Mirror Neurons, Learning, and Culture

FIRE UP THOSE MIRROR NEURONS! LETS LEARN SOMETHING!

Mirror neurons for those of you who haven't heard are specialized neurons within the brain which fire under two circumstances. First, when an individual takes some action. For instance, grasping a piece of fruit. They also fire when another individual is observed taking an action. I.e. Watching another ape grab a piece of fruit.

These neurons were discovered by almost two decades ago by a group of Italian neurophysiologists. And the ape reference was not gratuitous, the first subjects found to possess mirror neurons were macaque monkeys. Given the close evolutionary relationship between humans and primates a natural question arises, "Do humans have mirror neurons?" Recent evidence suggests that the answer is Yes. In this piece, I'm going to suggest some implications of the presence of mirror neurons in humans for the evolution of human society.

First a definition, a culture is a suite of behaviors shared by a more or less extensive group of human individuals. Such cultures are often identified by the physical artifacts that they produce through those behaviors. In fact, when archaeologists characterize a culture they use such artifacts almost exclusively, e.g. stone and bone tools, ceramics, cremated burial remains. They are constrained to do so since most behaviors don't leave durable traces. Anthropologists and sociologists have an easier time of it, in at least some ways, since they can observe actual behaviors.

Cultures possess three common features. First, the behaviors they encompass are reinforced by the other members of the culture. Second, those same behaviors identify differences from other exterior cultures. Finally, the suite of behaviors which define a culture must, at least initially, have contributed to the reproductive fitness of the members of the culture. The reason for this is simple, behaviors that reduce reproductive fitness fall out of the meme pool. The behavior of chasing mammoths over the cliff improves the nutritional status of all of the members of the culture which adopts it and thus their survival chances. The behavior of following the mammoths over the cliff has precisely the opposite effect.

What does this have to do with mirror neurons? Well, where do those behaviors come from? and how do they propagate through a group of people? My hypothesis, to put it formally, is that mirror neurons are what enable the development of human cultures.

The model looks something like this:
Look! Oog has found a new way to get our favorite snack food, termites. See, he's sticking a twig into the termite mound and the silly buggers bite onto it. Then he just pulls the twig out and enjoys the delicious, protein rich, crunchy snack.

Maybe Oog shares his termites with a particularly attractive female that he's had his eye on. Alternatively she shares her termites with a cute male she's had her eye on. This will boost his/her evolutionary success.

Oog and Mr/Ms Oog's kids watch mom and dad to find out how to fish for termites. Other members of the community do too. They can do this because mirror neurons create the spark that transmits the behavior throughout the group. And voila, you now have a termite fishing culture established.

The example is drawn from the actual observed behavior of chimpanzees in the wild. In point of fact, a number of distinct chimp cultures have been identified in western and central Africa. Given the substantial advantages that modern humans possess in gray matter, it really isn't a stretch to believe that the learning process described above occurs over and over again in the creation of a human culture.