Science Of Economics By Neuroscientist Marco Iacaboni

4. Mirror neurons are a major component in brain functioning, and thus it gives them a primary role in pscyho-economic reasoning. Their integral nature in decision-making produces various outlying effects like contagion and feeds into instinctual behaviors such as confidence. The neurons, which were popularized within the field of economics by neuroscientist Marco Iacaboni, have since played a big role in discerning group dynamics. Mirror neurons themselves are a pivotal factor in bridging perception and action as they help prep responses. As discovered by four Italian scientists in Parma, Italy, mirror neurons fire as a function of perception, but it may not lead to any discernable action. Put more straightforward, mirror neurons are a set of neurons that produce a mirror like firing sequence in response to a stimulus, but they do not necessarily cause any physical motor reaction. The scientists who first proposed this phenomenon showed that neurons present in the premotor co rtex of macaque monkeys showed near parallel bursts of activity between a perception and actual execution of a particular task, in this case grasping an object. Mirror neurons are unique as they are universal in the brain. They mirror actions, emotions, and even potentially sentiments. Moreover, Iacaboni even went as far to suggest they serve as the basis for complex states such as morality. In this sense mirror neurons have the potential to be major factors within group dynamics as they can