A new article in the Washington Post describes the latest experiments on mirror neurons. I think this is one of the more important discoveries in hundreds of years, because of its application to empathy and morality.
Yeah, mirror neurons have been gathering some pace, though they do have some detractors; in some instances it's safer to talk of a mirror system rather than neurons, especially when the evidence is coming from imaging rather than single-cell recordings (and, to be fair, I've noticed they do use the term system in the article, though they do flit betwixt a tad). My partner works in emotional processing and an fMRI study that she's been involved with very clearly indicates brain regions employed both in the production and perception of emotional sounds. She has a high bar for credibility for sexy neuroscience terms, but this one seems to have the data in its favour. Will every behaviour claimed to be tied to mirror system turn out to be? Probably not. But you're totally right, it's exciting stuff.
Wait, are you both the Alex Fradera that posts on 20x20 room and so on, and the Dr. Alex J. Fradera at King's College? In any case, thanks for the update!
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