WHAT DOES ELBOW NEURON MEAN? Circa 1997, Parma - Italy, Giacomo Rizzolatti and other Italian neurophysiologists were fooling around with a macaque monkey, trying to isolate the brain neuron that controlled the monkey’s elbow movement. They hardwired the monkey’s brain with a sophisticated sound detection apparatus and then placed a bowl of peanuts in front of the monkey. Each time the monkey reached for a peanut, it triggered the ELBOW NEURON, and the search was on. After a morning of hard work, you can imagine their elation in hearing the loud click of the winner neuron. The story goes that they then rushed off to lunch. In their haste, however, they forgot to unhook the monkey. When they returned, one of the scientists, apparently not fully sated reached into the monkey’s cage and helped himself to a peanut. This single peanut theft set off repercussions heard around the neuroscience world. So what happened? When the scientist grabbed the peanut, to his amazement, he heard the loud click of the monkeys elbow neuron fire from the sound detection apparatus. In other words, the monkey, in observing the scientist’s elbow movement was simulating that movement in his own brain as if he was reaching for the peanut. (Kind of a mental version of monkey see, monkey do.) This bit of mental simulation is made possible by what we now call Mirror Neurons. THE ELBOW NEURON was the first identified MIRROR NEURON. And like you might have guessed, it’s not just monkeys. Humans also fire mirror neurons any time they observe another human doing something. For instance, if I see you slip on a banana peel, my own brain is simulating that activity and giving me both a sense of empathy and understanding of what you are feeling. Scientists believe that mirror neurons are essential for how humans learn and communicate. This is why when you’re a kid and a parent gives you ‘the look,’ you stop dead in your tracks. Your mirror neurons help you understand what the message really means. This is also why a single glance from a friend can speak volumes. With faces, a picture really is worth a thousand words. (Unless you’re autistic; autism seems to involve a lack of mirror neuron firing.) However, cells in mirror-neuron areas do not themselves hold meaning, and they alone cannot carry out the internal simulation of an action. This runs counter to the understandable public misconception that mirror neurons alone ‘mirror’ action. Rather, mirror neurons induce widespread neural activity based on learned patterns of connectivity; these patterns generate internal simulation and establish the meaning of actions. Watch the video for an in-depth understanding of how Mirror Neurons are responsible for human consciousness, empathy, creativity and how they help shape your individual identity making you what you are today:
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 05:48:20 +0000
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