One of the most fascinating scientific findings I’ve come upon in awhile relates to a group of cells in our brain known as mirror neurons. These neurons were discovered almost by accident in a lab in Parma, Italy when researchers studying neurons relating to motion noticed that a monkey’s neurons fired almost identically when either performing an action or watching an identical action being performed. This simple observation has dramatic consequences, basically allowing us to put ourselves in another person’s shoes, and their role in the brain has been tied to the understanding of intentions, empathy, gender difference, and language acquisition, as well as to certain disorders like autism and the phantom limb pain that follows an amputation. More in this NYT article (complete with beautiful illustrations by Leigh Wells) and in this hugely informative short clip from PBS’s Science NOW featuring RadioLab’s Robert Krulwich. Interviewed for the Science NOW segment is the very colorful Vilayanur (or V.S.) Ramachandran, who has done some of the most inventive and groundbreaking work on both mirror neurons and the human brain as a whole. His lecture from last year’s TED Conference is well worth checking out.