Giacomo Rizzolatti’s team in Italy found neurons in the brains of rhesus monkeys that react in unison with others. They named such neurons “mirror neurons.”*
When peanuts are given to monkeys, specific cells in the brain fire. However, when the experimenter himself takes some peanuts, the same cells in the monkey’s brain fire. This is thought to be a brain function that creates empathy by enabling oneself to identify with another, and also make learning by imitation easier.
■References (Books, papers, Web articles, etc.)
Mirrors in the Brain: How Our Minds Share Actions, Emotions, and Experience Giacomo Rizzolatti, Corrado Sinigaglia Oxford University Press; 1 edition (February 13, 2008)
*In order to transmit information to other cells, neurons in the brain need to generate electrical excitation. This is a potential change of several tens of millivolts that occurs in the cell body, which is called an “action potential” (also known as a “fire” or “spike”). In the brains of primates, etc., there are neurons that generate action potentials both when the individual acts and when they are watching other individual’s act. Such neurons are called “mirror neurons,” because they emit action potentials when the individual sees the action of another, as if the individual was doing the action itself—i.e., “reflecting” the other’s action like a mirror. This is thought to be helpful in understanding other people’s intentions and acquiring language, and it is thought to be strongly related to the ability to empathize. [Editorial note]
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