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Mirror neurons get a lot of attention. Mirror Neurons Respond to Sound and Reading> ramps up the wattage even more with brief reports on three new pieces of research published in Sept. 19 issue ofCurrent Biology.

My understanding of mirror neurons rests on the idea that they get activated when we watch someone perform some action. As we watch, neurons in the premotor cortex area of the brain light up as if we were also performing that action. Some have speculated on the role of mirror neurons on learning and developing empathy. See Built to Be Fans for an informative look at how the neurons might be involved in watching sports and rooting for you favorite team or athlete.) What’s most noteworthy about the new studies is they suggest mirror neurons can swing into action by hearing or even reading about an activity.

But the one thing that stood out most for me here is a quote from one of the researchers that could have come from a Feldenkrais practitioner:

Simone Schütz-Bosbach, a neuroscientist at the University College London, said that research on mirror neurons sheds new light on the relationship between sensing and doing. “Research in the last few years seems to suggest that perception and action are tightly linked rather than separated,” she said.

She goes on to talk about the function in social communication, but it’s the sensing/doing quote that’s the take home message for me here.

This intertwining of sensing and acting is a key idea, if not THE key idea, in the Feldenkrais Method. Without paying attention to the sensations of movement, it’s pretty hard to change that movement, at least not easily.

What I’ve found over the years is that imitation, by itself, is not a very productive learning strategy when it comes to learning new motor-based skills. But developing a keener perception of movement can lead to some pretty startling changes.

An often-repeated Feldenkrais quotes goes something like, “if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can’t do what you want.”