Gestalt Psychology, Mirror Neurons, and Body-Mind Problem (original) (raw)

The body-mind problem is one of the oldest philosophical problems. Aristot-le claimed the unity of soul and body: " We should not ask whether the soul and body are one, any more than whether the wax and the impression are one " [Aristotle, De Anima ii, 412b6-7]. Plato held the opposite view. Gestalt psychology from the very beginning was concerned with this problem. One aspect of the body-mind problem was presented by Gestalt theory in the form of iso-morphism. Another line of investigation started with Gestalt therapy, which pays a lot of attention to body language, body processes, body awareness, and body memories. Neuropsychology continuously accumulated facts concerning relations between psychological functions and neuronal activity. At last, 20 years ago, the fundamental mirror neurons phenomenon was discovered: perception through imitating the movements (gestures) that created the stimulus. This discovery demonstrates that our body is an inseparable part of perception. With that knowledge in mind, this paper analyzes the history of Gestalt psychology, and shows that this idea was born in Gestalt psychology and persisted throughout its 100-year history. A mirror neuron (MN) is a neuron that fires both when an animal or human being acts and when the animal or human being observes the same action performed by another. So, when observing the actions of the other, the observer feels as though he is himself acting. Such neurons have been directly observed in primates , humans, and other species including birds. This discovery initiated a wave of research and discussion in psychology of perception and particularly in Gestalt psychology which is the most general theory of perception. The most popular theme became the perception of emotions (partly because that issue had attracted the attention of philosophers, biologists, and psychologists from antiquity on). Was this an unexpected discovery which meant a kind of revolution in neuropsy-chology? Or was it a logically legitimate step in the development of a psychology of perception? In this paper I will present arguments which support the latter position; during 100 years Gestalt psychology has proposed and developed the idea that the final and crucial part of perception is imitation of movements that created the stimuli (either dynamic or static).

Sign up for access to the world's latest research.

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact