Mirror Neurons

Question 1

Mirror Neurons

Answer 1

• We can feel others pain
• A mechanism to unconsciously share experience

Question 2

Mirror System

Answer 2

• any brain system that is activated both
  
  1. by personal execution or experience
  2. by observation of another person in a corresponding state

Question 3

MN In Monkeys

Answer 3

• Was discovered by Italian guy testing monkeys by mistake
  
  • some of the neurons fired not only when the monkey performed an action, but also when it watched another being performing the same action
• These neurons adopted the other being`s point of view.
• They were reading the other being`s intents and purposes, his mind, figuring out what it was up to.
• They predict the intentions of the other beings. This is an important trait for social creatures like primates!

Question 4

MN in Humans

Answer 4

• Humans have mirror neurons that are far smarter, more flexible and more highly evolved than any of those found in monkeys
• In monkeys, MNS enables the prediction of simple goal-directed actions of other monkeys. In humans: to interpret more complex intentions.
• The human brain has multiple mirror neuron systems that specialize in carrying out and understanding not just the actions of others but their intentions, the social meaning of their behavior and their emotions

Question 5

Three Types of MNS

Answer 5

1. MNS for ACTION
2. MNS for TOUCH
3. MNS for PAIN and Emotions

Question 6

MNS for ACTION

Answer 6

• When you see someone performing an action - such as picking up a ball - you automatically simulate the action in your own brain.
• Circuits in your brain, which scientists do not yet entirely understand, inhibit you from moving while you simulate.
• But you understand the other`s action because you have in your brain a template for that action based on your own movements.
• When you see someone pull their arm back, as if to throw the ball, you also have in your brain a copy of what they are doing, and it helps you understand their goal. Because of mirror neurons, you can read their intentions. You know what they are going to do next

Question 7

MNS FOR TOUCH

Answer 7

• Common neural responses in secondary somato-sensory cortex (SII) when being touched and observing videos of someone else being touched

Question 8

MNS For Pain and Emotions (Ghandi Neuron

Answer 8

• “The ability to share the emotions of others appears to be intimately linked to the functioning of mirror neurons” (Keysers)
• Social emotions* like guilt, shame, pride, embarrassment, disgust, & lust are based on a uniquely human mirror neuron system (in the insula

Question 9

Five MNS functions

Answer 9

1. Figure out someone else’s intention
   
   • Enables to “adopt another`s point of view” (visually and metaphorically)
   • Visual - when you see John reaching for the ball, you know he is intending to grab it
     
     • Mirror neurons could discern if another person who was picking up a cup of tea planned to drink from it or clear it from the table
   • Conceptual- people see things differently
     
     • Theory of mind – enables us to predict and manipulate others` behavior and intentions
2. Empathy
   
   • neural basis of the human capacity for empathy
   • Initial evidence: People who rank high on a scale measuring empathy have particularly active mirror neuros systems
3. Self-awareness- see yourself as others see you, self-consciousness
4. Language- It enables to mime the lip and tongue movements
5. Abstraction- for example, the kiki-bouba effect = MNS transform a map in one dimension, such as the visual appearance of someone elses movement, into another dimension, such as the motor maps in the observers brain, which contain programs for muscle movements (e.g. lip and tongue). MNS links your visual and auditory maps (cross-modal correspondence)
   
   • Related to the evolution of language, because it suggests that the naming of objects is not completely arbitrary
   • Symbols “Juliet is the sun”

Question 10

how come we dont literally feel someone elses pain?

Answer 10

• How do you know if it`s you or the other person you are observing who is being touched?
• skin and joint receptors are sending signals to the brain that it`s not you who are being touched
• What prevents you from blindly imitating every action you see? (motor MNS)
• inhibitory circuits
• When it’s was damaged, people sometimes mimic others` gestures uncontrollably – echopraxia

Question 11

mirroring hypothesis

Answer 11

• we understand others through mirroring their brain-body states and thus sharing their motor, sensory, and emotional experiences.
• This understanding is automatic, precognitive and partially unconscious

Question 12

MNS & Autism

Answer 12

• Autism, some researchers believe, may involve mirror neuron dysfunction.