Mirror Neurons Allow Us to Understand Each Other

Remy Melina | April 16, 2010 12:54pm ET We can understand the acti ns ! thers "ecause ! mirr r neur ns # cells that are l cated in the m $ement and mem ry secti ns ! ur "rains and %hich help us interpret the acti ns ! thers, scientists ha$e l n& suspected' ( % they ha$e e$idence' Mirr rin& is "elie$ed t "e the %ay in %hich the "rain aut matically interprets the acti ns, intenti ns and em ti ns ! ther pe ple' Mirr r neur ns, the cells in the "rain that acti$ate %hen %e per! rm a particular acti n r %atch s me ne else per! rm that same acti n, %ere up until recently nly a the ry' )cientists *ne% that they e+isted deep in ur minds and %ere resp nsi"le ! r ma*in& us empathi,e %ith thers, "ut had n hard pr ! t sh % ! r it - until n %' While such neur ns ha$e nly "een directly measured in m n*eys, scientists ha$e pre$i usly c nducted e+periments usin& encephal &raph .EE/0 machines that led them t "elie$e mirr r neur ns e+ist in human adults and in!ants' The latest research, usin& !ine electrical c nduct rs called depth electr des, has resulted in the !irst e$er direct rec rdin& ! mirr r neur ns in the human "rain' 1The study su&&ests that the distri"uti n ! these uni2ue cells lin*in& the acti$ity ! the sel! %ith that ! thers is %ider than pre$i usly "elie$ed,1 said 3r' 4t,ha* 5ried, the study6s seni r auth r and direct r ! the 789A Epilepsy )ur&ery :r &ram' Previously unexplored regions Researchers studied the "rains ! 21 patients %h %ere currently under& in& treatment ! r intracta"le epilepsy at the R nald Rea&an 789A Medical 8enter' ;ecause the patients had already "een implanted %ith depth electr des t identi!y sei,ure p ints ! r p tential sur&ical treatment, researchers %ere a"le t c nduct their e+periments usin& the e+istin& electr des' 4n this %ay, 5ried and his c llea&ues &arnered and rec rded the neur n acti$ity results directly !r m the patients6 "rains' The researchers n ted sin&le cell and multiple<cell acti$ity in the m t r re&i ns ! the "rain %here mirr r neur ns %ere th u&ht t e+ist, as %ell as in re&i ns in$ l$ed in $isi n and in mem ry' ;rain acti$ity %as measured as the patients " th "ser$ed and per! rmed &raspin& acti ns and !acial e+pressi ns' The patients !irst "ser$ed $ari us acti ns presented n a lapt p c mputer' Then they %ere as*ed t per! rm an acti n "ased n a % rd they %ere sh %n' 4n the c ntr l tas*, the same % rds %ere presented, "ut the patients %ere instructed n t t e+ecute the acti n' The e+periments sh %ed that ! the c m"ined 1,1== neur ns studied in the 21 patients, the neur ns %ere m st acti$e %hen the indi$iduals per! rmed r "ser$ed a tas*' The results als re$ealed that certain areas ! mirr r cells increased their acti$ity durin& the e+ecuti n ! an acti n, "ut decreased their acti$ity %hen an acti n %as nly "ein& "ser$ed'

1We hyp thesi,e that the decreased acti$ity !r m the cells %hen "ser$in& an acti n may "e t inhi"it the "ser$er !r m aut matically per! rmin& that same acti n,1 said R y Mu*amel, the study6s lead auth r' 15urtherm re, this su"set ! mirr r neur ns may help us distin&uish the acti ns ! ther pe ple !r m ur %n acti ns'1 The acti$e mirr r neur ns that resp nded t the tas*s %ere l cated in the medial !r ntal c rte+ and medial temp ral c rte+ neural systems' Mirr rin& resp nses n a sin&ular<cell le$el ha$e ne$er "een pre$i usly rec rded in these t% areas ! the "rain' The autism link 5ried6s study results sh % that mirr r neur ns are l cated in m re re&i ns ! the human "rain than pre$i usly "elie$ed' That researchers ! und mirr r neur ns !irin& in the medial !r ntal c rte+ ! r m $ement selecti n and in the medial temp ral c rte+ ! r mem ry implicates that the "rain acti$ity in$ l$ed in ma*in& us pr cess and mirr r the acti ns ! thers is 2uite c mple+' The !indin&s c uld als help scientists understand de$el pmental dis rders, such as autism, since mirr rin& is li*ely resp nsi"le ! r helpin& the "rain rec &ni,e and c mprehend the acti ns, intenti ns and em ti ns ! ther pe ple' ( % that scientists *n % %hat areas ! the "rain are in$ l$ed in the decipherin& ! this in! rmati n, they %ill "e "etter e2uipped in de$el pin& treatment plans and therapies' 1There is e$idence that patients %ith autism ha$e de!icits in these re&i ns ! the "rain,1 Mu*amel t ld 9i$e)cienc'c m' 1>nce %e *n % the e+act !uncti ns ! the neur n, %e can % r* n de$el pin& a dia&n sis'1

T p 10 Mysteries ! the Mind ;rain (e%s and 4n! rmati n )in&le ;rain 8ell 8an ? ld a Mem ry

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