Mirror-neural reaction as a phenomenon was discovered in the early nineties. At that time, experiments were conducted with animals. Studying monkeys, some groups of scientists noted neural activation at various points. For example, when animals captured one or another object, activity was recorded in the motor cortex. Thus, it is logical to assume that at the moment when the monkey reaches for an apple or an orange, neurons that are associated with one or another action are activated.
During the experiment, it was revealed that if you show an object, but do not give the monkey the opportunity to take it, another group of neurons from those involved at the moment associated with this action will be activated. It should be noted that such active nerve cells were found in the motor cortex. Thus, the conclusion that the cortex is in some way a device for performing simple actions did not fit into the scope of the information that was obtained during the experiments.
As a result of the studies, it was revealed that at the moment when the experimenter came and took an apple in front of the monkey, the same nerve cells began to be activated from the animal, as at the moment when it performed the action itself.
It is also noted that when a person watches the action of another living organism, groups of nerve cells associated with the human need to perform the same action or with the same type of behavior are activated. These groups of nerve cells are called mirror neurons.
This concept was not chosen by chance. A neuron is a nerve cell. Scientists suggest that, to one degree or another, they are all associated with the actions that a person performs, with everything that he knows how to do. Later, experts found that mirror neurons are detected in a fairly large number. These nerve cells in some way reflect the actions of others. In this case, the actions can be completely different, and it is not necessary to capture any objects.
Mirroring neurons, when activated, contribute to muscle contraction, similar to that which would occur if an action were performed independently. Such a phenomenon, for example, scientists discovered in the process of studying the reactions of people who watched playing a musical instrument or dancing. In particular, this phenomenon manifested itself if the subjects were not able to play or were unfamiliar with dancing. At the same time, mirror neurons are not always activated and contribute to the further manifestation of the reaction. Experts concluded that nerve cells are excited under certain conditions, at a certain time. During the experiments, several phenomena were revealed and described, which allow us to assert that mirror neurons show their activity within the system, but not separately.
Research on the registration of brain activity can be done using tomography (positron emission or magnetic resonance). It should be noted that the researchers found that if a person has certain forms of autism, the above phenomenon of the repetition of one or another action is absent.
According to a number of scientists, the presence of a person’s ability to empathize with other people, to understand, to represent intentions, to construct certain assumptions about what can happen to other living creatures, is provided by mirror neurons.
It should be noted that the question of whether all nerve cells are capable of reflection is under investigation. However, with great confidence, scientists say that it is mirror neurons that provide the ability to simulate other people's actions.