9781422270158

Social Neuroscience Social neuroscience is the study of how the brain reacts to social situations. One part of this is knowing how others feel or think based on their expressions and actions. Two different mechanisms are proposed to explain how people know how others feel and think—mirroring and the theory of mind. 1. Mirroring It takes about 250 nanoseconds for information to go from the human visual cortex to the motor cortex. This automatic process called mirroring is what allows us to subconsciously understand someone’s intentions. 8 2. The theory of mind One interpretation of the theory of mind focuses on humans’ implicit social knowledge. From infancy to school age, children develop skills to understand others. For example, when babies make eye contact with a parent,

MIRROR NEURONS: THE MISSING PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

Mirror neurons are brain cells that respond when we perform an action, as well as when we watch someone else do that same action. The first studies of mirror neurons were conducted by Italian neuroscientist Dr. Giacomo Rizzolatti at the University of Parma in the early 1990s and focused on macaque monkeys.

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Chapter 1: Why We Need People