A Closer Look at Mirror Neurons (BSP 35)

Brain Science Podcast #35 is a discussion of Mirrors in the Brain: How Our Minds Share Actions, Emotions, and Experience, by Giacomo Rizzolatti and Corrado Sinigaglia.  Mirror neurons were discovered in Rizzolatti's lab in Parma, Italy, in the early 1990s, and his book is a detailed to discussion of the experimental evidence in both monkeys and humans.  Direct single neuron recordings have been made in monkeys.  The evidence in humans is indirect, since it is based on mainly on neuro-imaging studies like PET scans and fMRI scans.  Even so, mirror neurons appear to be essential to our ability to understand both the actions and emotions of others. 

In this episode, we also explore the evidence that there are other neurons in the motor areas of the brain that have sensory properties and that the areas of the brain traditionally thought to be devoted to sensory functions also contain neurons with motor properties.  Another fascinating discovery is the fact that there are neurons that respond not only to somatosensory inputs (such as being touched) but also to visual or auditory inputs from objects within our peri-personal space.  For background on these body maps, I recommend listening to Episode 21 and Episode 23.  If you are new to the Brain Science Podcast, you may want to listen to those episodes first, because this week's episode is a little more technical than most.

I will be exploring the importance of these discoveries in future episodes.

How to get this episode:

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• Buy mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

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Links:

• Giacomo Rizzolatti: University of Parma.

• Mirror neurons (Wikipedia entry).

• Mirror neurons  (Scholarpedia entry written by Dr. Rizzolatti),

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Sandra Blakeslee (BSP 23)

This episode is an interview with Sandra Blakeslee, co-author (with her son Matthew) of The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps Help You Do (almost) Everything Better, which we discussed in Episode 21.

How to get this episode:

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• Buy mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

Listen in your Favorite Audio app: Audible, Amazon music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and many more.

Show Notes

I asked Blakeslee to tell me a little bit of her background as a science writer.  She wrote for the New York Times for many years and was the co-author of both Jeff Hawkins groundbreaking book, On Intelligence, and VS Ramachandran's modern classic Phantoms in the Brain (1998), which was one of the first books to explore neuroplasticity.

In this interview, we explored the relationship between body maps and neuroplasticity, as well as questions from listeners about out of body experiences and other oddities once considered "paranormal."  We talked about how body maps are relevant to understanding why some methods of alternative healing appear to be effective.

I asked her to tell me which scientist she met made the biggest impression.  Here are a few of those she mentioned:

• Marco Iacoboni at UCLA.

• Atsushi Iriki-cyberspace.

• Olaf Blanke in Switzerland, who has discovered how the angular gyrus is involved in out-of-body experiences.

• Arthur "Bud" Craig who is the pioneer of mapping the insula.

• Michael Merzenich-a pioneer in the field of neuroplasticity who also helped design the first cochlear implant.

Blakeslee told me about some of the pioneering work that Merzenich is doing to apply his discoveries to help people, both those with disabilities and those who just want to combat aging.  You can learn more about his work at http://www.positscience.com/.

If you would like to contact Sandra Blakeslee to give her feedback or ask her questions, she has a contact form on her books website at http://www.thebodyhasamindofitsown.com/.  She is going to let me know when she gets the references posted on the site.

• Interview of Sandra Blakeslee (Episode 23).

• Discussion of her latest book (Episode 21).

• Brief Review of On Intelligence (Episode 2).

A review of "The Body Has a Mind of Its Own" (BSP 21)

Featured in this episode: The Body has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better (2007), by Sandra Blakeslee and Matthew Blakeslee.  (Also available on from Audible.com)

How to get this episode:

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• Buy mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

SHOW NOTES

Topics:

• Body maps and the role of embodiment.

• Basic ideas about the body maps in the brain.

• Mapping the world around us.

• How body maps differ between species.

• Body schema and body image.

• The role of body maps in disease.

• The role of belief in health and illness.

• How body maps explain non-traditional healing methods and unusual experiences.

• The role of motor imagery in improving motor skills.

• Mirror Neurons and grid neurons in the hippocampus  (see more on Scholarpedia).

• How sensation and emotions come together (the role of the insula).

Scientists mentioned in the podcast:

• Wilder Penfield:  Discovered the maps of the primary sensory and primary motor cortex.

• Sir Henry Head and Gordon Holmes:  British neurologists who first proposed the idea of the body schema in 1911.

• Arthur Craig:  First to study the unique wiring of the insula.

• Antonio Damasio: studies the role of emotion in intelligent decision-making.

• Marco Iacoboni:  Demonstrated the role of the right angular cingulate gyrus in our sense of self versus others.  (Dr. Iacoboni has PDF's available on his site).

Other scientists mentioned in The Body has a Mind of Its Own:

• William Straub: Sports psychologist who demonstrated that students could improve at darts through mental imagery.

• Alvaro Pascual-Leone:  Used 5 finger piano exercise to show changes in motor maps both from actual practice and from imagery.

• Michael Merzenich:  Classic experiments showing changing in motor maps in monkeys.

• Scott Frey:  Using imagery in stroke rehab.

• Jennifer Stevens:  Use of mirror boxes in stroke rehab.

• Edoardo Bisiach:  Theories about spatial awareness and neglect.

• Jamie Ward:  Documented a patient with color-emotion synesthesia as possible explanation for auras.

• Olaf Blanke:  Studies the anterior cingulate gyrus, which map be important in out-of-body experiences.

• Atsushi Iriki:  Has demonstrated how the parietal lobes in monkeys change with tool use.

• Christian Keysters:  Thinks mirror neurons may be a key precursor for the development of abstract thought and language

• Hugo Critchley:  Expert in brain imaging who is interested in the relationship between emotional intelligence and interoception (visceral awareness).

• John Allman:  Studies the role of the frontal insula and anterior cingulate gyrus in intuition (quick decisions).

• Sara Lazar:  Has demonstrated that the right frontal insula and left prefrontal cortex increase in size in experienced meditators.

Note: This list is not exhaustive.  I know I left off VS Ramachandran and several others, but those listed above did work that was addressed, directly or indirectly, in my podcast.

Brain Structures (links include diagrams of the brain):

• Primary Sensory Cortex.

• Primary Motor Cortex.

• Premotor Cortex.

• Frontal Insula.

• Parietal lobe.

• Amygdala.

• Anterior Cingulate Gyrus.