NOVA scienceNOW : 1 - Mirror Neurons

Summary

This script delves into the fascinating world of 'mirror neurons,' brain cells that fire both when we perform an action and when we observe others doing the same. Discovered accidentally in monkeys and later found in humans, these neurons may be the neurological basis for empathy and our deep connections with others. The script explores how mirror neurons allow us to mimic and understand actions, possibly even emotions, and suggests their role in social interaction, learning, and cultural development. It also touches on the potential link between autism and mirror neuron dysfunction, hinting at their importance in social cognition.

Takeaways

• 🪄 The concept of 'mirror neurons' is introduced as a potential biological basis for empathy and understanding in humans.
• 🤔 Mirror neurons were discovered accidentally while studying monkey brains, showing activity both when the monkey performed an action and when it observed the same action.
• 🧠 These neurons are believed to be a fundamental mechanism in how we perceive and connect with others in the world.
• 👶 Humans learn by observing and imitating, which is a process that mirror neurons may facilitate.
• 🏃‍♂️ When we watch someone perform an action, our mirror neurons 'mirror' the action, allowing us to feel as if we are performing it ourselves.
• 🎭 Actors utilize the mirror neuron system to evoke emotions in their audience through their performances.
• 🤝 The mirror neuron system is suggested to be a key factor in human social interaction and bonding.
• 🧐 There is a hypothesis that mirror neurons may be linked to the development of culture and social learning in humans.
• 🧬 The potential connection between mirror neuron function and conditions like autism is discussed, suggesting that impaired mirror neuron activity could affect social interaction.
• 🌐 The script suggests that mirror neurons are not just about physical actions but may also be involved in emotional resonance and empathy.
• 🔬 The script concludes by emphasizing the importance of further research to understand the role of mirror neurons in human behavior and social connectivity.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video script?

The main topic of the video script is the discovery and implications of 'mirror neurons,' a type of brain cell that fires both when an individual performs an action and when they observe someone else performing the same action.

How were mirror neurons initially discovered?

Mirror neurons were discovered accidentally at a laboratory in Parma, Italy, while researchers were studying the brain activity of monkeys. They noticed a neuron would fire both when the monkey performed an action and when it observed a human performing the same action.

What is the significance of mirror neurons in understanding human empathy?

Mirror neurons are significant in understanding human empathy because they may allow individuals to 'mirror' the actions and emotions of others, enabling a deeper connection and understanding of others' experiences.

How do mirror neurons relate to our ability to learn and imitate?

Mirror neurons play a crucial role in learning and imitation by allowing individuals to observe and replicate actions they see others perform, which is a fundamental aspect of human social interaction and cultural transmission.

What role do mirror neurons play in our engagement with sports and other competitive activities?

Mirror neurons may be responsible for the intense emotional engagement people feel when watching sports or other competitive activities, as they fire when observing the action, making viewers feel as if they are participating themselves.

How do mirror neurons contribute to our understanding of social interactions?

Mirror neurons contribute to our understanding of social interactions by suggesting that our brains are wired to resonate with the actions and emotions of others, facilitating social bonding and communication.

What is the connection between mirror neurons and the emotional response to observing others?

Mirror neurons are believed to send messages to the limbic system, which is associated with emotions, suggesting that these neurons may help us tune into and share the feelings of others.

How might mirror neurons be related to conditions like autism?

The script suggests that there might be a link between autism and the functioning of mirror neurons. Children with autism may show different brainwave patterns when observing actions compared to performing them, which could indicate a deficit in their mirror neuron system.

What does the script suggest about the evolutionary significance of mirror neurons?

The script proposes that an enhancement in the functionality of mirror neurons at a key point in human evolution may have allowed for rapid cultural and technological advancement through imitation and learning from others.

How do mirror neurons demonstrate the social nature of humans?

Mirror neurons demonstrate the social nature of humans by indicating that our brains are equipped with a system specifically designed for interaction and relating to others, which is essential for social bonding and cultural participation.

