On Metaphors and Mirror Neurons

A brief story: John and Mary, holding opposite ends of a blanket begin lowering it to the grassy spot in a brilliantly green meadow they have chosen for their picnic lunch. Suddenly, John says to Mary, “Hold it.” He stoops to the ground and gently plucks a tiny stem with four leaves. “Our lucky day,” he says as he hands it to her.

Mary instantly knows that John has plucked a four-leaf clover stem and that he intends to give it to her. But her understanding of these events probably was not the result of reasoning processes.

According to a team of neuroscientists at the University of Parma in Italy it is unlikely that reason played much of a role in Mary’s instantaneous grasp of what John discovered and what he intended doing with his discovery. Rather, it was cascade of firing mirror neurons that gave Mary an understanding of John’s discovery and his intentions.

Some have hailed the recent discovery of mirror neurons as the most important find in brain science in a decade or more. For instance, there is now strong evidence that feelings of empathy are grounded in mirror neurons. My ability to “feel your pain” appears in part to be a function of neurons firing as though I actually experience the pain you feel, albeit with less intensity.

Our ability to feel another person’s pain is why another’s loss often brings us to tears even though we’ve lost nothing. It happens in real life, but it also happens in stories we read, television dramas we get caught up in and in movies we watch. And it happens when we see ads that arouse our mirror neurons.

Not everyone has a full supply of mirror neurons. People with autism have much smaller populations of mirror neurons than normals have. The most notable symptom of autism is an inability to socially interact. Autistics generally shun eye contact, a key dimension of social interaction.

While normals depend on other people for cues and clues in varying degrees to guide their behavior, autistics retreat to within to shape their behavior. In fact, the word autism derives from the Greek word autos, meaning “self.”

Mary had a pretty good idea of what John would do with the four-leaf clover because clusters of this newly discovered class of neurons in her brain fired as though she had discovered the propitious herb and intended to make a gift of it to John.

Cognitive scientists have been saying for sometime that our understanding of the world ultimately depends on use of our previous experiences and understandings as metaphors of what we are observing. Discovery of mirror neurons has provided neurological support for that view.

Awhile back I was asked by an insurance company to develop a cover letter for a direct mail prospecting mailing. This was prior to the discovery of mirror neurons. Nevertheless, I had surmised from various readings that if I were to eat an apple in your presence, it was likely that neurons in your brain that would fire were you the one actually eating the apple would also fire.

But I took that surmise further. I believed that merely showing a person in an ad eating an apple would cause people seeing the picture to experience the firing of the same neurons that would fire were they actually eating the apple. From this conjecture I developed confidence in the use of word pictures as generally a more powerful tool in marketing communications than a recitation of claims about a product’s worthiness.

The insurance company used my letter, which opened with a sensory-rich word picture. It was mailed in a 60,000-recipient mail drop, a portion of which received a letter the company had used quite successfully previously. Once more the traditional letter performed well – about a 1.5% response, well within the range of expectations.

However, the letter I wrote generated nearly a whopping 14% response.

Interestingly, in a test among company agents, those under the age of 40 preferred the standard letter while older agents preferred the letter I had written. Accordingly, the company permitted only agents over 40 to send that letter.

I will reprint the opening paragraphs of both letters in my next post.

Comments

[Jeff Brooks]

Great post! Are you aware of any evidence (other than your direct-response test to agents) the mirror neurons are more active or important in older than younger people?

[Tom Asacker]

Great stuff David! Thanks.

Here's more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5503688

[David Wolfe]

Jeff,

Great question! I do not know of any research indicating that mirror neurons in older minds are more active, but I do know that older minds generally rely more on gut feelings or emotional responses in the formation of perceptions and decisions -- all of which is to say that mirror neurons appear to have a greater influence on older people's behavior.

Thanks for the question.

DBW

[David Wolfe]

Tom,

Thanks for the connection. I'm quite familiar with Temple Brandon. She is an incredible human being despite her autism. I recommend that readers who have not seen or heard the NPR piece you referenced visit with Temple Brandon in the NPR interview you kindly introduced me to.

[joared]

I heard Temple Brandon speak on a nearby University campus some years ago, and can only confirm what an amazing fascinating accomplished woman she is.

I, too, would be interested in knowing of any specific connection between number of mirror neurons in relation to various age levels; relationship of number of mirror neurons to various experiences which might or might not be a consequence of aging.

Many of the ideas you present here are fascinating, such as the mirror neurons. Thank you, David, for sharing them here. After all, "marketing" is really a part of all of our lives whether or not we are consciously aware that is so, or at least that's my perspective.

[David Wolfe]

Joared,

I believe your perspective to be a valid one.

As to the influence of aging on the population count of mirror neurons, I doubt that is the case. However, I think that because we generally depend more on gut feelings (emotional responses) as we age, activity levels among mirror neurons should certainly often be more intense. I think that men in particular feel this change because of living with dampened emotions in a society that has required it earlier in their lives.

DBW

[Jill]

This is the best explanation I've read on mirror neurons. Thanks.

[David Wolfe]

Jill,

Thanks!

DBW