Today’s blog is by Evette Rose, co-founder of Reference Point Therapy. Evette is currently working full-time on the editing of her forthcoming book, Metaphysical Anatomy. In today’s article Evette shares some important research for the possible future treatment of depression and autism.
Today I’d like to share with you a concept which most of you won’t have heard of before: mirror neurons.
Some scientists consider mirror neurons one of the most important recent discoveries in neuroscience. However, most alternative practitioners haven’t paid attention to it. When I read about the concept a few months ago it sounded like a new ground breaking scientific discovery. I only then realized that the concept has been around for quite some time, we just never gave it the importance and value that it deserved. [For scientific background see this Wikipedia article.]
Mirror neurons help us to facilitate our moods, shift of feelings and body language. We see what others are feeling. We have a certain degree of understanding about how we respond to other people and how they respond to us. Each of these experiences becomes a basis for learning and foundation for future interactions with others. This means we memorise other people’s behaviour for possible future interaction.
Your mirror neurons allow you to watch someone do something and then give you the illusion that you feel like you are doing it yourself. For example: if you see someone trying to balance 5 full glasses on a tray with one hand, you can almost feel the concentration that it takes, you also feel the possibility of the tray slipping and falling over.
We see others do, say and feel certain emotions and we mirror those same movements and emotions to explore our own ability to move and express ourselves. Then when you see others doing the same expressions and movements you are sharing the experience, it’s almost like being a part of a different kind of community where we share a different kind of relationship without actually needing words.
Mirror neurons enable us to hold emotions and to project that outward into our surroundings. It’s easier to respond to someone or to a game if you are present with it and understand it (due to previous interactions), as well as choose to be a part of it.
This also begs the question, are you reacting in a manner that has been solely chosen by you, or a reaction that you have copied from others?
Since discovering this topic I have been quite keen to explore this phenomenal part in our brain and to see how it fits in with our day to day life. Some of our students allowed me to intuitively scan them to see what these mirror neurons do.
I observed that people who are depressed have stopped using their mirror neurons!
Their willingness to interact with others and their surrounding has stopped. I couldn’t see the same activity in a person that was emotionally healthy compared to someone that was suffering from depression. Their mirror neurons are not responding in the healthy manner it was designed to due to emotional suppression and disconnection from their passion in life. Ultimately the client stopped interacting with others and responding to people and their emotions.
What caused the depression is another story entirely on its own. It could have been inherited. (I noticed in people that even though the depression was there when they were born the mirror neurons still worked perfectly fine, until the client made a conscious decision to withdraw themselves from society and people close to them due some sort of incident in their live.)
The longer these mirror neurons are kept dormant or only partially working the harder it can be for the client to learn how to correspond and respond in society. It makes it even harder to be aware of the condition and the extra problems at hand that it can create. The average human being can watch a football game can get involved with the tension and competitiveness and have a really great time; they are surrounded by others that are expressing the same emotions and feelings.
However, if you place a depressed individual in the same crowd you will find a completely different response from them. They will look at others reactions and watch them having a great time filled with laughter, however they will not feel the same emotions, the other people’s responses and interaction with each other should actually prompt the depressed individual to respond in the same manner, however it doesn’t. Their mirror neurons have stopped responding to their environment, the information that their mirror neurons are receiving is meaningless.
Even watching a sad movie where the main character passed away in the end is not even enough to strike a sense of sadness and loss, whereas others watching the same movie with active mirror neurons could show signs of sadness, empathy or even grief. Mirror neurons help us tune into each other’s feelings which enable us to feel empathy. The healthier our mirror neurons are the more progress we make in our lives and the more intelligent our actions and reactions become because we learn from everyone that we meet on a daily basis.
I suspect that sociopaths and psychopaths have dormant mirror neurons, they either could have been born with them being dormant or they could have been shut down due to severe trauma (I do acknowledge that people who suffer from these mentioned conditions have more than just mirror neuron issues.)
Someone with healthy mirror neurons can copy someone else’s facial expression and feel the emotions that the person was trying to project. However someone who is severely depressed can copy those same facial expressions and not feel or experience any emotion or reaction whilst doing so.
In addition to the above example of depression, I also noticed that autistic children appear to have mirror neurons that are dormant (turned off). This could account for why autistic children cannot make eye contact with you and have difficulty responding to contact from others.
A difference between depressed people and those who are or were autistic children is that the depressed adult has previously learned and developed skills for social interaction and survival. Even though they are depressed they don’t lose these learned skills (even if they cannot develop new interaction and survival skills). The autistic child has never learned these necessary skills.
In my new book, Metaphysical Anatomy, I describe these conditions in more detail and suggest complementary treatments.
One important thing that I did learn from this is that human beings were created or evolved to be together; without each other we stop learning and possibly stop evolving. On this note, I thank each and every one of you that I have interacted with as you have assisted me in my own personal growth and I acknowledge you for that vital contribution!
All the best,
Evette Rose
I am not a psychologies nor a scientist, I am merely sharing this with you from an intuitive point of view. The link between mirror neurons and depression or autism has not been proven by neuroscience.
© Evette Rose 2010
Jørgen Mæhre 
I love mirror-neurons, they’re so fascinating.
. He has actually figured out how to use mirror neurons to “heal” phantom limbs! Another fascinating topic that he talks about in many of his lectures is synesthesia.
Cornelius 
Lindsey Johnson 
Peter 
Tom Jones 
Gloria Elphinstone 
mags 
Excellent work Evette~
Really looking forward to your book to be published…any chance to make it faster? LOL~
Kryon
[Reply]
Evette Reply:
September 7th, 2010 at 8:59 am
Hi Kryon,
Wonderful to hear from you! Lol yes I am full steam ahead with the book
Blessings
Evette Rose
[Reply]