What is the purpose of the mirror neuron exercise with the wishbone mentioned in the script?

The mirror neuron exercise with the wishbone is designed to illustrate how mirror neurons can make us feel as if we are performing an action just by observing it, highlighting our brain's ability to empathize with and mimic observed actions.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 The Discovery of Mirror Neurons

In this segment, Robert Krulwich explores the concept of empathy and the human ability to connect with others through facial expressions and body language. The discussion introduces mirror neurons, a type of brain cell that fires both when an individual performs an action and when they observe someone else performing the same action. This discovery, made accidentally while studying monkeys in Parma, Italy, suggests that these neurons might be the biological basis for our capacity to understand and mimic others, which is fundamental to learning, empathy, and social interaction.

05:08

🤔 Mirror Neurons and Emotional Connection

This paragraph delves deeper into the role of mirror neurons in social interaction and empathy. Daniel Glaser explains how the mirror system allows us to project our abilities into the world, enabling us to recognize and relate to the actions of others. The segment also touches on how sports fans can feel tense and engaged with the game because their mirror neurons are firing as if they were playing. UCLA professor Marco Iacoboni suggests that mirror neurons might also connect us to other people's feelings, not just actions, which is explored through an fMRI experiment with Robert Krulwich. The experiment shows that the same brain area is active when making and observing facial expressions, indicating a neural basis for empathy.

10:11

🧬 The Role of Mirror Neurons in Social Interaction and Autism

The final paragraph discusses the importance of mirror neurons in social interaction and their potential connection to autism. Dr. V.S. Ramachandran and Lindsay Schenk conduct an experiment to study the brainwave patterns of children with autism, comparing them to neurotypical individuals. The results hint at a possible deficit in the mirror neuron system among those with autism, which could relate to their social interaction difficulties. Ramachandran also hypothesizes that an enhancement in the mirror neuron system might have been a key factor in human evolution, allowing for rapid cultural and technological advancements through imitation and learning from others. The segment concludes with a reflection on the social nature of humans and the potential implications of mirror neuron research for understanding our species' unique abilities.

Keywords

💡Mirror Neurons

Mirror neurons are a type of brain cell that fires both when an individual performs an action and when they observe someone else performing the same action. This concept is central to the video's theme as it suggests a neurological basis for empathy and understanding others' actions. In the script, the discovery of mirror neurons in monkeys and their subsequent identification in humans is described as a breakthrough in understanding how we connect with others. The video illustrates this with examples such as how watching someone grasp a peanut triggers the same neural response as if the monkey itself had grasped it.

💡Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. It is closely tied to the concept of mirror neurons, as these neurons may enable us to feel what others are feeling by 'mirroring' their actions in our brains. The video discusses how this neural mechanism could be a fundamental part of our social nature, allowing us to connect deeply with others, as seen in the way sports fans tense with the action or how people can feel the struggle of someone carrying heavy packages.

💡Motor Planning

Motor planning refers to the process by which the brain prepares and executes movements. The video script mentions that the neurons initially observed in monkeys were involved in motor planning, suggesting their role in movement. However, the surprising discovery was that these neurons also fired when the monkey observed a human performing the same action, indicating that mirror neurons bridge motor planning with the observation of others' movements.

💡Social Interaction

Social interaction is the process of engaging with others in a social setting. The video emphasizes the role of mirror neurons in facilitating social interaction by allowing us to understand and mimic the actions of others. This is exemplified through the script's discussion of how humans are 'intensely social creatures' and how mirror neurons may have played a critical role in our evolution by enhancing our ability to learn from one another and form social bonds.

💡Imitation

Imitation is the act of copying the behavior of others. The video script highlights imitation as a fundamental aspect of learning and socialization, with mirror neurons potentially playing a key role in this process. It is illustrated through the example of infants learning by watching and copying, and how this ability to imitate allows us to share experiences and connect with others on a deeper level.

