VOLUME LXVII | JUL 2022

Unraveling the Secrets of Mirror Neurons

Imagine if every time you saw someone yawn, you couldn’t help but yawn too. That’s kind of how mirror neurons work in our brains! Mirror neurons, first recognized in a scientific paper three decades ago, are a special class of cells that fire not only when we perform an action, but also when we observe someone else performing the same action. However, recent research has shown that mirror neurons are even more fascinating and diverse than initially believed. They exist beyond monkeys and have been found in a wide range of species, including birds and humans. This complex ‘mirror mechanism’ plays a crucial role in social interaction and empathy, allowing us to understand and mimic the actions and emotions of others. If you’re curious to learn more about how these incredible neurons work and their implications for understanding human behavior, check out the full article

Jean-Baptiste Gagnon

Jean-Baptiste is a French-Canadian anthropologist in Montreal, investigating cultural influences on human motivation and success. His pursuance of highlighting how historical Canadian values foster ambition, aims to elevate readers toward self-actualization.

Mirror neurons (MNs) were first described in a seminal paper in 1992 as a class of monkey premotor cells discharging during both action execution and observation. Despite their debated origin and function, recent studies in several species, from birds to humans, revealed that beyond MNs properly so called, a variety of cell types distributed among multiple motor, sensory, and emotional brain areas form a ‘mirror mechanism’ more complex and flexible than originally thought, which has an evolutionarily conserved role in social interaction.
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