Mirror-Touch Synesthesia

Gawande wrote about a woman named M. who scratched through her skull to her brain in her sleep. The scratching only gave her momentary relief before the urge to scratch just grew bigger making the annoyance worse. Since pain was thought to be so closely linked to itching through nerves, M’s doctors thought that the only way to get rid of the itch was to cut off the function to the nerves where the itch was present. After losing the feeling in her face and after taking anesthetics and antibiotics the urge to scratch still came back, becoming more of a chronic itch. Fueling Gawande's theories about the itch, he theorized that maybe there is nothing wrong with the nerves at all. He thought that there was something going wrong in the brain when it tells your body that you need to scratch, when clearly you do not. After becoming more in depth with M’s case, Gawande then introduced a man named H.. H. suffered from strange symptoms of phantom limbs. Phantom limb sensations were described as, “... far too varied and rich to be explained by the random firings of a bruised nerve” (Gawande, 2008). Gawande's theory expanded by theorizing that the brain can't visually see that the person/self is healed when the nerve transmissions are shut off due to

So, how about that person who can actually feel your pain? Could be he has mirror-touch synesthesia. Or, whatever they see, happy or sad, is mirrored back to them, including physical pain. This condition is thought to be caused by a heightened sense of empathy. Psychic empaths must consistently visualize a psychic shield of protection around themselves.

Synesthesia is when any two or more senses of the human body or perceptual pathways are linked. When one sense is activated so is another. So when you are eating, you may feel as if you are tasting a color instead, or when you see a color you may think of a shape. It affects 1 out of 2,000 peopled believed to be genetic, it is demonstrated more commonly in females and individuals who are left handed. Synesthesia is not diagnosed as a disease, those affected usually have average intelligence and no greater risk of mental disorders.

Upon reviewing the video entitled “Mirror Neurons” by Nova Science now, I gained a better understanding of the the whole mirror neuron system (MNS) and it's functions. In fact, a neuron is defined as “a specialized cell that conducts impulses through the nervous system” (Wood, Wood, and Boyd, 2014. p.41). The difference between a neuron and a mirror neuron is simple, a mirror neuron is defined as “a network of cells that the brain uses to interpret and produce motor actions and emotion-related behavior” (p.99). In my opinion mirror neurons are essential to establishing a human bond, considering they help the human brain translate or connect to one's own actions/behaviors to the actions and behaviors of another person. Mirror neurons help an individual experience empathy, which may assist in an individual's ability to relate to the world.

As the book state on page 30, “yet, when we begin to think, we risk cutting ourselves off from our sensations”, meaning, that we cannot think and hand feel the sensation at the same time. We would lose track of what we were thinking of to feel the object.

Cases of ‘phantom limbs’, ‘disappearing phantom limbs’ and ‘positional phantoms’ are a well-written about phenomena. Dr. Sacks describes how sensory messages can be sent to the phantom limbs, causing a neurological condition.

Mirror neurons have a significant influence on empathy. Empathy has seen a societal increase in interest in recent years. Many people have seen and/or participated in what is called “Random Acts of Kindness.” This is where you do something nice for someone and they are supposed to pay it forward. This causes the mirror neurons in your brain to fire off and make you feel as though you have an obligation to pay it forward when there is no actual obligation at all.

Mirror neurons have been hailed by scientists as the most significant finding in neurology in the past decade, the key to understanding the secrets of human interaction and learning, and as significant to psychology as DNA is to biology. Mirror neurons are a newly-discovered structure of the brain responsible for the firing of neurons during both physical movement and the observation of physical movement. It is these firings during observation of movements that has scientists excited about their relation to learning and interaction. While mirror neurons have been found in both primates and humans, their role in terms of learning and perfecting motor skills is still unclear.

28. Synesthesia is a literary term used to describe a word using senses. For example, some people describe art to be “loud” or “quite” .

When someone goes to move their hand to pick up an object many parts of the brain become activated. The cerebrum, relates to motor movement and when it is activated chemical messages begin getting sent all over the brain. The parietal lobe, which is in fact in charge of motor movement, becomes aware and prepares the brain to get ready for the action, this is a normal process occurs in humans. The problem is that this same process is happening to patients who have missing limbs. They feel as though they are reaching out to grab an object but the amputated part cannot reach for the object (Ramachandran 45). It seems as though these “phantom limbs” are still receiving signals from the brain to conduct these actions. “Sensory input from the face and upper arm activates brain areas that correspond to the “hand”

The author uses imagery to stress the importance of never giving up and keep going. The Arthur use tactile when he says “Sickening thud.” this use of imagery proves how hard he hits the ground Johnson could have chosen to let this defeat him however doesn't he is strong willed. The audience could see his body flying towards and hitting ground this imagery proves how he doesn't want to” waste his time and practice.”again the author uses tactile imagery he also adds in a little auditory by saying “Rhythmic beating.” This use of these images verifies how his heart was beating fast because he was pushing himself to be victorious the audience can hear and see his heart beating and also here the rhythm of his heart. Johnson knew he could do it his

The story of Ghost Boy had shown the world a rare and peculiar case study known as “locked-in syndrome”. The victim’s body witnesses a complete body paralyze from any sort of movement. Martin Pistorius was the main character in the book Ghost boy. The story covered the life of a boy who was misdiagnosed as being locked in PVS (persistent vegetative state) for the majority of his young life. When in reality, he was just locked inside his own body. Although Martin was aware of his surroundings, he was unable to communicate due to total body paralyze. A personal caregiver of Martin’s was able to identify that he was aware of his surroundings by the movement of his eyes.

At the start of the video presentation, it begins to talk about how the brain develops in adolescent children and then continues on with the crucial role that memory plays in a child’s development. Although remembering the past may feel like second nature to us, it does not begin straight away. Professor Martin Conway is an expert in the phenomenon of childhood amnesia. Childhood amnesia refers to the fact that adults cannot usually remember much before the age of five. Professor Mark Howe is looking for the key change that enables memory to begin in children. Therefore, Prof. Howe devised a cunning experiment to test a child’s sense of self-recognition. He sat several children down at a table in front of a mirror and tested to see if they could recognize themselves. To test if they could, he turned the mirror

The recent discovery of mirror neurons was accidently noticed by Italian neuroscientists who were working with monkeys to study certain areas of the brain that operated cognitive movements. Upon this discovery, it was determined that there is an abundance of previously unknown cells within the brain that work to consciously or unconsciously detect emotions of others through their actions and behaviours, which we in turn mirror by mimicking those exact emotions. It is believed that this

This essay discusses the importance of our touch receptors and a component of human exchange; when for once we give our trust to the person that is escorting us through the dark room and that individual becomes our eyes