💡Evolution

Evolution in this context refers to the biological process of change and adaptation over time. The video script suggests that an improvement in the function of mirror neurons at a key moment in human evolution may have contributed to our unique social and cultural abilities. This is discussed through the comparison of how quickly humans can learn and adapt through observation compared to the slower process of genetic evolution in other species.

💡Autism

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects communication and social interaction. The video script explores the potential link between autism and mirror neurons, suggesting that a deficit in the mirror neuron system might contribute to the social interaction difficulties observed in individuals with autism. This is mentioned in the context of an experiment where children with autism showed different brainwave patterns when observing hand movements compared to when they were performing the movements themselves.

💡Cultural Imitation

Cultural imitation refers to the process by which cultural practices and knowledge are transmitted through observation and replication. The video discusses how mirror neurons may have played a significant role in the development of human culture by enabling us to learn from one another's actions, thus facilitating the spread of cultural practices such as dances, games, and social rituals.

💡Neurological Basis

The neurological basis refers to the biological and neural mechanisms that underlie a particular function or behavior. The video script delves into the discovery of the neurological basis for our ability to empathize and connect with others, suggesting that mirror neurons provide this basis by mirroring the actions and possibly the emotions of others within our own brains.

💡Observational Learning

Observational learning is a social learning process where individuals learn by observing the behaviors of others. The video script explains how mirror neurons may facilitate observational learning, as they activate both when performing an action and when observing someone else perform the same action. This is exemplified by the script's discussion of how humans learn by watching and copying, which is a fundamental aspect of our social and cultural development.

💡Limbic System

The limbic system is a set of brain structures involved in emotions, behavior, and long-term memory. The video script suggests that mirror neurons may send messages to the limbic system, potentially allowing us to tune into others' feelings and experience empathy. This is discussed in the context of an experiment where the emotional response to observing facial expressions was linked to activity in the brain's 'happy' emotional region.

Highlights

Humans are adept at reading facial expressions and body language, which facilitates empathy and connection.

A potential neural basis for empathy may be present in our brains, suggested by recent scientific findings.

The deep involvement in sports and other activities might be due to our ability to connect emotionally through mirroring actions.

The discovery of 'mirror neurons' in monkeys and humans suggests a cellular mechanism for understanding actions of others.

Mirror neurons fire both when a monkey performs an action and when it observes the same action, indicating a neural mirroring.

These neurons may be fundamental to how we perceive others and could explain our ability to learn by imitation.

Humans can share experiences and emotions through mirror neurons, which activate when we perform or observe actions.

Mirror neurons could be the brain's mechanism for translating visual information into relatable experiences.

The mirror system allows us to tap into our own abilities and project them onto understanding others' actions.

People with autism may have a different response in their mirror neuron system, which could relate to their social interaction difficulties.

Mirror neurons may play a crucial role in social interaction and could be linked to the development of culture and language.

The discovery of mirror neurons in humans has profound implications for understanding our social nature and empathy.

The mirror neuron system is a fundamental social brain system that may be key to human interaction and learning.

The concept of mirror neurons challenges our understanding of how we connect with others and could have wide-ranging implications for neuroscience and psychology.

The idea that mirror neurons enable us to 'live in other people's minds' provides a new perspective on human empathy and social behavior.

The potential role of mirror neurons in rapid cultural transmission and the development of unique human capabilities is a significant area of study.

The exploration of mirror neurons and their impact on our social behavior offers insights into what makes humans unique among species.

Transcripts

ROBERT KRULWICH: Hello again.

Gaze into a mirror, and what do you see?

Well, I see my face, of course.

But in my face I see moods, I see shifts of feeling.

We humans are really good at reading faces and bodies.

'Cause if I can look at you and feel what you're feeling, I can learn from you, connect

to you, I can love you.

Empathy is one of our finer traits, and when it happens it happens so easily, perhaps becauseóand

this is brand new science, this is just out of the labówe may have some special circuitry

in our brains that helps us whenever we look at each other.

Ask yourself, "Why do people get so involved, so deeply, deeply involved, with such anguish,

such pain, such nail biting tension over football?"

