I Feel Your Pain: The Magic of Mirror Neurons

How the discovery of mirror neurons changed how we think about human connection.

Jul 08, 2025

Imagine watching a movie where a hostage is burned on the hand with a hot poker. Without thinking about it, your heart rate goes up. Your face winces. Your hands sweat.

Or imagine being a mom feeding a baby. As the spoon approaches the baby’s mouth, your mouth changes to the shape you want the baby to learn.

Lastly, imagine being at a party and having an intuitive sense of how people feel and what they need. You notice subtle clues that others miss.

These events feel normal, but just under the surface, something fascinating is happening. You are reacting to another person’s experience as if it were your own experience. Our brains likely evolved to mirror the feelings and actions of others, which helps us form connections and learn more efficiently. This is one of the key traits of The Feeler.

The Discovery of Mirror Neurons

In the 1990s, neuroscience researchers made a discovery that jump-started an entire field of neurology based on the idea of “mirror neurons” and humans having a “mirror system” that helps us understand others by observing them.

The concept of mirror neurons was discovered by accident. A team of researchers at the University of Parma in Italy was studying macaque monkeys in the early 1990s. They had inserted electrodes into the monkey’s brain to measure activity, like when the monkey reaches for an object.

One day, with a monkey watching nearby, a researcher reached for a fruit and noticed that the monkey’s brain reacted as if he (the monkey) had reached for it.

By simply observing the researcher, the monkey’s brain mirrored the action it was observing. This was the beginning of a new line of research that continues today.

Read: What We Currently Know About Mirror Neurons
Read: Mirror Neurons on Wikipedia

For What Purpose?

Over decades, hundreds of experiments have shown that humans and other animals have a “mirror system” that impacts how we learn and socialize. There is evidence, including fMRI studies, that a mirror system is part of how we understand one another and navigate our social lives.

In his book The Empathic Brain, Christian Keysers writes:

Mirror neurons not only help us understand other people, they also provide surprising new responses to very old questions, such as how evolution led to human language and how our body is related to how we think.

Consider these examples of how mirror neurons may impact everyday life:

Imitating and Learning - Mirror neurons may be the mechanism that helps us learn by observing.
Emotions and Empathy - When someone expresses an emotion, your brain may internally simulate it, helping you understand their feelings.
Theory of Mind - Mirror systems may help us understand what someone is doing and why they are doing it.
Social Connection and Culture - Mirror systems may help us develop a shared understanding that helps with collaboration and coordination.
Social Disorders - A malfunctioning mirror system may explain social disorders like autism spectrum disorder.

I find this fascinating in the context of vibes. The classic Feeler vibe has many of the qualities of a highly sensitive person, including a more sensitive motor neuron system.

Part of being a Feeler is understanding that your stronger-than-normal connections to others are authentic and based on a system that’s a natural part of you.

My Friend Erin

As long as I’ve known Erin, I’ve noticed a few unique things about her. For example, she has a very strong reaction to watching someone in a cringy moment, like a stand-up comic bombing on stage. It makes her so uncomfortable that she can’t watch. It’s just too much.

Today, I interpret this as a highly sensitive mirror system. As she watches, her brain is mirroring the feelings of embarrassment that the person on stage is probably feeling. She feels it too.

She is also the most observant person I know. She is always attuned to how people are feeling and the subtle changes in atmosphere. She notices the details and sometimes shares her observations. Maybe Erika has more of The Feeler vibe than others?

Perhaps you are a Feeler?

Coming Up:

We’ll look at the evolutionary side of Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) and how people with the Feeler vibe have played valuable roles throughout history.