Mirror neuron system(MNS)

The Mirror Neuron System

The mirror neuron system (MNS) is a group of specialized neurons that imitate the behaviors and actions of others. MNS involvement is implicated in neurocognitive skills such as language, theory of mind, empathy, and social cognition. Initially, neurons known as F5 were discovered in the premotor brain of a macaque monkey and were involved in numerous tasks such as biting, reaching for something, or even viewing another monkey or a human being (Rizzolatti & Craighero, 2004). The study carried out in the article shows that actions and observations done by people in the environment activate a complex network of actions which is formed by parietal, temporal, occipital visual areas and two other cortical regions whose primary function is predominantly and fundamentally motor.

The Cortical Regions and Neural Basis Mechanism

The two cortical regions, which primarily form the core of the MNS in human beings, are parts of the lower segment of precentral gyrus, posterior region of inferior frontal gyrus and also a rostral region of the inferior parietal lobule. The action of the neurons is similar to those in the monkey in that the environment exclusively triggers them. The motor cortex of the human brain gets activated when a person observes an action that is carried out by another individual. The neurons form a neural basis mechanism upon which a direct link is initiated between the receiver and the sender of the message. The neurons allow for the signal relay in the form of actions done by others, making it be understood by those observing the action regardless of the absence of the cognitive media Rizzolatti, G., & Craighero, L. (2004). Plasticity, which refers to how experiences fundamentally reorganize neural pathways in the human brain, is related to Mirror neuron system in that long term functional changes which occur when people learn new things from others makes the neurons to accumulate within some areas of the rain.

Article 2: Mirror Neurons and Their Function in Cognitively Understood Empathy

The primary focus of the study is to identify the psychological functions of mirror neurons about empathy which enables people to understand the intentions of others. The MNS has over the recent past been projected as the biological root source of social cognition which empathy is a part of. Empathy is often than not used to refer to shared behaviors where if a person performs an action that is associated with experience from particular emotion, a different observer of the action performs the exact similar action. The general experiment used in the study was for both normal people and patients suffering from impairments like Moebius syndrome who impedes the victims from initiating movement within their facial muscles (Corradini & Antonietti, 2013). When people are matched with a confederate who imitate their gestures, postures and body movements when carrying out a joint task, these people observe the Confederate as affable than regulates paired to a confederate that is not imitating does.

The Role of Mirror Neurons in Empathy and Intersubjectivity

The results showed that the impaired people, unlike the usual ones, fail to diagnose other people’s emotions. Cortical areas are activated once individuals observe and then imitate other’s faces that express emotions. The study is significant in that it enables people to establish the relationship that exists between the role of mirror neurons in intersubjectivity construction which is hard to explain through the perception of a phenomenon like behavior which is purely objective (Corradini & Antonietti, 2013). Thus, adaptive functions formed by empathy is that it creates a fundamental relationship between people. The mirror neurons cannot perform their roles in exclusion of the empathic capacities. Individuals who lack empathy usually treat others as just mere objects and could cause them harm as they are not able to create an appropriate emotional connection with them.

References

Corradini, A., & Antonietti, A. (2013). Mirror neurons and their functions in cognitively understood empathy. Consciousness and cognition, 22(3), 1152-1161.

Rizzolatti, G., & Craighero, L. (2004). The mirror-neuron system. Annu. Rev. Neurosci., 27, 169-192.