Ok..I noe...I haven't updated for nearly a month..haha. Have been really busy. Right..this time, I'll be talking about sth really interesting. It somehow answers our common question of "Why is yawning and laughing contagious?". This article is from
Scientific American Mind April/May issue (I haven't gotten the June/July yet. If I do, I'll find some interesting ones :)). Ok..so anyway..This article talks about how the discovery of mirror neurons provide stunning insights into everything from how we learn to walk to how we empathise with others. This article is really long, so I'll just type a few here and there:
"These neurons have been studied in the past for their roles in movement and other functions. Now, however, researchers are examining them intensely for what seems to be an additional function - the way they fire in response to something observed. The discovery of this mechanism, made about a decade ago, suggests that everything we watch someone else do, we do as well - in our minds. At its most basic, this finding means we mentally rehearse or imitate every action we witness, whether it is a somersault or a subtle smile. It explains much about how we learn to smile, talk, walk, dance, or play tennis. At a deeper level, it suggests a biological dynamic for our understanding of others, the complex exchange of ideas we call culture, and psychosocial dysfunctions ranging from lack of emphathy to autism. Comprehending mirror neurons helps us make sense of everything from why yawns are contagious to why, watching Lawrence Olivier fall to his knees, we share Hamlet's grief for Ophelia."
"The researchers have learned, for instance, that mirror neurons do not just fire when an animal is watching someone else perform an action. Mirror neurons also fire if a monkey hears the sound of someone doing something it has experienced - say, tearing a piece of paper. And as the scientists began studying humans (using brain imaging rather then electrodes), they found groups of mirror neurons in higher numbers and in more places than occur in monkeys. Mirror neurons revealed themselves in the premotor cortex and the inferior parietal areas - associated with movement and perception - as well as in the posterior parietal lobe, the superior temporal sulabilities to comprehend someone else's feelings, understand intention and use language.
Unlike monkeys, humans also use mirror neurons to directly imitate actions and to understand their meanings. It appears we use mirror neurons to learn everything from our first smiles and steps to our most sauve expressions and graceful dance moves. We also use them to appreciate these things, to feel the meaning behind a smile or to enjoy - in a sense by doing it at a premotor neural level - the thrill of hitting a tennis ball as we watch a Pete Sampras backhand. (and just adding sth on my own - probably the thrill of kicking a soccer ball as we watch the world cup lol)"
" Another major insight relates to our understanding of other people's intentions and emotions. Several studies have demonstrated the dynamics of empathy, two with particular elegance. One, described by Iacoboni in 2005, shows that our mirror neurons work in elaborate sets. We possess a basic set of mirror neurons corresponding to an action's most essential form - reaching, for instance - that is supplemented by other groups of mirror neurons that selectively fire according to the action's percieved purpose. Iacoboni had volunteers watch films of people reaching for various objects within a teatime setting - a teapot, a mug, a pitcher of cream, a plate of pastries, napkins - in different contexts. In every instance, a basic collection of "reaching" mirror neurons would also fire depending on what expected action was suggested by various details in the scene. If the viewer saw a neatly set table and expected the hand to pick up a teacup to drink, one array fired; if the viewer saw a messy table and expected the hand to pick up a cup to clear it away, another group fired. Thus, mirror neurons seem to play a key role in percieving intentions - the first step in understanding others and also in building social relations and feeling empathy."Here are two captions from two pictures:
"Contagion: When we see another person yawn, mirror neurons in primal brain regions tell us to do the same. Group laughter can be catching, too.""Empathy: Theatregoers feel the pain of an actress spurned because their mirror neurons fire as if they were experiencing their own rejection firsthand."[Acknowledgement: Scientific American Mind]
Wow with so much typing..my hands are getting tired already as I just updated my blog too heh. Anyway, I think that's really probably how we learn what we learnt with the mirror neurons being the backstage crew of our lifestages. It's really interesting isn't it? Such breakthrough..as mentioned in the last para:
" If their enormous explanatory power is backed by more robust results, they might indeed become regarded as the DNA of neuroscience" Oh yes I'd have to agree with that. Such a wonderful thing for a better understanding of life should be researched into more; producing even more intriguing results (:
Contagion: When we see another person yawn, mirror neurons in primal brain regions tell us to do the same. Group laughter can be catching, too.