COMMENTATOR: The Cleveland Browns are gambling on defense.

ROBERT KRULWICH: Why are we such suckers for sports?

And it's not just sports.

We can lose it completely at the movies, at video games, watching a dance.

Is there something about humans, humans particularly, that allows us to connect so deeply when we

watch other peopleówatch them moving, watch them playing, watch their faces?

Well, as it happens, scientists have an explanation for this strange ability to connect.

It's new.

DANIEL GLASER: It had never been found on a cellular level before.

ROBERT KRULWICH: A set of brain cells, found on either side of the head, among all the

billions of long branching cells in our brain, these so-called "mirror neurons," have surprising

power.

DANIEL GLASER: What we've found is the mechanism that underlies something which is absolutely

fundamental to the way that we see other people in the world.

ROBERT KRULWICH: And it began entirely by accident, at a laboratory in the lovely old

city of Parma, Italy, where a group of brain researchers was working with monkeys, and

they were testing a neuronóthat's a brain cellóthat always fired...made this sound...

(NEURON FIRING): Clack, clack, clack.

ROBERT KRULWICH: ...whenever the monkey would grab for a peanut.

So the lab had all these peanuts around, and whenever the monkey made its move...

(NEURON FIRING): Clack, clack, clack.

ROBERT KRULWICH: ...the neuron would fire.

Scientists thought, "Now here's a neuron that's essential to motion.

It's a motor neuron."

Then, one day, the monkey was just sitting around, not moving at all, just sitting, when

a human scientist came into the lab.

And when that scientist grasped the peanut?

Yeah, the monkey's cell fired.

Now, the monkey hadn't moved, it was the human that had moved, suggesting that this neuron

up here couldn't tell the difference between seeing something and doing somethingóseeing

and doing were the sameóor more intriguingly, that for this neuron, watching somebody do

something is just like doing it yourself.

The head of the lab, Giacomo Rizzolatti, thought, "Wow!"

GIACOMO RIZZOLATTI (University of Parma): The same neurons, one neuron, fired, both

when the monkey observed something, and when the monkey is doing something.

It is almost unbelievable.

DANIEL GLASER: It was surprising, because this cell, which was involved with motor planning

for the monkey, turned out to be interested in the movements of other people as well.

ROBERT KRULWICH: Some people call them "monkey see, monkey do" neurons, but the name that

stuck is "mirror neurons," because with them, the brain seems to mirror the movements it

sees.

This accidental discovery got scientists thinking, doing more tests, and soon it came pretty

clear that this is not just a monkey thing, it's a people thing, too.

We all know that humans learn by looking and copying; that's what infants do.

First you look...

MOTHER: One, two, three, four.

ROBERT KRULWICH: ...then you do.

DONNA: Ready?

Let's see your feet this way.

ROBERT KRULWICH: And once you've watched and copied and learned a set of moves, you not

only have them in your head, if you see somebody else doing it you can share the experience.

They know the moves, you know the moves, so you can move with them.

DANIEL GLASER: If you can use the years of training that you, yourself, have doneólearning

to crawl, then learning to walk, then learning to eatóthis is an incredibly rich set of

knowledge that you could apply to the problem of actually seeing what's going on.

ROBERT KRULWICH: So that's why, when I head down the street carrying all these packages,

not only do people watch, look how they're watching.

They feel my predicament because they know what it's like to carry heavy packages.

They know all about "carrying."

So as they watch me moving they can feel themselves moving.

Their neurons are "mirroring" the action.

These neurons may be the brain's way of translating what we see so we can relate to the world.

DANIEL GLASER: The mirror system is the way that you tap into...the way that you harness

your own abilities and project them out into the world.

ROBERT KRULWICH: And people are really good at watching and translating what we see.

Like, with just thirteen moving dotsóthat's all there are hereóyou'll have no trouble

recognizing these very ordinary activities.

What's more, tests have shown that when a person sees a movie like this of his own movement,

he'll recognize it immediately as his own.

And that's why sports fans tense with the action, and wince, and leap.

