Seeing & Doing Are the Same?
Thanks, Robert, for sharing this piece about the discovery of mirror neurons and what it means to us deliberate creators:
The brain mirrors the movements it sees. Humans learn by looking and copying. The mirror system is how you harness your own abilities and project them out into the world.
And this explains why it's so important for us to be deliberate about what we expose ourselves to and the people and situations we involve ourselves in:
(Why actors are expert at this, autistism & broken mirror neurons, humans desire to connect with each other, and how it speeds up our evolution)
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Hmmm...slightly confused...
Hmmm...slightly confused...
April 27, 2010
By AffirmingSpirit - See all my comments
Scientists have known for quite a while that an athlete can merely *think* about their sport, and their muscles/neurons will fire in exactly the same order AS IF they were physically doing the sport. So, they've known for a while that the brain doesn't know the difference between doing and imagining. Wondering why they now think the mirroring neurons is something new?
They also imply that children with autism have broken neurons. As a parent of a child with Asperger's Syndrome (high functioning autism), when he was a baby he absolutely WATCHED adults to learn but seemed to pick information up very fast. Faster than I did, and I was considered precocious. At 18 mos he could mimic sounds incredibly well. At 20, he can make the exact sounds that every diesel train makes ~by train model/manufacturer, including the engine idle sounds! He also has to be reminded to make eye contact ~ a social skill that most others take for granted. To me this isn't anything broken, but rather *evolution*.
Many blessings,
Nancy
They also imply that children with autism have broken neurons. As a parent of a child with Asperger's Syndrome (high functioning autism), when he was a baby he absolutely WATCHED adults to learn but seemed to pick information up very fast. Faster than I did, and I was considered precocious. At 18 mos he could mimic sounds incredibly well. At 20, he can make the exact sounds that every diesel train makes ~by train model/manufacturer, including the engine idle sounds! He also has to be reminded to make eye contact ~ a social skill that most others take for granted. To me this isn't anything broken, but rather *evolution*.
Many blessings,
Nancy