Mental Health

Researchers Find How Social Understanding is Performed by The Brain

By Kamal Nayan | Update Date: Feb 25, 2014 09:44 AM EST

Brain cells organized in the mirror system, help people in making sense of actions they see other people performing in daily life, according to a new research.

Scientists used the magnetic stimulation that temporarily disrupted the processing of the areas of the human brain. The part was involved in the production of actions of human participants. In the demonstration it was clear that those areas were also involved in the understanding of actions. 

The study is first of its kind that demonstrates a clear visual effect.

"There has been a great deal of hype about the mirror system, and now we have performed an experiment that finally provides clear and straightforward evidence that the mirror system serves to help people make sense of others' actions," said John Michael, a researchers associated with the study in the press release.

The study affirms that there are certain areas that are involved in the production of actions and the study found the evidences that these areas also contribute to understanding others' actions. These facts hint the understanding that the same areas are involved in producing actions as well as understanding others' actions.

"Attaining knowledge of the processes underlying social understanding in people in general is an important part of the process of attaining knowledge of the underlying causes of the difficulties that some people diagnosed with autism and schizophrenia experience in sustaining social understanding. But it is important to emphasize that this is just one piece of the puzzle," said Michael.

"The findings may be interesting to therapists and psychiatrists who work with patients with schizophrenia or autism, or even to educational researchers."

The study is published in the Psychological Science.

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