1. Mirror Neurons

2. Mirror Neurons and Togetherness
Togetherness is a human construct so fundamental in its form and function that we as a species have specifically evolved to create and nurture it. Much of culture is founded upon the concept of togetherness, built over generations on the principles of shared learning and the behaviors and resources acquired from social interaction.
Part of this adaptive process is the ‘mirror neuron system,’ which functions at a cellular level to help us connect to one another through understanding and empathy.
Mirror neurons help to translate what we see into usable information so that we can relate to the world and find a functional place within it.

3. The Discovery of Mirror Neurons
In the 1980s a group of Italian researchers led by Giacomo Rizzolatti were testing the ways in which neurons fired when macaque monkeys grabbed for peanuts. They placed electrodes in the parts of the monkey's brains associated with social understanding and responses.
One day a researcher walked into the room and picked up a peanut in front of a monkey who was hooked up to the imaging equipment, and the exact same neuron that fired when the monkey picked up a peanut on its own fired, and in the exact same way, when it watched someone else pick up a peanut!
This led to the theory of mirror neurons, and the hypothesis that these neurons cannot tell the difference between an action their own body makes and an action they observe someone else making.

4. Where Mirror Neurons are and What They Do
Mirror neurons are on either side of the head, in the part of the brain that plays roles in directing behavior, guiding and planning movement, and interpreting the actions of others, and understanding and use of tools.
The job of the mirror neuron system seems to be understanding and empathizing with observed behavior. This comprehension of other people’s actions and emotions connects humans to each other more deeply, since we can see what they are doing and understand what they are feeling.

5. Imitation and Learning with Mirror Neurons
Mirror neurons form the basis of a core mechanism for learning and growth from which other functions branch off. One of these functions is imitation, the ability to replicate an observed behavior.
The mirror neuron system provides copies of observed actions, and interprets them so that they are usable and can be processed for memory storage.
Imitation learning is processed through the part of the brain that takes simple motor actions and turns them into more complex skills and habits.

6. Mirror Neuron Insufficiency and Language
When damage to the sections of the brain that house the mirror neuron system occurs, difficulties in understanding and communicating successfully with others arise.
Mirror neurons are very close to the part of the brain that processes language and helps to create appropriate responses to other people's behaviors, so when they are missing or damaged they can cause problems with speech and social interaction.

7. Mirror Neuron Insufficiency and Autism
The absence of a healthy mirror neuron system has also been linked to the spectrum of neural development disorders, like autism.
People with autism have a hard time understanding other people's mental and emotional states, making social interactions difficult for them. Reduced mirror neuron activity weakens their ability to instantly and effortlessly experience what others are experiencing. People with autism also tend to have language problems, which have been connected to a deficit in mirror neurons.
This makes interpersonal connections harder to achieve.
The top images show neural activity in the right and left brain hemispheres of children who are developing normally. The middle images show less activity in children with autism, while the lowest pair show regions of mirror neurons in which normally developing children had significantly more activity than the children with autism.
 Images courtesy of Mirella Dapretto, UCLA

8. Mirror Neuron Insufficiency and Lack of Empathy
Because of their role in empathy, mirror neurons may also affect a person's levels of coldheartedness and psychopathy.
This area of research is vigorously debated, but findings from several studies suggest that a lack of 'motor empathy' has a part to play in abnormal social development and psychopathy.

9. Mirror Neuron Differences Between Males and Females
Females frequently score higher on standard tests of empathy, social sensitivity and emotional recognition than males do, but we are not sure whether these gender differences are a result of neural mechanisms or social learning.
Males and females process emotions from different areas of the brain.
Females use areas of their brains containing mirror neurons more than males do when assessing their own emotions in response to others. They show increased activation of the part of the brain involved with language processing and response activation and inhibition, suggesting that female emotional neural activity is verbal and responsive in nature.
Males show increased neural activity in the part of the brain responsible for self-other distinction processes and theory of mind, which suggests that emotional processing for males at the neural level is more about sighting differences between the self and others and seeking to understand them.

10. What Mirror Neurons Mean to You
Humans are intensely social creatures, always seeking common ground and shared experiences. Let's face it, we invent ways to connect: hi-fives, handshakes, games, shared meals, discovering that we both like mustard on fries or have an embarrassing affinity for glam rock hair bands.
Mirror neurons are incredibly valuable social building blocks. They allow us to learn from others, harness our own abilities and project them into the world, and interact productively and genuinely with other people.
Mirror neurons are an important part of our lives because built into our architecture is the need for togetherness, and they facilitate the process of coming together with understanding and empathy.

11. Citations
How Mirror Neurons Allow Us to Learn and Socialize By Going Through the Motions In the Head by the European Science Foundation
The Mind's Mirror by the American Psychological Association
Lack of "Mirror Neurons" May Help Explain Autism by Scientific American
Psychopathy and the Mirror Neuron System: Preliminary Findings from a Non-Psychiatric Sample from US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health
The Mirror Neuron Revolution: Explaining What Makes Humans Social by Scientific American
Gender Differences in Brain Networks Supporting Empathy Institute of Neuroscience and Biophysics, Julich, Germany