Giacomo Rizzolati's Mirror Neurons

In 1992, Giacomo Rizzolati discovered mirror neurons in macaque monkeys. Mirror neurons are cells that fire when you are focused in planning a motor movement and are also fired through an observation of a similar movement in another person. The macaque monkey’s mirror neurons fired when they held a banana and also when they saw someone else hold a banana. Humans are similar to monkeys in the same aspect. The mirror neurons helps the brain by recording the difference between actions and seeing. It helps us differentiate between our self and others. This is a very common mistake we are confused with because we take responsibility of others’ actions. In Germany, there was a study that showed a group of people a video of someone shuffling a deck of cards. Weeks later, they believed that they themselves had shuffled a deck of cards.
Days old, they watched human beings stick out their tongues and later mirrored their behavior. The infant monkeys stuck out their tongues when they saw the humans sticking out their tongues. The mirror neurons are found in the insula which is an emotion center. There is a large debate between mirror neurons and the connection of empathy. According to Rizzolati, the mirror neurons are there because this is how we recognize an emotion in others, not so much feeling empathy. Mimicry is also associated with mirror neurons. Mimicry essentially helps the bonding experience. In an experiment, monkeys were handed a token. When they returned the token, the monkeys were rewarded with a treat. The monkey chose between two people to give the token to and chose the person who imitated the monkeys behavior. Mimicry also takes place in humans, socially. We like people that are similar to ourselves such as being a part of the same ethnic