'Cause if you know the game...

FOOTBALL FAN 1: Flag!

Flag!

FOOTBALL FAN 2: No, no, no flag.

FOOTBALL FAN: No flag.

ROBERT KRULWICH: ...then your neurons are firing as if it's you playing, giving whole

new meaning to the phrase "armchair quarterback."

That's why it's so easy to be a sports fan.

But there is more, suggests U.C.L.A.

professor Marco Iacoboni.

He thinks mirror neurons tie us, not just to other people's actions, but to other people's

feelings.

MARCO IACOBONI (University of California, Los Angeles): So the idea was to try to figure

out how the emotional system and this motor system are connected together.

We're going to go in the scanner and what you're going to do is to...

ROBERT KRULWICH: To demonstrate, he put me into this very powerful f.M.R.I.

brain scanner that can peer into the brain while it's working.

And he gave me some goggles so he could show me pictures when I was in there.

MARCO IACOBONI: So you can see here the eyeball of Robert.

ROBERT KRULWICH: And once he had a good view into my brain...

MARCO IACOBONI: Nice looking brain.

ROBERT KRULWICH: Thank you.

MARCO IACOBONI: Robert, you're not supposed to talk when we scan you, all right?

ROBERT KRULWICH: Sorry.

Then he said, "Okay, I'm going to show you a bunch of faces.

And for each face, I want you to imitate it."

So I did that.

Then he recorded my brain while I moved my facial muscles.

MARCO IACOBONI: We're going do, right away, another one.

ROBERT KRULWICH: Okay.

Then he said "Okay, same faces, but this time, don't move a muscle, just look."

So I looked.

When we checked the results...

Oh, there's my brain.

I've never seen my brain before.

MARCO IACOBONI: This is your mirror area.

ROBERT KRULWICH: Iacoboni says that the part of my brain that's working when I make a face,

the same part gets busy when I see the face.

Plus, when I was looking at these faces, I remember feeling extra uncomfortable, kind

of bad.

But when these faces came on, I felt, I don't know, I felt better, almost happy.

And, in fact, at that moment I was looking at the happy face, my brainóand this is my

brain at that instantósee that red area here, it shows activity in the "happy" emotional

part of my brain.

And when I was imitating "happy" faces, look.

I get an even bigger response.

This, says Iacoboni, is a consistent result.

Mirror neurons, he believes, can send messages to the limbic, or emotional system in our

brains.

So it's possible these neurons help us tune in to each others' feelings.

That's empathy.

MARCO IACOBONI: We strongly believe that that's a unifying mechanism that allows people to

actually connect at a very simple level.

ROBERT KRULWICH: You are saying that there's a place in my brain, which...whose job it

is to live in other people's minds, live in other people's bodies?

MARCO IACOBONI: That's right.

HELEN HAYES in A FAREWELL TO ARMS: Oh, darling, I'm going to die!

Don't let me die!

GARY COOPER in A FAREWELL TO ARMS: Kat!

ROBERT KRULWICH: And great actors instinctively know that if they put feeling and drama into

their bodies,...

HELEN HAYES in A FAREWELL TO ARMS: Hold me tight!

Don't let me go!

ROBERT KRULWICH: ...their faces, we will respond.

GARY COOPER in A FAREWELL TO ARMS: You can't die.

You're too brave to die!

DANIEL GLASER: What actors are experts in is using their movements to inspire feelings

in the people watching.

These are the experts in the mirror system.

V.S.

RAMACHANDRAN (University of California, San Diego): We are intensely social creatures.

We literally read other people's minds.

I don't mean anything psychic like telepathy, but you can adopt another person's point of

view.

LINDSAY SCHENK (University of California, San Diego): When you put it together, what

do you think it's going to be?

ROBERT KRULWICH: So if mirror neurons help us connect emotionally, what about people

who have trouble with this?

Kids like Christian, who has autism?

LINDSAY SCHENK: Why do you like LEGOÆs?

V.S.

