Empathy

Author : Patrick Philbrick
One of the destructive pests in our mental garden is the mind-reading pest. We have identified this as a pest because mind-reading in relationships can be deadly both to the reader and "readee." The only people who can "read" minds accurately and consistently are magicians. They don't really read minds, but their magic tricks make them look like they do.Recently, cognitive neuroscientists have turned this certainty on its head. Like many scientific discoveries, these mirror neurons were found accidently. Two scientists were measuring the activity of a single brain neuron in the brain of a monkey when they allowed it to reach for some food. During a lull in the experiment when the monkey was inactive, one researcher who was standing next to a bowl of fruit reached for a banana. The instrument recording the monkey neuron reacted though the monkey did not move. Their first reaction was that their equipment was beginning to malfunction. They checked their equipment and repeated this event several times with the same result.Similarly, other scientists have observed this brain activity, not only in primates but birds and people. For example, if you picked up a pencil a very specific set of neurons would fire in your brain. If you wrote with the pencil, your brain would activate a different set of neurons. When you put the pencil back down, another set of neurons would fire.Here is the weird part. When you watch someone else pick up a pencil, your brain and that of the other person are firing the exact same neurons. It seems a bit spooky at first, especially since this occurs without your knowledge. Scientists call these cells in the brain mirror neurons. Some scientists believe the discovery of mirror neurons might be one of the most important brain discoveries of the last decade.These mirror neurons operate at the level of emotions, which are more difficult to identify than actions. Let's say you see someone who is feeling sad. As you watch, a specific part of your brain is matching identically the same part of the brain of the person who is sad. In other words, your brain accurately "mind-reads" the other person's brain.Mirror neurons may be the explanation for empathy and learning new skills through imitation. Malfunctioning mirror neurons may even explain the antisocial behavior of people with autism. Since our brains differ in many ways between people, we now have an explanation for the differences we see in empathy among people.Empathy is the capacity for reading another person's emotional state. Since the brain is trainable throughout life, we are encouraged that we can learn to be more empathic. Some psychologists have developed successful programs for training delinquent to be more empathic toward potential victims. As these children increased their empathy, negative behavior toward others decreased. As an adult you can be more socially successful by training your mirror neurons to read the emotions of other people.Editors note: We can learn and teach others to be more empathetic by "putting on the other persons shoes." Considering the thoughts and feelings that others experience develops empathy."Wisdom and understanding lead to happiness." Proverbs 3:13""O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8http://www.renewingyourmind.usPatrick W. Philbrick and Terence J. Sandbek Ph.D.
Keyword : empathy, mirror neurons, compassion