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If you read some of the less-reputable corners of the internet, you might have heard strange things about mirror neurons.
如果您阅读过一些不太知名的网站信息，您可能听说过有关镜像神经元的怪事。
According to some people, they are why we have empathy.
据一些人说，这就是我们会有同理心的原因。
And ESP. And telepathy.
ESP，还有心灵感应。
It probably goes without saying that most of that isn't true.
不用说，很可能大部分都不是真的。
They definitely don't give us super powers.
它们绝对不会赋予我们超能力。
And there is conflicting research about whether they're the basis of empathy.
关于它们是否是同理心的研究基础问题也存在着冲突。
Even if they're not, though, they are still a very cool part of your brain and probably, they help us learn from other people.
即使不是，但它们仍然是大脑中超酷的部分，还能帮助我们向他人学习。
The name mirror neuron comes from the fact that they fire both when you do something and when you watch someone doing something, even if you don't move a muscle.
镜像神经元的名字来源于这样一个事实：当你做某件事，或你看别人做某件事时，即使你没有移动肌肉，也会触动这些神经元。
Basically, it's as if they mirror the neural activity of the person actually doing the thing.
基本上，就像是它们映射了实际做这件事的人的神经活动。
And they were first discovered in macaque monkeys in the early 90s.
它们最早是在90年代初的猕猴身上发现的。
The story goes that one day, while a monkey had thin needle electrodes inserted into individual neurons in their brain, some of the graduate students...well, they went and took a lunch break.
有一天，研究生把细针电极插入一只猴子大脑中的单个神经元后，他们就去吃午饭、休息了。
And while one of those graduate students was eating in front of the monkey, all of a sudden there was neural activity in the premotor region of the frontal cortex in the monkey's brain.
其中一个研究生在猴子面前吃东西时，突然猴子大脑额叶皮质的前运动区出现了神经活动。
This region would normally fire if the monkey was moving—like reaching for food or eating.
如果猴子移动，比如伸手去拿食物或吃东西时，这一区域通常会被激活。
But those neurons were firing while the monkey was motionless and just watching someone else do those things.
但是这些神经元在猴子一动不动，只是看着别人做这些事的时候开始放电，。
Further research started mapping out exactly where these neurons were—and they're remarkably specific.
进一步的研究开始精确定位出这些神经元的位置，它们非常特殊。
Like, mirror neurons that fire when an experimenter grabs a piece of food wouldn't fire if the experimenter used tools to grab the food instead.
比如，如果实验者使用工具，那些在实验者抓取食物时会激活的镜像神经元就不会被激活。
But the big question was whether this happened in humans, too, because these neurons were in regions of the brain where monkeys and humans differ quite a lot.
但最大的问题是这是否也会发生在人类身上，因为这些神经元位于大脑中猴子和人类差异很大的区域。
Of course, your average human study participant is a little fussier about getting electrodes planted into individual neurons inside of their brains,
当然，普通人类研究参与者对于将电极植入大脑内的单个神经元会感到大惊小怪。
so scientists used electro-encephalograms, or EEGs, to look for mirror neurons instead, as they record neural activity through the scalp.
因此科学家们使用脑电图（EEG）来寻找镜像神经元，因为它们通过头皮记录神经活动。
Researchers had 20 subjects watch an experimenter demonstrate some motions with their thumb and index finger and perform the same motions themselves.
研究人员让20名受试者观看一名实验人员用拇指和食指演示一些动作，并自己做同样的动作。
And turns out some regions of their brains did act like the monkeys' mirror neurons — parts of the motor and premotor areas of the frontal lobe,
结果发现，他们大脑的某些区域的确像猴子的镜像神经元那样活动。
for example, as well as where the parietal lobe meets the temporal lobe—an area involved in vision and focusing attention.
比如，额叶的运动区和运动前区，以及顶叶与颞叶的交界处，这个区域涉及视觉和集中注意力。
But knowing that they're there and where they are doesn't tell us why they're there.
但知道它们在那里，以及不在哪，能够告诉我们它们为什么会出现在那里。
Many neuroscientists now think they help us learn from other people through observation.
许多神经科学家现在认为，他们通过观察帮助我们向他人学习。
Take a 2009 study, for example, which looked at how these parts of the brain are active while people were being taught how to dance.
以2009年的一项研究为例，该研究观察了人们在学习如何跳舞时，大脑的这些部位是如何活动的。
The researchers used a game similar to Dance Dance Revolution, and varied whether the participants were taught the steps using symbols on a screen or a human model in addition to the symbols.
研究人员使用了一个类似于“舞蹈革命”的游戏，参与者可通过在屏幕上使用符号，或是在符号之外还有人体模型来教授步骤。
And they found that parts of the mirror neuron network really tune in to human actions.
他们发现，镜像神经元网络的某些部分确实与人类的行为密切相关。
For example, the superior temporal cortex was more active while watching a person demonstrate the dance than the symbolic break down of the steps.
例如，在观看一个人演示舞蹈时，颞上皮层的活动要比象征性的分解舞步更为活跃。
But perhaps more to the point, the participants' performance on a final dancing test was better when they had a human to watch, which suggests that these regions support observational learning.
但也许更重要的是，当参与者能够观看人演示的时候，他们在最后的舞蹈测试中表现会更好，这表明这些区域支持观察式学习。
Human mirror neurons aren't exactly the same as the monkey ones, though.
