علم عصب شناسی مطابق رقص/حرکت درمانی: نورون های آینه، روند درمانی و همدلی

The recent discovery by neuroscientists of mirror neurons has launched a spate of scientific investigations. A keystone of the therapeutic process of dance/movement therapy (D/MT), the concept of mirroring is now the subject of neuroscience. An interactive phenomenon, studies are revealing that the identical sets of neurons can be activated in an individual who is simply witnessing another person performing a movement as the one actually engaged in the action or the expression of some emotion or behavior. The domains of behavior currently under investigation span motoric, psychosocial and cognitive functions, including specific psychosocial issues related to attunement, attachment theory and empathy. Although D/MT embodies empathic forms, until recently their neurological underpinnings have not been studied. The paper addresses the theoretical constructs of the mirror matching mechanism and empathy, and the implications for D/MT. Beginning with the basic mapping of important central nervous system structures and their behavioral functions, the focus shifts to the mirror neurons with respect to the formative years vis-à-vis the developmental issues of empathy—attachment, attunement, social cognition and morality. The final section offers two exemplars of mirror neurons and empathy as mediated through dance and D/MT.

In 2002, an unusual brochure arrived in the mail that immediately caught my attention. The first international conference on Neurosciences and the Arts was to be launched by the Minerva Foundation of the University of California, Berkley (UCB) with co-sponsor, the Institute of Neuroesthetics of the University College, London. With curiosity piqued, I registered for this inaugural meeting at UCB. It proved a fascinating day in which a cast of international presenters discussed the relationship of the “Pleasure of the Arts and the Brain.” Of even greater relevance to me was the 2005 conference devoted to “Empathy in the Brain and Art.” Featured among the speakers were the distinguished Italian neuroscientist Vittorio Gallese (2005a), who discussed his current research on mirror neurons and their association with imitation, empathy and intersubjectivity, and eminent psychologist Paul Ekman (2003), who addressed his research on the universality of the emotions displayed in facial expressions.