RAMACHANDRAN: It's been known for some time that children with autism could be quite intelligent,

but have a profound deficit in social interaction.

ROBERT KRULWICH: Christian can speak and read and write, but like many kids with autism,

he will avoid eye contact, he often misunderstands questions.

LINDSAY SCHENK: So, Christian, can you tell me what you did in school today?

CHRISTIAN: Doing well.

LINDSAY SCHENK: You're doing well?

CHRISTIAN: Mmhmm.

ROBERT KRULWICH: Everybody wants to know what exactly causes this.

So Dr. Ramachandran and his graduate student, Lindsay Schenk, designed an experiment...

LINDSAY SCHENK: So we're going be reading your brainwaves with this cap.

ROBERT KRULWICH: They recorded brainwaves while the kids opened and closed their hands

and while they looked at a movie of somebody else's hands.

For most people, the brainwave looks the same either way, whether they're doing or seeing.

But for the kids with autism, the wave changes, suggesting, possibly, that autism might have

something to do with broken mirror neurons.

V.S.

RAMACHANDRAN: Their brains may indeed be different in that regard, and they may have deficits

in their mirror neuron system.

But we don't know this for sure yet.

There needs to be...additional work needs to be done using brain imaging.

ROBERT KRULWICH: But what we do know, says Ramachandran, is that healthy human beings

are intensely social.

More than our cousins, the monkeys, we invent ways to connect.

We invent dances, and handshakes, and games to play.

We eat together.

We meet and we talk.

We talk a lot.

V.S.

RAMACHANDRAN: Everybody's interested in this question: "What makes humans unique?"

What makes us different from the great apes, for example?

You can say humorówe're the laughing bipedólanguage certainly, okay?

But another thing is culture.

And a lot of culture comes from imitation, watching your teachers do something.

ROBERT KRULWICH: And here V.S.

Ramachandran makes a big leap.

He has proposed that at a key moment in our evolution, this is his guess, our mirror neurons

got better.

And that made all the difference, he says, because once we humans got better at learning

from each otherólooking, copying, teachingówe could do things the other creatures couldn't.

V.S.

RAMACHANDRAN: In other words, if you are a bear, and suddenly the environment turns cold,

you need a few million years to develop polar bear type layers of fat and fur.

ROBERT KRULWICH: It would take many, many, many bear generations to select for furrier

bears.

But, says Ramachandran...

V.S.

RAMACHANDRAN: If you're a human, you watch your father slaying another bear and putting

on a fur coat, you know, skinning it, using that as a coat.

You watch it, you learn it instantly.

Your mirror neurons start firing away in your brain, and you've performed the same sequence,

complicated sequence.

Instead of going through millions of years of evolution, you've done it in one generation.

ROBERT KRULWICH: And while no one is claiming that mirror neurons are the key ingredient

that makes us different from other creatures, what these neurons do suggest about us seems

almost self-evident.

You can see it any Sunday at a sports bar, that deep in our architecture, down in our

cells, we are built to be together.

DANIEL GLASER: There'd be very little point in having a mirror system if you lived on

your own.

There'd be a lot of point in having a digestive system if you lived on your own.

There'd be a good point in having a movement system if you lived on your own.

There'd be a good point in having a visual system if you lived on your own.

But there'd be no point in having a mirror system.

The mirror system is probably the most basic social brain system.

It's a brain system which there's no point in having if you don't want to interact or

relate to other people.

ROBERT KRULWICH: But we do like to interact.

And maybe now, as never before, we will understand why.

Okay, now, before we leave this subject, we've designed a little mirror neuron exercise.

What we're going to do is take a wishbone, an ordinary wishbone, the kind you break for

good luck, and we're going to take itócome onóand we're going to take it for a stroll.

And, if your mirror neurons are working properly, when you see anything, even a wishbone walking,

you know, along, you won't just watch that bone, you are going to be that bone.

The walking bone was created and designed by artist Arthur Ganson, and later in the

program we will show you a host of Ganson gadgets in glorious motion.