不过，人类的镜像神经元与猴子完全不同。
Ours seem to care about the actual movement, while theirs are more strongly tied to the movement's meaning.
我们似乎关心的是实际运动，它们与运动更强烈地联系在一起。
Like, say you grab a water bottle the way you normally would.
比如，假设你像平时那样拿着一个水瓶。
And then, you put it down, and grab it with your hand upside down instead, which makes drinking it a lot harder.
然后，你把它放下，用手把它上下颠倒的拿着，这会让喝变得更困难。
It's basically the same muscle motion either way, but one serves a meaningful function.
无论是哪种方式，基本上都是相同的肌肉运动，但却是一种有意义的运动。
In a macaque, watching the meaningless action might not activate their mirror neurons.
在短尾猿中，观察无意义的行为可能不会激活镜像神经元。
But in people, the mirror neuron regions of the frontal lobe activate regardless of whether the action makes sense.
但在人的大脑中，不管这个动作是否有意义，额叶的镜像神经元区域会被激活。
All that matters is the actual hand motion.
最重要的是实际的手部运动。
It's possible that this helps explain why humans are so good at learning by imitation—part of our brain is always paying attention to motions that seem meaningless, just in case we can learn from them.
这可能有助于解释为什么人类如此擅长模仿学习，我们大脑的一部分总是关注那些看起来毫无意义的动作，为学习做好准备。
Now, you might be wondering where empathy comes in to all of this.
现在，你可能想知道同理心从何而来。
Well, when you think about it, if part of your brain activates the same way when you're observing an action as when you're performing it,
当你思考它时，如果你在观察一个动作时，大脑一部分激活的方式和你执行这个动作时的方式一样，
then it isn't that far of a stretch to think that these mirror neurons could be involved in feeling part of what someone else is feeling simply by seeing them express an emotion.
那么就不难理解，这些镜像神经元可以让你仅通过观察别人的情绪表达，就能体会到他人的感受。
And although this would be very cool if it were true, the research to date is kind of all over the place.
如果真是这样，就非常酷了，迄今为止，有关这方面的研究数不胜数。
Like, one study did find that mirror neurons activate when people empathize with characters in scenes.
比如，一项研究发现，当人们与场景中的人物发生共鸣时，镜像神经元就会激活。
In one scene, for example, the 18 subjects had to identify the emotions felt by both a son who was bringing home a failing report card, and a dad who hasn't yet seen it, for example.
例如，在一个场景中，18名被试要辨别出一位带着不及格的成绩单回家的儿子，以及一位还没有看到这份成绩单的父亲的情绪。
And in addition to identifying the emotions of both characters in the story, they had to guess what both characters would be experiencing if they had more information.
除了识别故事中两个角色的情绪之外，被试还必须猜测如果他们有更多的信息，两个角色将会经历的事情。
One of the mirror neuron regions — the inferior parietal lobe — was active while identifying the emotions in the story.
其中一个镜像神经元区域，即顶叶下叶，在识别故事中的情绪时很活跃。
And scores on a test of empathy were related to how active that region got when they had to make an inference about the dad, who was still in the dark.
一项同理心测试的得分，与他们要推断出不知情的父亲的行为时，该区域的活跃程度相关。
Not all studies show this, though.
不过，并不是所有的研究都能表明这一点。
In fact, many do not.
事实上，很多研究不能表明此点。
But, then again, most studies in this area have small sample sizes, so there's a chance that there are real relationships between these neurons and empathy that aren't being detected.
但是同样地，这一领域的大多数研究样本量很小，所以很可能这些神经元和同理心之间存在着无法察觉的真实关系。
And just to make things more complicated, these studies are all correlational.
让情况变得更复杂的是，这些研究的结果都是相关性。
They can say that there's a relationship, but they can't directly infer causality.
可以说有关系，但不能直接推断因果关系。
Which means, in the end, we don't know if these brain regions are necessary for empathy, or if they just happen to light up when we're experiencing it for some unrelated reason.
这意味着，我们最终不知道产生同理心是否必须要有这些大脑区域参与，还是当我们因为一些不相关的原因而体验到它时，它们恰好被激活。
Like with so many things, especially in brain science, we need more research to figure out what role, if any, mirror neurons actually play in empathy, or if they're a part of why humans are an unusually social species.
像许多事情一样，特别是在大脑科学中，我们需要进行更多的研究来弄清镜像神经元在同理心中的作用，或是弄清它们是否是人类属于一种特殊社会物种的部分原因。
They do, however, seem to be a big part of how we learn skills through observing others.
然而，它们似乎是我们通过观察他人来学习技能的一个重要部分。
And that means they're probably an important part of how we share skills and behaviors and pass knowledge down from generation to generation.
这意味着它们可能是我们如何分享技能和行为，以及如何将知识代代相传的重要组成部分。
So no matter what, they are a big deal.
不管怎样，它们都是件重要的事。
They likely are playing a huge role in culture and in all those things that just make us human.
它们很可能在文化，和所有那些让我们成为人类的事情中扮演着极其重要的角色。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感谢收看这一集的心理科学秀节目！
And a special thank you to all of the people who support us on Patreon, because we really couldn't make this show if it weren't for you.
特别感谢所有在Patreon上支持我们的人，没有你们的话，我们真的做不出这个节目。
If you'd like to learn more about how you can be one of those excellent people who support this, you can find out more at Patreon.com/SciShow.
如果您想了解如何成为支持我们节目的优秀人士，可以在Patreon.com/SciShow上找到更多信息。
