One of the most fascinating processes of neuroscience is that of mirror neurons and empathy, with it the actions and emotions of others do not go unnoticed and we may be able to give an empathetic response, mechanisms that also have a social context and their implementation has a great influence on our daily relationships.
Imagine for a moment sitting on the chairs of a theater, now we imagine a group of excellent actors presenting us with a specific work, performing precise body and gesture movements and perfectly intonating each word, managing to infect us with a myriad of emotions. ?
“Look with each other’s eyes, listen with each other’s ears, and feel with each other’s hearts. -Alfred Adler-
Wouldn’t it make sense if we didn’t have this biological basis capable of allowing us to activate a powerful range of sensations, feelings and emotions, such as fear, compassion, joy, worry?, revulsion, happiness? Without all that, the Theater?of life would not make sense, we would be like empty entities, a civilization of hominids that could not have developed some kind of language.
So, it’s no wonder that interest in mirror neurons and empathy is not reduced to the world of neuroscience or psychology, anthropology, pedagogy or art have also taken care in recent decades to learn more about this interior architecture. , These wonderful mechanisms that we don’t yet know everything about?
There is no shortage of scientists or psychologists who say with total certainty that mirror neurons will do for psychology the same as the discovery of DNA for biology at the time, it must be said that knowing every day a little more mirror neurons and empathy helps to get to know each other a little better, however, shouldn’t we make the mistake of saying that these processes are exclusively those that made us?Human?.
What we are today is the result of many processes together, empathy facilitated our social and cultural evolution, but it was not the only determinant, with all this we want to make clear that, in relation to these dimensions of neuroscience, there are still some false myths that must be dismissed. It is not true, for example, that women have more mirror neurons than men.
“You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself. -John Steinbeck-
On the other hand, there are also no conclusive studies on the classic claim that people with autism spectrum disorder have clear dysfunction in their mirror neurons or that they are characterized by total and “absolute” empathy. That’s not true. In reality, the real problem would be more in the cognitive aspect, in that “Theory of the Mind” where the person is able to deduce information, do a symbolic analysis and, in turn, perform appropriate behavior adjusted to the observed stimulus.
To better understand these processes, we’ll look at more data on what science has told us so far about mirror neurons and empathy.
This fact is not well known and it is important to remember, would there not be empathy without movement, without our actions, gestures, postures ?, in fact, contrary to what you might think, mirror neurons are not a specific type of neuron. In fact, they are cells of the pyramidal system linked to movement, however, they have the peculiarity of being active not only with our movement, but also when we observe that of others.
This was discovered by Dr. Giacomo Rizzolatti, an Italian neurphysiologist and professor at the University of Parma who, in the 1990s, studied the motor movements of monkeys, it was fascinating for him to see how there were a number of neural structures reacting to what another member of the same species or other species was doing.
This network of pyramidal neurons or mirror neurons is located in the lower frontal convolution and lower parietal cortex and is present in many species, not just us. Can monkeys and our pets, like dogs or cats, empathize with each other and with us.
We pointed out a moment ago that mirror neurons and empathy are not a magic switch that, at some point, illuminates our consciousness to allow us to evolve as a species, in fact, it is a succession of infinite wonders, such as the eye coordination that has developed our symbolic consciousness, is it also this qualitative leap in the structures of the neck and skull that made articulated language possible?
Among all these surprising processes are those carried out by mirror neurons, which have mediated our ability to understand and interpret certain gestures, to associate them with a set of meanings and words, thus facilitating the social cohesion of them. the group.
Mirror neurons allow us to sympathize with those around us, they are the bridge that connects us, connects us and that, in turn, allows us to experience three very basic processes:
On the other hand, at this point, it would be interesting to think of an interesting idea proposed by Yale University psychologist Paul Bloom, many of his articles have been controversial enough to have argued that empathy, for the time being, is useless. Behind this impressive statement lies an obvious reality.
We have reached a point where we are all able to feel, see and perceive what the person in front of me feels or who appears on television, but nevertheless, we are used to remaining impassive.
We normalize the suffering of others, are we so immersed in our own micro-worlds that we are not able to go beyond our personal bubble?That’s why Professor Singer encourages us to be “altruistic, effective and active. “Mirror neurons and empathy make this whole model in the brain programming we all have. It’s like a computer’s Windows when you buy it in the store, but you have to know how to use it efficiently, making the most of its potential.
Therefore, we must learn to look at others, setting aside prejudices. It is also useless to limit oneself to “feeling the same as others”, it is necessary that one can understand its reality, but maintain ours in order to participate effectively in the process of help, support, altruism.
Because, after all, the feeling that is not accompanied by action is useless, so if we get to where we are it is precisely because we have been proactive, because we care about every member of our social group when we understand that together we are progressing in better conditions than in solitude.
So let’s remember what the true purpose of mirror neurons and empathy is: to promote our sociability, our livelihood, our connection to those around us.
references
Martin-Loeches, M. (2008): The Spirit of the d?Homo sapiens?The brain and human evolution. Madrid, Aguilar, Moya-Albiol, L.
Blacksmith, N. ; Bernal, M. C. (2010): “Neural Bases of Empathy”. Rev Neurol; 50: 89-100.
Rivera, A. (2009): Archaeology of language Symbolic behavior in the Paleolithic Akal Madrid.
Damasio, A. (2010): And the brain created man. Barcelona Destino, Hoffman, M. L. (1992): “The contribution of empathy to justice and moral judgment”. In Eisenberg, N and J. Strayer (ed. ). Empathy and its development Bilbao: Brouwer’s Desclée, pp. 151-172
Coward, F. et Gamble, C. (2008): “Great Brains, Small Worlds: Material Culture and Evolution of the Mind”. Phil. Trans. R. Soc, B 363, 1969-1979.