Feel the pain!

Look at the picture, did you feel the sensation of pain or just freaked out?

Lately this picture appeared on my facebook wall several time, every time I see this picture I clutched my fingers like I’m protecting them from that sharp knife, even some of friends who saw this reacted in a very similar way, I was quite amused!
After doing a bit of research I found out that, all that sudden painful sensations aren’t caused by the picture, these are caused by kind of neurons called Mirror Neurons in our very own brain some where in premotor cortex (upper middle part of our brain).
These mirror neurons fires both when we act and we observe a same action performed by another person, quite interesting huh?
Apart from scaring you these neurons play very significant role in one’s ability to acquire new skills by imitating, and language development in kids.

Next time when you see your girlfriend crying during movie or a kid imitating your expressions think of Mirror Neurons.