Mirror neurons and empathy

Mirror neurons fire in the same way when we perform an action as when we watch someone perform it. The fact that our brain reacts the same explains learning by imitation, emulation and also empathy, since we experience another’s action as our own and helps us understand it.

The first time mirror neurons were discovered was in the context of animal experimentation, specifically monkeys. Rizzolatti’s team identified them for the first time in the species Maccaca nemestrina and they were located in the premotor cortex, which is specialized in planning, selecting and executing movements.

After the discovery in monkeys, several investigations have been carried out in humans with the aim of knowing if we also have them and if they are related to learning, imitation and empathy.

Put yourself in the other’s place

Human beings know how to recognize other people’s gestures, we can identify emotions just by looking at someone’s face. We may not even know that someone, but that does not prevent us from making hypotheses about how they feel and in many cases we are right.

Thus, when we see someone in trouble or falling we can almost feel the fear or pain as if it were our own. Furthermore, this type of transfer is innate. That said, let’s ask ourselves, what mechanism makes this possible in our brain? Everything points to mirror neurons and their connection with different brain areas.

So, Mirror neurons would also have to do with the interpretation we make of actions. Not only could they help us internalize and repeat an action that we have just seen, but thanks to them we could understand them and give them meaning, understand why others act in a certain way and if they need our help.

When these specialized neurons are activated, other areas of the brain also activate, such as the limbic system. In this way, they allow us to be able to recognize facial gestures, access our memories and previous learning and unite all this information to interpret the situation and give it meaning.

Emotions are contagious

We are very impressionable. So much so that The mood of others can affect us, causing our mood to change. When someone we work with is sad and their face transmits that sadness to us, not only are we able to know that something is wrong with them, but our mood can also be affected; And empathy not only allows us to know what the other thinks, it also allows us to put ourselves in their place, with their circumstances.

Besides It has been proven that forcing laughter can make you feel better. Try it: one day when you feel down, laugh. Simply faking the emotion of joy will make you feel better. So will being with a group of friends who won’t stop joking and, even if you have a horrible day, the laughter of others will surely infect you.

Taking into account that the emotions of others can be very contagious and affect us, exposing ourselves to actions carried out by others can also be contagious, especially at a young age. So, Exposure to violence in children through television can increase the degree of violence in their behaviorsince we tend to imitate what we see, taking into account that we are not robots and we can choose our actions.

Know the intentions of others

Since we are little we imitate. First our mother’s gestures, later we played at being doctors, cooks, police officers, etc. In adolescence we have idols and people we emulate and as adults some emulate being successful people and also continue playing doctors.

Throughout our lives we imitate and put ourselves in someone else’s shoes., we even pretend to be someone we are not. This is the reason why cinema and theater exist, it arises from our need to imitate and live another reality.

Unlike monkeys, which also have mirror neurons that are activated when they see another perform an action, we are able to interpret if someone is simulating, to know the intentionality or to make hypotheses about it. Perhaps this is one of the characteristics that differentiate us, We have the ability to name actions and also make hypotheses, many times right and other times malicious, about the intention of the other.

Mirror neurons can be activated by hearing, seeing, doing or thinking an action, But each of these will not have the same impact, that is why, by seeing something we can recognize the situation better than by hearing it. In fact, human beings work essentially with visual information, although the rest of the senses are equally important.

The impact on our daily lives

The name given to this type of neurons says a lot about what they are. The semantics of its two words indicate that they are activated, for example, when we see someone doing something. When they do so, they allow our brain to reflect the same activation pattern as that of the person performing the action. That is to say, For our brain it is as if we were doing what the other is doing, so they work like a mirror.

We have a surprising innate ability to identify small gestures that are also very difficult to fake, So it is a good tool to know how the person next to us is and how to treat them. It is a very adaptive skill that helps us relate and avoid problems.

This phenomenon was discovered relatively recently and the relationship it may have with many of our behaviors and with some diseases is currently being studied. For example, It has been related to autism: the low activity of this type of neurons that has been detected in the brains of people who have received this diagnosis. Thus, being able to study them is a ray of hope to better understand autism and find a treatment that improves its symptoms and the degree of adaptation of those diagnosed.

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