Mirror Neurons and Motor Memory Formation Essay

For a long time it was believed that the representations do infact remain the same, however further research has revealed that cortical mapping can be changed with experience. For example, an increase of the hand representation can be observed in musicians who play stringed instruments or blind people who have to use the Braille system. These can also be connected to what was mentioned earlier; adaptations are required the more we continue to evolve and gain new

I often hear the phrase, “humans learn through observing and imitating,” and after reading about mirror neurons, it makes sense. As babies, we learn our first words by imitating the sounds our parents make. Growing up, we observe our environments; we learn what is acceptable and what is not. In turn, what we learn about our society allows us to conform and have a sense of belongingness to our community—we start to socialize. Socialization then translates to empathy. We discover feelings and we start to relate to other people’s conditions and situations enabling us to facilitate connections and develop relationships. Of course, more research is needed to validate the correlation of these mirror neurons to learning, language, social behaviors

During the course we learn that neurons are critical early in childhood. On Page38 section 4 it states that there is a big increase in synaptic junctions, those that are used will survive, others will decay or be inhibited. The author argues that mirror neurons are highly present in infant monkeys. The argument is supported by reporting that surface electrodes had recorded mirroring monkeys one to seven days old. The young monkeys watched humans stick their tongues and smack their lips. The research was conducted properly by the first evidence that infants have mirror mechanism at birth that responds to facial gestures. Ehrenfeld also adds that many day old monkeys even stuck their tongues when they saw the human tongue. This corresponds with

Neurons are one of the two types of cells in the nervous system. The neurons are the nerve cells that handle the information-processing functions. There is only one type of neuron which is the Mirror neuron. Mirror neurons are activated both when we perform and actions and when we watch someone perform the same action or activity (Fontana & others, 2012; Hickok, 20090; Oztop, Kawato, & Arbib, 2013). Mirror neurons prepare us to imitate, imitation is a very important behavior is highly social species like human beings (Galles & others, 2011). Research has been shown that Mirror neurons are required for social understanding, when we are watching an expert perform our neurons fire differently, but when the expertise isn't something we know or

Since the discovery of the mirror neuron there has been a great deal of talk and research completed on the subject. There has been increasing interest and studies done on these neurons, in the attempt to identify their exact role in our brains, and, what the lack of these mirror neurons does to us. These particular neurons have been identified as playing a role in imitation, observation of actions, and theory of mind (Dapretto, et al., 2006). Additionally these neurons have been credited with awarding us the ability to not only observe other peoples actions but to also understand actions, and the goals of actions (Hamilton, Brindley, & Frith, 2007).This is what has lead researchers to delve deeper into the function of the mirror neuron system

Pier Ferrari asserts that existing evidence supports empathy as a combination of both an innate, visceral response, driven by the mirror neuron system and a higher, multidimensional cognitive process. In his discussion of available literature, entitled The Neuroscience of Social Relations, Ferrari describes empathy as a “phenomenon” where biology, emotion and cognition work simultaneously to produce empathy, also suggesting that mimicry is the core element of this so-called phenomenon (2014). Ferrari rendered the neurological basis of empathy in perhaps the most simplistic terms, by stating that mirror neurons found in the pre-motor and parietal cortices fire when behavior is both observed and performed, supporting the theory that mirror neurons make empathy a biological and visceral response. He noted that adjacent areas of the brain related to emotion are also activated, which may mean that they are also capable of mirroring. He then points to the ability of humans to cognitively evaluate a situation and make decisions without completely succumbing to the vicarious feelings of the other individual, allowing the observing person to feel empathy with a level of detachment that facilitates decisions for self-preservation and

In order to find this, he conducted the mirror neuron experiment in which he used an electroencephalogram, or EEG brain scan to measure brain waves in autistics, and specifically the mu wave, which is “suppressed” when completing motor/voluntary actions as well as when watching these actions completed (in normally developing people). In those with autism, researchers found that their mu waves were not suppressed in watching these actions completed (reflective of trouble mimicking and copying observed social interactions/practices) evidencing the deficiency/abnormality of the mirror-neuron system in

The mirror neurons are peculiar brain cells that are located in the premotor cortex. These cells respond equally when individuals perform an action and when they witness another person performing the same action such as playing football or basketball. The presenter in the YouTube vlog argues that the neurons are also referred to as the monkey see-monkey do cells because these neurons were first identified in macaque monkeys in the 19th Century. More, Fishman et al. (2014) argues that when watching an action such as football and performing that action activates the same part of the brain as in the monkey. This makes sense because the mirror neurons elicit the same feelings in human beings

