Over at Salon, Gordy Slack has a very nice piece on Mirror Neurons – the physical hardwiring that allows humans to learn by imitation and to accurately anticipate the actions of others. According to Slack, on November 4, a scientist announced that they had finally located an actual mirror neuron. In the cognitive world (and in marketing) this is major. Until now, all we know about these mysterious neurons we know through inference and from studying their effects using MRI brain scans. Ongoing studies are looking at how mirror neurons effect everything from Autism to which commercials work best during the Superbowl. If we can now see how these slippery little buggers actually tick at a neuro-chemical level, it’s a very big deal indeed.
In Elements of Persuasion, we spend a lot of Chapter 5 “Finding Common Ground” discussing how organizations from the Marine Corps to Starbucks to Harley Davidson harness mirror neurons to build team cohesion and ultimately, to make brands. If you haven’t read our book, you should check out this article to get an overview on what Mirror Neurons are. It gets a little tree-huggy, (ascribing all of empathy to the existence of these neurons is probably going to far), but it is a good quick read. One bone to pick with Mr. Slack – exactly where was this announcement made? Science? The Journal of Neurobiology? A UCLA press conference? If anyone knows, please post. I’d run it down right now myself but I have to go do picket duty with the Writers Guild. Where, not so coincidentally I will be using my own mirror neurons as I march together in close proximity with my fellow writers building the WGA brand.
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