Mirror Neurons Make Emotions And Body Language Contagious
Christopher Philip
Based on research published in 1992 it was found that special neurons in the brain fired, not when performing a specific action, but rather when viewing another perform that action. In fact, these neurons worked even when hearing another perform an action in another room. While the study was conducted in macaque monkeys, there is no reason to believe that humans function any differently. Researchers postulate that these mirror neurons are at work when we feel empathy.
In 2000 a study involving humans showed similar findings. Here, participants were shown a face displaying happy, angry, or a neutral expression. The catch was that the subjects only saw the image for 30 milliseconds which meant that the expressions weren’t visible for long enough for the participants to consciously notice. This notwithstanding, the participants still showed increased electrical activity in the muscles in their faces congruent with the specific expressions they viewed. In other words, their facial muscles reacted as if they had actually seen the faces long enough to respond.
Mirror neurons provide the foundation for understanding how and why people tend to copy one another. It tells us why we’re so deeply affected by someone else’s negative mood and why we’re spurred to action to try to help them overcome it – because empathy says that when someone is upset or happy or whatever, we have a personal stake in the matter. While this might present a selfish motivation toward assisting others – it’s the best we have.
So when we see the moods of other people, their facial expressions, postures and behaviours, we empathize with them, and this is what gives us our human qualities.
Another recent study found that when we view someone submerge their hand into cold water, our hand actually responds in kind, with a corresponding skin temperature drop. Further, those people who reported higher levels of empathy experienced a stronger reaction.
Resources
di Pellegrino, G.; L. Fadiga; L. Fogassi; V. Gallese, and G. Rizzolatti. Understanding Motor Events: A Neurophysiological Study. Experimental Brain Research. 1992. 91:176-180
https://www.uni-muenster.de/imperia/md/content/psyifp/aeechterhoff/wintersemester2019-12/vorlesungkommperskonflikt/dipellegrino_etal_understmotorevents_ebr1992.pdf