The quality that is unique to mirror neurons is that the observation of motion fires these motor neurons as if the individual was performing that same motion him/herself. The larger, groundbreaking implication within this finding is that the actions of others influence not only neurons that fire when associated with an ‘other’ but fire a set of neurons that are tied specifically to a ‘self’ distinction. Empathy, as a concept, can be loosely defined as an experience or moment when the ‘self’ and ‘other’ lines are blurred or discarded in such a way that the individual can intimately and personally relate to, or, has the capacity to know an experience of the ‘other’. What better way is there to know another’s experience than to have action-oriented, experiential neurons fire in a similar, if not the same, pattern as the other. Research in the area of vicarious neuronal activation has quickly progressed, yet the limits to these neuronal mechanisms and pathways are still being discovered. In the next section, the progression of the understanding of mirror neurons will be examined, followed by a discussion of the limits of the findings in the context of empathy and areas for future

Mirror neurons have been found to play a role in love and intimacy, in addition to feelings of empathy and altruism. These neurons not only help us to understand others, but they may even synchronize our behaviors and emotions with other people, thus influencing social connections and interactions between individuals. Mirror neurons are activated when we perform actions similar to other people, and when we observe or hear others performing acts similarly to us. Mirror neurons do not only respond directly to muscle movements, but also to the context of the situation. For example, if while watching a movie the actress reaches her hand for an object, our “grasping” mirror neurons will fire, even if the full action is out of view and cut off by

Humans make sense of the world by making reference to the behaviour and internal psychological states, e.g. emotions, thought and desires of themselves and others (Moore, 2010). This ability is commonly known as theory of mind (ToM). ToM was defined as understanding that mental states can cause behaviour and therefore be used to explain and predict the behaviour of others (Premack & Woodruff, 1978). Over the years ToM has come to encompass three additional and interlinked phenomena; a cognitive structure leading to certain abilities; a research area investigating the development of certain abilities; and theoretical explanations of development itself (Astington & Baird, 2005). Theoretically ToM is split into two main categories, theory theory (TT) and simulation theory (ST) (Marraffa, 2011). ST theorists postulate that individuals are able to predict and explain others behaviour by imagining themself in somebody else’s position. These mental simulations of emotions and expected behaviour are projected onto the target individual through the activation of mirror neurons (Goldman, 2006) (Ginsburg, 2007) (Oberman & Ramachandran, 2007). ST theorists generally consider this ability to be innate, as evidenced in a child’s ability to engage in pretend play on the onset of language acquisition, at around the age of

This ability is controlled by mirror neurons. These neurons are created to activate and send signals based on another living creature’s actions. For example, if we were to witness someone experiencing an emotion, these neurons would mirror the specific emotion and ultimately feel the same way. For the most part, empathy paves the path to sympathy. This is the ability to perceive someone else’s pain and the desire to relieve them of it. Both abilities allow us to form even tighter bonds to certain fictional characters. For example, our hearts ache during one scene where a young Forrest Gump tries to make his way down the bus aisle as he looks for a seat. We see from his point of view as his cruel classmates refuse to share their seats with him. The camera shifts to Forrest’s face where we begin to feel how hurt he

The neuronal substrate of imitative behaviors and empathy has been hypothesized to be the Mirror Neuron System (MNS) (Hadjikhani et al. 2007; Cattaneo & Rizzolatti 2009; Rizzolatti & Craighero 2004).This MNS is present in monkeys and humans. While this system has been primarily involved in motor representation and shared emotions among individuals, it might also be traced back to mirror neuron mechanisms (Gallese et al. 2004; Dapretto et al. 2005). Accordingly, activation of the MNS in a task relying on empathic abilities without explicit task-related motor components supports the view that the MNS is not only involved in motor action but also in emotional cognition (Sears et al. 1999; Fecteau et al. 2006; Dapretto et al. 2005). Therefore, hMNS is probably the common substrate for action observation and execution (Lehéricy et al. 2006). Further, the sensory-motor cortex contains neurons that are active during perception and execution (Avenanti et al. 2013), which are a part of an extended MNS (Schulte-Rüther et al. 2007). This is consistent with finding showing that MNS is

Mirror neurons themselves are a pivotal factor in bridging perception and action as they help prep responses. As discovered by four Italian scientists in Parma, Italy, mirror neurons fire as a function of perception, but it may not lead to any discernable action. Put more straightforward, mirror neurons are a set of neurons that produce a mirror like firing sequence in response to a stimulus, but they do not necessarily cause any physical motor reaction. The scientists who first proposed this phenomenon showed that neurons present in the premotor cortex of macaque monkeys showed near parallel bursts of activity between a perception and actual execution of a particular task, in this case grasping an object. Mirror neurons are unique as they are universal in the brain. They mirror actions, emotions, and even potentially sentiments. Moreover, Iacaboni even went as far to suggest they serve as the basis for complex states such as morality. In this sense mirror neurons have the potential to be major factors within group dynamics as they can

is only humans who can imitate a wide range of behavior, often adopting complex cognitive and