In Friday's (8/17/07) edition of the Wall Street Journal, Robert Lee Hotz tells us how modern research in the area of empathy is telling us how to feel someone's pain, love, hunger, artistic appeal, pornographic appeal, and even subliminal advertising messages. Empathy refers to the shared feelings with others. For example, if we both witness a car accident, we both feel bad for the drivers. We've all heard of this or have felt empathy before, but now these research scientists are finding what they believe explains this phenomenon. The answer, they believe, lies in brain circuits known as mirrors. "These unusual brain circuits are mirrors in the mind that reflect the actions and intentions of others as if they were our own". These neuro-networks are located in the brain's motor cortex and react when we perform an action and/or when we watch someone else perform the same actions. You know how you feel when you see someone throw up. Most people want to throw up as well. The stronger the mirror system, the more empathetic you are.
This has led to the belief that AUTISM is caused by a network of broken mirrors, or a misalignment of data to those mirrors in Autistic kids. This is an interesting area of research because not all Autistic kids are slow in development. Some are actually quite advanced compared to their non-autistic counterparts. How will they explain that?
There seems to also be a link between the mirrors and cultural experience and ethnic identity.
Research is also being done with respect to the effects of advertising and political campaigning on the mirror networks. Stay tuned for the results of this global research. It promises to be quite interesting. Imagine the possibilities for advertisers, marketers and politicians if they tap into these brain networks of potential clients/constituents! To read the full article, please click here.
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