Зеркала в мозге. О механизмах совместного действия и сопереживания

by Giacomo Rizzolatti

Книга нейрофизиолога Джакомо Риццолатти, написанная им в соавторстве с философом Коррадо Синигальей, посвящена проблеме, в изучении которой Риццолатти по праву считается одним из ведущих мировых специалистов. Это проблема так называемых "зеркальных нейронов" в головном мозге человека, играющих особую роль как в реализации простейших подражательных двигательных актов, так и в социальном познании и поведении человека.
В книге читатель найдет сведения о новейших исследованиях мозговых механизмов, которые стоят за пониманием целенаправленных действий другого человека, освоением языка, распознаванием эмоций, сопереживанием и другими процессами, протекание которых неразрывно связано с работой системы зеркальных нейронов.

Genres: Psychology, Science, Neuroscience, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Biology

222 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Emre Turkmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyin bir okyanus, keşfet keşfet bitmez😀

[Kerem Cankocak · Rating 5 out of 5]

20. yüzyılın en ünlü nörobilimsel keşfinin gerçek hikayesi...

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the seminal work on mirror neurons. It's dense, and jargon-ridden: "Therefore the dorsal stream as a whole cannot be allocated within the framework of a single functional categorization; we have seen that the dorso-dorsal stream appears to be exclusively, or almost exclusively, involved in the organizations of the motor activities...."
That's most unfortunate, because when you wade through the jargon, what the authors have discovered is revolutionary. It turns out that language probably originated in gesture, and that we have neurons that are constantly monitoring the space around us (unconsciously) so that our unconscious (pre-verbal) relationship with the world is actually much richer and more complicated than our conscious relationship with it. And then there are the mirror neurons, that mean that the experience of watching someone do something is essentially the same in our minds as doing it ourselves. That has huge implications for many things -- at the least, it shows us why memory is so unreliable, and why it's not a good idea to watch horror movies.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Per quanto io stimi Rizzolatti e apprezzi il suo lavoro, per quanto riguarda questa specifica pubblicazione ho trovato che si cerchi di mettere troppa carne al fuoco senza approfondire bene niente. Inoltre penso non sarebbe facilmente affrontabile da parte di qualcuno che non abbia un'infarinatura di neuroscienze, quindi si allontana dallo scopo divulgativo ma al tempo stesso non è sufficientemente approfondito per essere un manuale.

[Markus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diese mit Abstand tiefste und bedeutendste Darstellung der Thematik auf biologischer Ebene und aus der Sicht der Forschung außerhalb wissenschaftlicher Publikationen ist ein wahres Geschenk für den interessierten Leser. Die Entdeckung der Spiegelneurone war in den 90er Jahren eine Sensation und hat die Sichtweise auf das Säugetiergehirn ganz grundlegend verändert. Hier wird der Beginn dieser Erkenntnisse geschildert, die neuronalen Mechanismen, die unsere eigenen motorischen Neuronen feuern lassen, wenn wir die zB. die Handbewegung eines anderen Menschen beobachten, oder Schmerz auslösen, wenn wir Schmerz bei anderen wahrnehmen. Es handelt sich um nicht weniger als um die Entdeckung der biologischen Basis der Empathie.
Allerdings kann man das Buch nicht wirklich als populärwissenschaftlich bezeichnen, es wendet sich an Leser, denen Ausdrücke wie lateral oder rostral geläufig und die Grundlagen der Anatomie des Gehirns selbstverständlich sind.

[Blackjessamine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un testo estremamente chiaro ed esplicativo, che presenta in maniera abbastanza completa una tematica complessa e in continuo sviluppo, quale la scoperta dei neuroni specchio.
Io non sono un'addetta ai lavori, so poco di psicologia e praticamente nulla di neuroscienze, eppure sono riuscita a seguire il filo generale del discorso senza troppi problemi (certo, non mi sono soffermata troppo sull'anatomia cerebrale, ma insomma, è già qualcosa), e di certo ora ho molto più chiara una questione che spesso viene presa per i capelli ed infilata in un sacco di corsi universitari che poco ci hanno a che fare (o che magari potrebbero anche averci un po' a che fare, ma si preferisce parlare di empatia e tralasciare l'aspetto scientifico di una questione che è, primariamente, scientifica).
Insomma, è un ottimo testo per chiarirsi le idee su questioni dalle quali si è molto affascinati ma di cui non si hanno le competenze necessarie per uno studio analitico e completo.

