;-)
Posted on 04/29/2005 1:44:38 PM PDT by demlosers
Mirror neurons may generate ability to empathize
Empathy allows us to feel the emotions of others, to identify and understand their feelings and motives and see things from their perspective. How we generate empathy remains a subject of intense debate in cognitive science.
Some scientists now believe they may have finally discovered its root. We're all essentially mind readers, they say.
The idea has been slow to gain acceptance, but evidence is mounting.
Mirror neurons In 1996, three neuroscientists were probing the brain of a macaque monkey when they stumbled across a curious cluster of cells in the premotor cortex, an area of the brain responsible for planning movements. The cluster of cells fired not only when the monkey performed an action, but likewise when the monkey saw the same action performed by someone else. The cells responded the same way whether the monkey reached out to grasp a peanut, or merely watched in envy as another monkey or a human did.
Because the cells reflected the actions that the monkey observed in others, the neuroscientists named them "mirror neurons."
Later experiments confirmed the existence of mirror neurons in humans and revealed another surprise. In addition to mirroring actions, the cells reflected sensations and emotions.
"Mirror neurons suggest that we pretend to be in another person's mental shoes," says Marco Iacoboni, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine. "In fact, with mirror neurons we do not have to pretend, we practically are in another person's mind."
Since their discovery, mirror neurons have been implicated in a broad range of phenomena, including certain mental disorders. Mirror neurons may help cognitive scientists explain how children develop a theory of mind (ToM), which is a child's understanding that others have minds similar to their own.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I know every hot babe wants pissant. I guess I can read minds!
A mind is a terrible thing to read.........
Well, so many minds are full of garbage and gibberish that reading them is a mighty waste of time and effort. Besides, there are privacy issues involved.
;-)
A friend of mine and I would play this trick on my brother when we were younger....
I would ask Terry if he could figure out what number I was thinking. My brother would say no way no how. Terry would say some off the wall number and I would say yep thats it!!
It only worked until my brother went screaming to my mom because we made him bet and he didnt like it when he lost heh heh heh
"Some scientists say humans can read minds"
If they really believe it, I dare them to paint their bedrooms without checking out the color with their wives first.
GEORGE: A plane crash? A Heart attack? Lupus? Is it Lupus?
RULA: Do you want me to call the super? He was an Israeli commando.
GEORGE: If you don’t say anything I will assume it’s a plane crash.
RULA: Get out.
GEORGE: Not a plane crash. [leaving] Is it a plane crash?
And exactly how did the researchers determine that the cells were mirroring emotions?
At cellular energies not a lot gets transmitted through space.
I can read this scientist's mind. He's thinking, "More government funding...more government funding."
Marco Iacoboni, I am reading your mind right now... you are an IDIOT!!!!
I could have told you they were going to say that...
I can: Hillary hates us.
So why bother talking about it in the paper? Next!
Didn't I slap you the last time I read your mind?
George Felos reads your mind to find out when he can get
George Greer to issue the starvation / dehydration order !!!
I almost hate to post this, judging by the cynical postings here already-- but I have had a "mindreading" experience that I can't explain away.
BTW I am a skeptic-- big time.
When I was in college, a friend and I had a dream at the same time that was shockingly similar to one another's. I won't go into the details, but suffice it to say that it was far beyond coincidence in the details, emotions and general substance. It has me scratching my head to this day.
I was the one to tell the dream first when we saw each other, and my friend just stared at me slack-jawwed saying-- "you're not going to believe this..." over and over again, until he told me his dream.
That was almost 20 years ago. The first and last time anything like that has happened to me. I'm still best friends with this guy, and occasionally I ask him if he was BSing me about the dream-- he COULD have been pulling my chain.
But he's not that kind of guy-- at all. He's never said that it was a lie, and I believe him.
You've go to be kidding me...LOL
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