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Mirror Neurons… Just what is it?

A neuron is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information by electrical and chemical signaling.

Mirror neurons are cells that cause us to mimic and experience varying levels of the emotions the people we are watching are feeling.

So here’s an interesting article from H.Bernard Wechsler on whether if mirror neurons can help you advance your career. Check it out.

Are Mirror Neurons Going to Make Your Career?

By H. Bernard Wechsler

Can Mirror Neurons Make You a Star in Your Career?

Athletes in football, baseball, soccer and golf swear by the amount of physical practice they put in. Superstars spend almost as much practice time on conditioning their mind for winning. Is this just more New Age weirdness?

You can use Creative Imagery to become an expert in your career. Some CEOs believe they won and maintain their position through insights gained by Mental Conditioning.

Is there scientific evidence to prove the value of Mental Practice?

History

In 1980 a group of scientists at the University of Parma, Italy headed by Dr. Giacomo Rizzolatti, discovered the existence of Mirror Neurons in Macaque monkeys. Placing electrodes on the brain’s premotor cortex, whenever the monkeys used their hands or mouth, these Mirror Neurons fired.

Wait! When the monkeys saw other creatures use their hands or mouth – the Mirror Neurons fired. No scientific journal would publish their research. Key point: there has been no proof of Mirror Neurons in Homo sapiens – until 2010.

So What

Mirror Neurons firing is the gist of Creative Imagery. In the 1980 Olympics the Russians (Soviet) team did the following scientific experiment to boost the skills of their athletes:

I) Group one did 100% of physical training.
II) Group two did 75% physical training and 25% mental training (visualization).
III) Group three did 50% physical and 50% mental training.
IV) Group four did 75% mental and 25% physical training.

Result: The fourth group showed the greatest improvement in performance. The Russian Olympic coaches concluded that mental training (creative visualizing) produced the following: a) Increase in personal motivation. b) Boosted athletic confidence because they visualized themselves winning their events. c) Improved Attention-Span by eliminating distractions from intruding on their training sessions.

Who Cares

We have been teaching Creative Visualization for ten years to train executives and students for positive results in acing exams, making presentations and winning promotions. The most effective approach for us is 50% cognitive and memory training and 50% Creative Imagery.

Athletes use the system of Creative Imagery internationally. The explanation is Monkey-See-Monkey-Do in your brain. Some coaches call it Muscle Memory.

It still sounds ridiculous to attempt to affect the outer world via changing one’s thoughts. We believe it follows in the footsteps of professor Ivan Pavlov and his work on Conditioning and Association.

Mentally seeing yourself successfully performing (sinking the hole, throwing a touchdown) repetitively, creates a mind-map for reality. Google: reinforcement.

Who Says So

Reporting in the April 2010 edition of the Journal – Current Biology, “First Direct Recording of Mirror Neurons in Humans.” The team led by Dr. Itzhak Fried, UCLA professor produced fMRI evidence Mirror Neurons fire not only when we perform a particular action, but when we watch someone else perform the same action.

Get this: many researchers conclude that Mirror Neurons are what makes us Human. Why? Mirror Neurons permit us to empathize and feel what others are experiencing including pain and pleasure. We are reading the minds of others.

Inquiring Minds must know: Mirror neurons are located in our Medial Frontal and Medial Temporal Cortices, and in our eyes and memory.

The Point Is

Mirror Neurons fire in our eyes when we receive information from our Retina, Optic-Nerve and brain. They also fire from our imagination using virtual reality – what we choose to create through volition (will power). Mental Imagery is equal in Mirror Neuron firing, to seeing reality. Imagined events are equal to live reality.

The firing occurs is the Motor regions of our brain as well as vision and memory. Different brain areas control separate functions such as movement – seeing – and memory. We SEE and learn while awake, asleep and dreaming, and daydreaming. They are all a form of SEEING & produce Emotional learning.

When watching others perform actions (throwing, running, grabbing, eating) we can automatically interpret and decode their emotions and intentions. Humans are linked with each other through our Mirror Neurons – think about it.

What about learning by Imitation, verbal and non-verbal communication and empathy (rapport, emotional understanding, & insight)? Right, it is our Mirror Neurons in action. Practicing mentally – equals practicing physically.

How To Do Creative Imagery:

1. Sit down and please close your eyes. It helps you go into Alpha Hz (cycles per second) and out of Beta consciousness. Adds deep relaxation and faster learning.
2. Take a deep diaphragmatic breath and hold it for a count of three-seconds – “one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand etc.” Exhale slowly and do it twice more. Ready?
3. Mental visualize a positive scene in your office for example, being congratulated on a new promotion. See all the details of the scene, the colors, the smells and sounds.
4. Feel the emotions as-if you were experiencing the successful event in reality. How would you feel about it?
5. Maintain a broad SMILE on your face throughout this pleasurable exercise. Feel the positive experience.

How Long

Each Creative Imagery exercise requires a minimum of 5 minutes of visualization. To create a mental habit requires 21 consecutive days of creative visualization meditation. A certain golf superstar spends 30 minutes daily mentally visualizing each hole he will play He also physically practices and says he would never give up Creative Mental Practice. He claims it gives him the winning edge.

End words

Mirror Neurons have been a pleasant myth up to April 2010. The scientific evidence has arrived and labeling Mental Visualization, New Age foolishness is dead and buried. Google: Conditioning, Reinforcement, and Association.

Our personal experience teaching corporate executives and students (through law school), suggests cognitive practice alone is not as efficacious as adding mental visualizations to the mix. Together, major strides in achievement can occur. Do a Mind Experiment as A. Einstein did and judge for yourself. —

See you.

Question: Would you have a competitive advantage in your career by reading and remembering three (3) articles, reports and books in the time your peers can hardly finish one? We suggest Knowledge is Power.