rowland manthorpe dot com

An incredible picture from the New Yorker blog: therapy for a man with phantom limb syndrome.

In this week’s magazine (registration only, infuriatingly) John Colapinto profiles the man Richard Dawkins called “the Marco Polo of the mind”: University of California professor V. S. Ramachandran. It’s quite heavy-going, but I can’t recommend it more highly. I don’t think an article has made me think so much for a long time.

Colapinto says:

I urge all of you to try the mirror trick, first synchronizing your movements with both hands (touching the tip of each finger, for instance, with your thumbs) while watching only one of your hands in the mirror; then mixing it up—touching thumb to forefinger of your right hand, while touching thumb to pinkie of your left.

The sense of neurological and physical imbalance that this induces provides a disquieting glimpse into the disjunctions of mind and body suffered by stroke victims, and a reminder of how delicate is the seeming solidity of the reality that surrounds us—even the “reality” of our own bodies.

Apparently this sort of interaction is made possible by a system of “mirror neurons” within our brains. According to Ramachandran, these neurons are not only responsible for interactions inside the self (to make an unavoidable distinction), but also outside it. With characteristic playfulness, he dubs mirror neurons “Ghandi neurons” – because they dissolve the boundary between two people:

“One of the theories we put forward … is that the mirror neuron system is used for modelling someone else’s behaviour, putting youself in another person’s shoes, looking at the world from another person’s point of view”.

In short, the dawn of empathy and self-awareness.

I think I may well write something about mirror neurons – perhaps for this competition. If anyone’s got any suggestions for reading, please let me know.