How mirror neurons let us interact with others
were hypothesized to constitute a brain system responsible for our ability to understand the actions of others
We know about our world because we’ve interacted with it and only by simulating this interaction in our heads can we comprehend the behaviour of someone else
Since Rizzolatti’s 1996 paper, studies in primates and humans support the idea that mirror neurons help us understand observed behaviour
suggests that mirror neurons might also play a role in helping us choose appropriate responses to behaviors we observe
such a system might help us choose behaviors of our own
Such neural simulations might help us decide how best to quickly respond to changing events
this finding suggests how mirror neurons might link the understanding of the behavior of other people with the production of our own behavior, which is a crucial step towards determining the neural processes
clipped from: www.scientificamerican.com 