Surprisingly, one of the most important mechanisms that we use to understand and react to others' emotions is not really all that complicated: it depends on the activity of parts of the brain usually involved in the control of our own actions and emotions. In the 1990s, researchers discovered that when we observe another person performing an action, this event is detected by both the visual part of the brain and also the motor part, i.e., the part of the brain that typically controls our movements. The motor system is equipped with specific neurons (brain cells) that have a double function. Like other neurons in the motor part of the brain, motor neurons help us perform our own actions, such as grasping a glass of water. However, different from other neurons in the motor part of the brain, these neurons are also activated when we observe the same actions performed by others! Since these neurons mirror the observed action of another person in our own motor system, they are called "mirror neurons".

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