most likely at a party in recent years has touched you dance the Macarena , otherwise it is almost certain that at least have heard of it. This song of English origin was originally performed by Los del Río and has been danced around the world in numerous public and private events and even distinguished people.
| The macarena dance shows that imitation is not as immediate as you'd think and are sometimes required numerous choreographic attended training sessions to achieve some coordination and, If possible, so famous grace in movement of arms and hips. is possible that during a party some of the attendees to do the macarena dance have preferred to wander about the neural networks that enable one to follow a choreography or not. For example, one could question If watching the choreography from the comfort of an armchair would activate the same neurons that those who if they were dancing. This would not be a trivial question considering the recent developments and debates in neuroscience about the role played by mirror neurons in social cognition in general and the understanding of the actions of others, in particular. Mirror neurons were first described in monkeys and outstanding about them is that "lit up" not only when a monkey carried out an action (such as grasping a cup), but also when the monkey watched another doing the same action. Then other studies have suggested the existence of a similar system in humans. These neurons, with the ability to reflect the actions observed and enforced, are in the parietal cortex and premotor cortex . Given its apparent involvement in several aspects of social cognition, have been called also "sympathetic neurons" and has even been proposed that are "the force behind the great leap forward in human evolution" . But before we get excited again it is still necessary to understand several aspects regarding its origin and how they work. According Cecilia Heyes, University of Oxford, the first thing you need to know is where do mirror neurons? . According to a review published this year, the mirror neuron system could be 1) an adaptation to the understanding of the action on others or 2) a byproduct of associative learning. In the first case, mirror neurons have been favored by natural selection because they helped to holders of them to understand what others were doing. In the second case, mirror neurons would be a product of the learning that Pavlov studied with his famous dogs. According to Cecilia, both explanations are plausible, although the hypothesis of associative learning has more advantages. For example, associative learning in mind the differences between monkeys and humans could be explained more easily. |
To begin with, the experience can have a significant effect on the activation of mirror neurons. For example, part of the observed differences among other primates, and we could be due to the human development receive more training and / or stimulation to perform certain actions. Some authors suggest that if a monkey some type of training received perhaps its mirror neuron system would behave similar to ours. If the latter were true, then it would be a point in favor of the hypothesis of association.
The effect of experience has also been observed in studies with (human) pianists, which shows more activation mirror when they look at a piano performance compared to an observer with no experience in implementing Music. The same could happen with an experienced dancer with an amateur compared to observe, for example, dancing the macarena.
| In support of associative theory these and other studies suggest that sensorimotor experience can improve, reverse or eliminate the activation of mirror neurons. |
Other interesting observations regarding the mirror neuron system is that we have seen that corresponding neurons in monkeys respond to actions on objects while in humans there is also responding to gestures. On the other hand, the response in monkeys was found when subjects observe the actor's whole body, whereas in humans it is sufficient that the actor observe the activity of a single hand. Many of the studies have focused on actions taken by hand, but also neuronal activity has been reported for mouth-related actions, including monkeys, as evidenced by a macaque study published ago few years.
Parallel studies are needed to understand the phenomenon fully. For example, studies using magnetic resonance imaging should be treated with caution and checked against information other sources (to read a well informed comment regarding MRI studies here press).
Interestingly, in humans has been seen that the activation also occurs outside the area that has been reported for monkeys. This difference could be due to differences in methods used in both primates: monkeys are used invasive methods to isolate individual neurons, while in humans using magnetic resonance methods which necessarily becomes more rough approximation .
| The fun about mirror neurons is just beginning. But p or the time, what is certain is that mirror neurons do not, by themselves, to empathy. Empathy is a complex phenomenon that involves more than a network of neurons on and off. Still, the mirror neuron system seems to be a key element in social cognition and the study will certainly help us to understand issues related to it. |
Cecilia concluded in their review that if the associative hypothesis is true, then mirror neurons not only support if they are supported by human sociality. Much of the sensory and motor experience is precisely that we acquire through our interactions with other .
Reference articles:
Heyes, C. (2010). Where do mirror neurons come from? Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews , 34 (4), 575-583 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2009.11.007
Dossey L (2010). Strange contagions: of laughter, jumps, jerks, and mirror neurons. Explore (New York, NY), 6 (3), 119-28 PMID: 20451143
Gowen, E., Bradshaw, C., Galpin, A., Lawrence, A., & Poliakoff, E. (2010). Following visuomotor priming Exploring biological and non-biological stimuli Brain and Cognition DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2010.08.010
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