Mirror Neurons: Discussion and Debates
The average human brain weighs only three pounds, yet the intricacy surrounding its capabilities are one of the most sought after mysteries, with regard to human anatomy. Dr. V.S. Ramachandran (2010) explains that the brain is the housing for approximately 100 billion neurons all interacting in a phenomenal number of differing connections. In studying how neural processes develop, mirror neurons were identified. Although this is a complex topic which involves knowledge of specific sections and functions of the brain, for the purpose of this paper, a broad sense of how mirror neurons work and some of the debates surrounding these explanations will be discussed.
Dr. Ramachandran (2010) asserts that it has been long understood that ordinary motor command neurons located in the frontal section of the brain will fire with certain actions such as reaching for an object. Interestingly, the same neurons will fire while observing an individual reaching for an item as if the neurons are adopting an outside perspective simply by observation. This discovery is due to mirror neurons which are subsets of motor …show more content…
This claim is to say that mirror neurons have the capacity to see an action performed by another, take that information in, and understand the meaning behind the action. Thus, observing information creates insight into the meaning of the action observed. Problems arise with this explanation because an individual may perform an action which has no meaning or purpose behind it. For example; thrashing about may have no meaning, yet it is performing an action, nonetheless. This is different from reaching for an object for the purpose of grasping it. However, it should be noted that there are varying degrees to the definition of “action understanding” (Rizzolatti & Craighero,
The average human brain weighs only three pounds, yet the intricacy surrounding its capabilities are one of the most sought after mysteries, with regard to human anatomy. Dr. V.S. Ramachandran (2010) explains that the brain is the housing for approximately 100 billion neurons all interacting in a phenomenal number of differing connections. In studying how neural processes develop, mirror neurons were identified. Although this is a complex topic which involves knowledge of specific sections and functions of the brain, for the purpose of this paper, a broad sense of how mirror neurons work and some of the debates surrounding these explanations will be discussed.
Dr. Ramachandran (2010) asserts that it has been long understood that ordinary motor command neurons located in the frontal section of the brain will fire with certain actions such as reaching for an object. Interestingly, the same neurons will fire while observing an individual reaching for an item as if the neurons are adopting an outside perspective simply by observation. This discovery is due to mirror neurons which are subsets of motor …show more content…
This claim is to say that mirror neurons have the capacity to see an action performed by another, take that information in, and understand the meaning behind the action. Thus, observing information creates insight into the meaning of the action observed. Problems arise with this explanation because an individual may perform an action which has no meaning or purpose behind it. For example; thrashing about may have no meaning, yet it is performing an action, nonetheless. This is different from reaching for an object for the purpose of grasping it. However, it should be noted that there are varying degrees to the definition of “action understanding” (Rizzolatti & Craighero,