"Our sense of wonder grows exponentially; the greater the knowledge, the deeper the mystery."


-- E.O. Wilson

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Monday, April 27, 2009

Mirror, Mirror... In the Brain


One of the most intriguing discoveries of the last decade in neuroscience has been the existence of "mirror neurons" in the primate brain; neurons that not only fire when an individual is engaged in certain tasks, but also fire when merely watching another individual engaged in that task. They have a multitude of behavioral, social, and evolutionary implications. Some relevant articles below:


from the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/science/10mirr.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

from ScienceDaily:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071106123725.htm

from the Edge site:

http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/ramachandran06/ramachandran06_index.html

and finally, Nova video here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/01.html


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