“In the arms of the angel, fly away from here” (McLachlan, 1997).
All it took were those words, a few notes from a piano, and puppy’s eyes peering out from a filthy cage, and I was a goner. The ASPCA commercial featuring Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” haunted my nights for years: every time I heard the first few chords of that song or saw the pain in those eyes, I would have to leave the room or risk turning into a pile of tears and despondent wailing. The sight of a dog or cat in pain was too much for me to bear, and it was the mirror neurons in my brain that made me feel their pain as though it was my own.
“From this dark cold hotel room and the endlessness that you fear” (McLachlan, 1997).
Mirror neurons are parts of the brain that respond to observed actions as though it were performing those actions itself. They were first discovered when a team of scientists noticed by accident that certain neurons in the premotor cortex of a macaque monkey fired not only when it performed a manual action but also when it saw the researchers perform that same action (di Pellegrino et al., 1992; Goldstein, 2011). These mirror neurons can respond to both the sight of an action, such as a researcher holding a ball or a kitten hiding in a ball, as well as a sound associated with that action, like the cracking of a peanut shell or the cry of a puppy (di Pellegrino et al., 1992; Goldstein, 2011). In this way, the outer world becomes represented and internalized by our brain.
“You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie” (McLachlan, 1997).
If reality is a projection of the impulses sent from our sensory receptors to our brain, then the actions of others can be represented by mirror neurons. This means humans and other primates understand the actions of others through mirror neurons, and only through understanding what others do can a social world emerge (Rizzolatti & Craighero, 2004). In humans, mirror neurons respond primarily to the actions of another’s hands, feet, or mouth, and by firing in response to observing these actions, a person can partake in social learning such as imitation, developing language, and empathy (Rizzolatti & Craighero, 2004; Corballis, 2009; Ramachandran, 2009). In short, mirror neurons allow us to imagine ourselves in another’s shoes–or fur–and provide a link between others in the outer world and our inner selves.
“You’re in the arms of the angel, may you find some comfort here” (McLachlan, 1997).
Mirror neurons bridge the gap between perception and action, between ourselves and others, and are thought to be instrumental in learning, empathy, and turning into a college student into an incoherent, gibbering mess at 3 in the morning. Each time I saw that ASPCA commercial, my mirror neurons responded to the pained actions of those animals–just like de Pellegrino’s macaque monkey responding to the experimenters’ actions–and acted as though I experienced it myself. My mirror neurons learned to respond to not just the image of suffering but the McLachlan song playing alongside it–just like monkeys reacting to the sound of peanuts cracking. If you’ve been up late and turned on the television within the past eight years, I venture you’ve seen this commercial as well, and you have your mirror neurons to thank at the twinge of pain at the mention of the commercial or, more likely, the remembered sound of these lyrics. And now, you can change the channel–or rather, blog post.
References
Corballis, M.C. (2009). Mirror neurons and the evolution of language. Brain and Language, 112.1, 25-35. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/science/article/pii/S0093934X09000376
di Pellegrino, G., Fadiga, L., Fogassi, L., Gallese, V., & Rizzolatti, G. (1992). Understanding motor events: A neurophysiological study. Experimental Brain Research, 91, 176-180. Retrieved from http://sk8es4mc2l.scholar.serialssolutions.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/?sid=google&auinit=G&aulast=Di+Pellegrino&atitle=Understanding+motor+events:+a+neurophysiological+study&id=doi:10.1007/BF00230027&title=Experimental+brain+research&volume=91&issue=1&date=1992&spage=176&issn=0014-4819
Goldstein, E. Bruce. (2011). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
McLachlan, S. (1997). Angel. On Surfacing [CD]. Santa Clara, CA: Arista. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/i1GmxMTwUgs
Ramachandran, V. (2009). The neurons that shaped civilization [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/vs_ramachandran_the_neurons_that_shaped_civilization?language=en
Rizzolatti, G., & Craighero, L. (2004). The mirror-neuron system. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 27, 169-192. Retrieved from http://www.annualreviews.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144230
I really enjoyed reading this post. I appreciate knowing how and why the emotions come about when seeing one of these commercials. Empathy is is something I have always been curious about, the ability to feel what a person or animal is feeling, and the realization that some people just can’t. Over the past couple of years I have been reading about the correlation between sociopaths/psychopaths, and a lack of empathy. Many people believe believe that contagious yawning is a sign of empathy, and that a sociopath/psychopath doesn’t experience contagious yawning. Recently research was done on this topic and the outcomes were published in The Personality and Individual Differences Journal. This entry written by Brian K. Rundle concluded that contagious yawning is a sign of empathy, and those lacking empathy were less susceptible to contagious yawning.(Rundle, Vaughn, & Strafford 2015). I compared this knowledge to my experiences with a friend’s abusive husband, and low and behold it held true. So the next time you are in room full of people, and you yawn, look around and see who else is yawning.
Rundle, B., Vaughn, V., & Stanford, M. (n.d.). Contagious yawning and psychopathy. Personality and Individual Differences, 33-37.