07/30/2019
"“At that point, people still thought that observing other people would primarily activate visual-spatial processing in the brain. There was a belief that somehow we just make sense of it like a game of chess, in an intellectual way.” The existence of mirror neurons “was the first evidence that we don't just engage visual and intellectual brain regions, but also those associated with our own body and actions,” he said."
I find this very interesting, especially the implications to support my sense that I somehow feel a resonance or echo of pain/grief/nausea/rage in my own body when I touch others. Emotional processing - even the idea that emotions might be important for our cognition and sense of consciousness is surprisingly new science. We have come a long way since the 1990's.
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a fold of brain tissue tucked just atop the corpus callosum at the center of the brain, has become known as a hotbed of emotional processing, including the affective components of pain. But could neurons of the ACC respond to another person’s pain as well as ou...
