Mirror neurons

What is she thinking? Mirror neurons have been hailed by some as a discovery of major importance (for exampl,e the neurologist V.S. Ramachandran). It is claimed that they may explain the ability of humans to understand what someone else is feeling and thinking. This is not mind-reading but ‘Theory of Mind’ – the understanding that […]

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Monkey Business?

Serotonin is involved in many behaviours, and new research suggests that a mutation in a gene that transports the brain chemical serotonin could influence our social behaviour. This is based on  American research using rhesus macaque monkeys because they are the only other primates with a particular genetic trait. Usually we are homozygous for this  emotion-regulating serotonin transporter gene, having either […]

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