Understanding views of others isn't monkey-see-monkey-do

We've all seen children learn by mimicking. Even newborns get into the act. We smile, they smile. The mother sticks out her tongue, her baby follows. The 18-month-old will hold a phone to her ear and talk just like she sees grown-ups do. It is a fun monkey-see-monkey-do sort of game.

It turns out we do have a monkey to thank for understanding the game of imitation or mirroring. It was an accident of science. Fortunately, Italian neuro-scientists kept discovering even after the experiment stopped. The researchers were mapping various brain cells that were involved in movement. When the primate reached for an object, certain cells of the brain activated and created an electric signal. These signals were picked up by wires implanted in the brain.

Here is where the accident happened. While the experiment was paused and the subject was taking a break, a scientist reached for something in front of the animal. With the monitoring equipment still turned on, and the creature externally doing nothing, cells within the brain lit up. These cells were some of the same ones that activated when the monkey reached for the same something. It was a fascinating, monkey-see monkey-not-do-anything-outward eureka.

Failing to be labeled the monkey-see-monkey-do cells, these interesting neurons or brain cells have become known as mirror cells. It turns out that we humans also have mirror cells in our heads.

When we perform an action, such as smiling, we cause an assortment of cells to send chemical messages to their neighbor cells. Neural pathways discharge to the muscles of the mouth and, if sincere, the muscles around the eyes. In addition to the motor neurons, the neurons of pleasure that provoked the smile in the first place give off their ionic spark. The important thing is mirrors cells are involved, as well. They do not move the muscles, but they do stimulate the mind. When someone sees the smile, his or her mirror cells of smiling reproduce a portion of what the other person is feeling. Their own mirror cells reflect what the other mirror cells are doing. They feel someone's joy. It is also a way to feel someone's pain.

The implications for mirror cells are enormous. Some scientists think that it is by mirror cells that we learn as humans in cultures and in crisis. We can see someone doing something, and these cells of imitation let us learn by doing it first in our minds. If we practice, there are more cells that recognize the act the next time. Here imitation is a great compliment, and it is how we learn by watching.

In surgical residencies in busy short-staffed city hospitals, the saying is, "See one, do one, teach one." The doctors of tomorrow must use a lot of mirror cells to learn a particular procedure. For physicians, mirror cells for compassion need to be engaged, as well.

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