts, is that both when we interact and when we observe others, a very special type of neurons known as mirror neurons are activated.

They are responsible for us getting excited when we see a passionate kiss in a movie, feeling sad when faced with the catastrophes that the news shows us, or having that feeling of pain when we see another person fall or get hurt. Interesting right? Let’s find out more about them.

The discovery of mirror neurons

Mirror neurons were discovered by the team of neurobiologist Giacomo Rizzolatti in 1996. while investigating how neurons in the premotor cortex in the macaque controlled the grasping action.

By using electrodes in the areas where these neurons were located to record how they were activated when the monkey grabbed an object or food, they noticed that when one of the researchers grabbed a banana, some of the monkey’s neurons reacted.

At first, they thought that what happened was an error caused by the measurement technique or by a member of the team, but then they verified that everything was fine and that the neurons reacted every time the movement occurred. And that’s how Giacomo Rizzolatti and his team discovered mirror neurons.

Giacomo Rizzolatti

What are mirror neurons?

mirror neurons They are a type of neurons that are activated when you execute an action and when you observe that action being executed or have a mental representation of it. For this reason, they were assigned the surname “mirror” because, in some way, they reflect what is seen.

So, deducing what others think, feel or do is possible thanks to their activation, since they are specialized in understanding not only the behavior of others, but also how they feel. In fact, they are closely related to empathic, social and imitative behaviors, being considered by some scientists to be one of the most important discoveries in neuroscience in recent years.

Location of mirror neurons

According to the latest studies, These types of neurons are mainly located in Broca’s area, related to language and in the posterior parietal cortex, allowing experts to study the relationship between language and imitation of gestures and sounds.

Features

Mirror neurons are relevant for controlling and decoding hand movement. So when we talk to someone and they move their hands, our mirror neurons go into action to interpret the other person’s hand movement.

Furthermore, as we said before, they not only reflect what we see on the outside at a motor level, but they also They are also capable of reflecting emotional aspects due to their connection with the limbic system.

According to neuroscientist Marco Lacoboni, children who imitate and observe more closely the facial expressions of the people around them show greater activation of these neurons and, as a result, a higher level of empathy.

The reason for this is that, when a child sees someone smile, his mirror neurons create a mental representation of that smile in his mind. Then they send signals to the limbic system and, finally, he ends up feeling the same as the person he observes.

Mirror neurons and empathy

ANDNeuroscientist V. Ramachandran refers to them as “Gandhi neurons.” for its ability to facilitate understanding, solidarity and cooperation with others. Mirror neurons are even responsible for making us yawn when another person yawns or making us find ourselves imitating a gesture of the person we are having coffee with, without knowing why.

Mirror neurons provide us with a plausible neurophysiological explanation for some aspects of social relationships. They help us not only recognize the actions of others, but also understand them, playing a fundamental role in processes such as empathy, imitation and theory of mind. These neurons are further proof that we are social beings.

Mirror neurons and ASD

Mirror neuron dysfunction could be related to many of the symptoms of autism, such as social difficulties or communication delays. Since these neurons are related to sensory processing and the understanding of behavioral patterns, their deficit precisely causes difficulties in this regard.

In the autistic spectrum, problems appear such as the inability to grasp sarcasm, interpret other people’s emotions through behavior, or difficulties with imitation. These neurons are involved in all of this.

What applications can mirror neurons have?

Rizzolatti, in an interview given to a digital medium, assures that mirror neurons play a very important role in rehabilitation processes through the use of virtual reality. According to the author, both in strokes and in those that cause problems in the motor system, recovery could be benefited through virtual reality.

How is this benefit produced? Through virtual reality glasses: “the patient visualizes the correct movements that he must perform and the mirror mechanism is activated” and in this way “With virtual reality, the equivalent of a month of rehabilitation could be advanced in one week“says the author.

Sports applications

On the other hand, Rizzolatti highlights the relevant function when learning a new sport. This type of neurons are fundamental in learning by imitationso in sports such as tennis or martial arts they would play a fundamental role: “the student learns better the closer he is to his teacher, whose movements he repeats.”

Scientific research advances daily, perhaps not at the pace we would all like, but, without a doubt, each discovery can make a valuable contribution to the well-being and health of each of us.

Mirror neurons, like any discovery related to the brain or the human body, can be of great benefit not only on a theoretical level, but also on a practical level. It is because of that We encourage you to get to know your brain, because the better you know it, the more you can get out of it..

Below, we leave you an interesting video about this very important type of neurons.

What remains to be known about these neurons? Investigations never stop. The brain is one of those objects of study that, the more it is discovered, the more there is to discover.

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