[Juan Almonacid · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Las neuronas espejo son los diminutos milagros gracias a los cuales atravesamos el día” Iacoboni

Nos volvemos espejos de los demás. Después de cada acción hay una reacción subyacente. Podemos acceder al estado mental que los condujo a actuar.

Interpretan todo. Nos informan del mundo. Es un radar andante.

La distancia que divide lo que hago yo de lo que hace el resto es insignificante. Al hacer, oir hacer, ver hacer, se activa la misma región.

Los humanos tienen la capacidad de simular una acción y crear situaciones imaginarias que puedan ser comprendidas por el otro. Y al mismo tiempo están capacitados para reconocer objetos, gestos, situaciones solo a partir de ciertos gestos e indicadores de acción. Completamos el significado que se nos es dado a medias. La imitación nos permite ser empáticos, así conocemos el mundo. Es una forma de inteligencia.

La parte más importante de las neuronas espejo es que es un sistema que resuena. El ser humano está concebido para estar en contacto, para reaccionar ante los otros.

En el útero de la madre se aprende el vocabulario motor básico, o sea que ya tenemos ese conocimiento, el básico, que es puramente motor. Más tarde, al ver a otras personas, el individuo se sitúa en su propio interior.

[Caroline Gravel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Empathie kinesthésique, apprentissage et imitation, les neurones miroirs et leur fonctionnement démystifié.

"L’ 'acte du spectateur' est un acte potentiel, induit par l’activation des neurones miroirs capables de coder l’information sensorielle en termes moteurs et de rendre ainsi possible cette 'réciprocité' d’actes et d’intentions qui est à la base de notre reconnaissance immédiate de la signification des gestes d’autrui. (Rizzolatti et Sinigaglia, 2006/2008, p.143)

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo testo è una lettura, peraltro non obbligatoria, per il corso universitario tenuto dal prof Sinigaglia. Un libro accessibile ai profani, come me, ma al contempo chiaro ed esplicativo. Lo stile è leggero (come quello della spiegazione orale, aggiungerei) e permette di non perdersi nei concetti oscuri al lettore; i numerosi esperimenti riportati permettono una spiegazione dinamica.
Ottima lettura e argomento molto interessante.

[Kurtlu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitabın önsözünde de belirtildiği üzere çok telnik bir anlatımı var. Bu yüzden alan dışından ya da özel olraka nörobilime ilgi duymayan okura öneremiyorum. Ama öğrenme ve empatinin sinir sisteminde nasıl cereyan ettiğini merak eden meslektaşlarım okumalı. Kitabı okutken ara sıra Giacomo Rizzolatti'nin youtubedaki videolarını da izledim. Bir şeylerin yerine daha rahat oturmasını sağladı. Özellikle maymun deneyleriyle ikgili videoları bulmak keyifliydi.

[Kayson Fakhar · Rating 4 out of 5]

بسیار «هااااا» آور.

[Michael Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giocama Rizzolatti and his colleagues at the University of Parma have undertaken research into what have become known as mirror neurons. The early stages of research were received with a fair amount of scepticism but now they’re generally regarded as being for real and they change the accepted view on how perception and cognition work and how empathy functions.

Rizzolatti’s work comes out of the brain research that has been mapping the brain and its functions over the last twenty years or so. His discovery, through primate research, is that when an observer sees someone act with intention, not only do they respond perceptively, as revealed by neuron activity, but also as if they themselves were doing the action. This does away with the old division of perception, cognition and action as discrete activities.

One fascinating aspect of his research is the centrality of intention. Random movements do not trigger a mirror neuron response but reaching out to grasp something will. We (that is, us humans and the brainier primates) recognise hand shape and react accordingly. If I see someone making a grasping hand shape I will have a parallel neuron pattern fire in my brain. There is a strict motor-visual congruence in neurological terms in the brain activity. When I see a hand taking on a grasping shape I may not move, but neurologically my hand does the same movement.

This connection extends to objects as well. If I am presented with a cup, a hammer or a pair of knitting needles I neurologically prepare myself to grasp them. There may be no outward movement but the neurons required to do the movement are already in action. Of course, I need to understand that the object in front of me is some kind of tool and need some idea of how to grasp them effectively so the knitting-needle example may not be such a good one for me.

