Contemporary · Neuroscience & Biology · Paper

Mirror Neurons & Embodied Simulation

Giacomo Rizzolatti · 1996

"Rizzolatti's team found neurons that fire both when a macaque grasps and when it watches another grasp — suggesting understanding others is not abstract inference alone but embodied simulation of their actions and intentions."

The idea

In Parma in 1996, electrodes in a monkey's premotor cortex spiked when the monkey grabbed a peanut — and, unprompted, when a researcher grabbed a peanut in front of it.

Why it works

The takeaway — recall it first

Epigenetics: Experience Writes on the Genome

"Epigenetics shows experience can leave chemical marks on DNA that change gene expression without changing the code — and some marks, via careful animal models, appear responsive to stress, nutrition, and care."

Conrad Waddington / Michael Meaney · FieldContinue→