Have you ever wondered how some people are so emphatic, while others cannot even drop a tear, no matter the situation they are put through? Or how some of your classmates seem to understand things faster and better, even though they weren't given a proper explanation? It's all due to the 'Mirror Neurons', one of our minds' biggest enigma.
In the early 1990s, a team of neuroscientists at the University of Parma made a surprising discovery: certain groups of neurons in the brains of macaque monkeys fired not only when a monkey performed an action – grabbing an apple out of a box, for instance – but also when the monkey watched someone else performing that action; and even when the monkey heard someone performing the action in another room.
To put it short, even though these “mirror neurons” were part of the brain's motor system, they seemed to be correlated not with specific movements, but with specific goals. Since that time, the term has become a powerful buzz phrase: technical enough to impress anyone:).
But what are 'Mirror Neurons' exactly and what impact do they have?
Mirror neurons offer us the capacity of having feelings or to experience profound emotions. The various situations we see outside are mirrored inside our brain and after our cognitive functions and sensations release our reactions, they are mirrored outside.
These structures are located in our brain, more specifically, in areas such as our cortex or the parietal lobule. Those two brain components work together and receive input from areas involved in the perceptual processing of biological movements and sensations.
Another interesting fact is that, thanks to mirror neurons, we are able to first observe an action (“What is being done?”), then understand the intention of it (“Why is it happening?”) and finally, to reproduce the same action in order to achieve similar results (the motor component).
Neuroscientists believe that the areas of the brain typically activated by our own emotions are also active when we observe another individual experiencing feelings or sensations. Evidence suggests that mirror neurons are strongly associated with human empathy. And that’s important! After all, empathy enables us to put ourselves in somebody else's shoes.
Mirror neurons' number cannot be increased, as neuronal structures don't go through the division process.The number you are born with is the number you possess forever in your life. However, many scientists are still trying to figure out some medicine that can grow their number and potential.
So if someone looks unemphatic and insensitive to you, don't judge him! It's not his fault; it is all due to his Mirror Neurons!:))
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