We can detect movement around our face and body and do not need to be looking directly at an object for it to get a neurological reaction from us. Interestingly when we use a tool our functional space extends to include the tool we are using. The trick is to hold the tool with intention - if you just let the screwdriver dangle from your hand it doesn’t show up neurologically. This functional space is extremely plastic and will even reach out into the space around us that we are not directly connected to. If an object is coming towards us we will, at a certain point, include it in our functional space and the quicker its coming the sooner we include it in order to prepare ourselves to hit it back, catch it or get out of the way.

This work helps create a shared world in which we, more or less sentient beings, operate. Having been exposed to so much research on how incomplete and ineffective much of our perception and communication is it is a relief to see how perceiver and perceived create a world in mutuality. My perception of your waving at me really does depend on your deliberate and intended action of waving, and just as I am mirroring your wave so you will mirror my smile in response.

Once we move away from physical and object related activity into intransitive (without an object) communicative activity things become a little more complicated and the strict motor-visual neuronal congruence breaks down. Interestingly, Rizzolatti sees verbal language being derived, not from calls etc, but from eating and grooming behaviour. Grooming and lip-smacking are important bonding activities in primates and language may well have developed as a vocal and physical unity - separate words and gestures being unimaginable. In fact, gesture and oral language are still neurally connected. However, it is clear that ,at some point, words and gestures did become separable otherwise you would not be able to read this. This points to a neurological development which is only found in humans, namely the echo-mirror system where exposure to words alone can provoke a subjective neurological state as if the actions and events described by the words were actually happening to us.

Facial expressions of joy, distress, disgust etc were also shown to provoke a mirror response in observers, often including an overt physical imitation of the face subjects were exposed to as well a concomitant emotional reaction. This is a phenomenon often encountered by storytellers who frequently encounter an entire audience, particularly the younger variety, unconsciously mirroring their own facial expression back to them.

It is, of course, possible to understand events and actions by other means, however only the mirror neuron system will give an immediate and total response including intention, action and affect giving a clear indication of what it is like to be that other person in that moment and in turn engender a sense of empathy in us and understanding of the consequences of our actions.

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

I neuroni specchio e il meccanismo della loro attivazione è tra le più importanti scoperte in campo scientifico degli ultimi decenni. Conserva quindi un fascino e un interesse sorprendenti. E' un peccato perciò che i primi due capitoli di questo libro siano anti-divulgativi, scritti con un linguaggio più appropriato a una tesi scientifica confezionata appositamente per gli addetti ai lavori. Dal terzo capitolo in poi, pur nella ruvidezza di una lingua che stenta a farsi limpida, diventa comunque godibile e avvicina un lettore disinvolto alle più sottili questioni sull'argomento...

[Lester Intrigante · Rating 4 out of 5]

I neuroni specchio e il meccanismo della loro attivazione è tra le più importanti scoperte in campo scientifico degli ultimi decenni. Conserva quindi un fascino e un interesse sorprendenti. E' un peccato perciò che i primi due capitoli di questo libro siano anti-divulgativi, scritti con un linguaggio più appropriato a una tesi scientifica confezionata appositamente per gli addetti ai lavori. Dal terzo capitolo in poi, pur nella ruvidezza di una lingua che stenta a farsi limpida, diventa comunque godibile e avvicina un lettore disinvolto alle più sottili questioni sull'argomento...

[Yates Buckley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important text at the base of the definition of mirror neurons research. It is a technical book, and despite its clear presentation of the thesis it does not give adequate space to evaluate the scope of this important phenomenon. Is mirror neuron activity fundamental or incidental to cognition?

I wish the authors engaged with some of the more prominent critics of their thesis so we could get a sense of what sort of impact is relevant.

[Kayla Neumeyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seminal piece in mirror neurons needs to be read along with other texts in order to contextualize the implications of their work on cognition and action-perception, including critiques of mirror neurons theory. The findings have been used to hypothesize the neural basis of a large swath of human behavior by noting correlated neural activation in the region and ascribing the behavior to mirror neurons activity (for better or for worse).

[SAIGUI · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bien !

[Doğan Sevük]

okunması çok zor, teknik bir makale gibi, önemli bir keşfi açıklıyor