Empathy, Mirror Neurons and Autism

   Empathy is one of the greatest contributors to how we interact with others. It is how we experience others emotions, their thoughts and feelings. It is through empathy we form our connections with others. I recently attended a talk by Dr. Jean Decety on the Social Neuroscience of Empathy and in it he suggested that empathy has deep evolutionary, biochemical and neurological underpinnings. And that  the most advanced form of empathy is connected to the core mechanisms associated with affective communication and social attachment. This got me thinking about what I have learned in one of my classes. What could be causing empathy to occur? What could be behind it? I remembered learning about mirror neurons and how they allow us to mimic others actions and emotions and wondered what exactly is their role in empathy. How important are they to allowing us to be empathetic towards others. After some researching I discovered something I was not expecting. That there was a connection between mirror neuron malfunction and a lack of empathy in children with Autism.
    To understand how this malfunction underlies the problems children with Autism have connecting with others, we must first look at how mirror neurons function. Mirror neurons are our basis of simulation, shared experience and are the building blocks behind how we understand the intentions and actions of others. They are found in several ares of the brian including the premotor complex, the posterior parietal lobe and in the superior and temporal sulcus. Mirror neurons are motor neurons that fire in response to chains of actions linked to intentions. When we observe such an act our brain automatically simulates ourselves performing that act even though we are not. For example, if we see someone getting ready to kick a ball, we simulate that in our head, and are therefore able to read thats persons intentions. The same thing happens when it comes to emotions. If we see someone upset and crying, our brain simulates that distress and therefore we feel that same distress. And this has only been proven time and again with research.

    Mirror neuron research has showed just how important they are, and recently it has shown their importance in children with Autism. A study was done with 10 Autistic children and 10 Non-Autistic children. They were shown pictures of faces, expressing anger and happiness or other emotions while being given an MRI scan. This study showed that mirror neurons in autistic children were less active. And it is thought that this inactivity led to their problems connecting with others making them unable to read emotions and intentions. In the non-Autistic children's results, the activity was normal and it was shown they had the ability to read the situations. Another study used transcranial magnetic stimulation to stimulate the brains of individuals with Autism and in individuals that are not Autistic while they observed hand gestures had similar results. This measure was used to record the activity of each individual mirror neuron system. They found that in individuals with Autism they showed blunted brain response to stimulation while viewing a hand gesture. They became less activated. From this they concluded the same thing as the other study. That this misfiring or inactivity in mirror neurons is what is causing children with Autism to be social impaired or in the context of this paper, lack some empathy.
    So where can we go from here. This is an amazing discovery. The fact that it is being shown there is a mechanism in our brain that allows us to connect with others can lead to many more discoveries. If we know this path then maybe we can find a way to fix the problems within it and lead to less social impairment with children with Autism.


Resources
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/14/health/14iht-snmirror.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120302132317.htm
http://www.aan.com/elibrary/neurologytoday/?event=home.showArticle&id=ovid.com:/bib/ovftdb/00132985-201002040-00012