Can mirror neurons improve sporting performance?

By Siddhant Kansal

Evolution is the most widely accepted theory of why the current biodiversity and geography of our planet is as it is. The theory of evolution is based on the paradigm, some may say conjecture, of natural selection, where random mutations in organisms lead to coincidental advantages of a certain organism to survive and reproduce in their environment, and this is how the species evolved. However, another theory is that a type of neuron (mirror neurons) led to organisms mimicking other organisms, and that sometimes this mimicry led to the discovery of advantageous movements or processes (such as striking a rock very quickly to create fire). 

Mirror neurons are neurons which, fundamentally, assist the organism to mimic actions of another in their species by firing neurons in the observer, as if the observer were completing the actions themselves. 

They are a specific type of neuron first located in the ventral premotor cortex of the brain, in monkeys by Rizzolatti. The premotor cortex is the area of the brain which is concerned with movement, and precise actions needed to execute a task, and so it makes sense they would be found here. Studies suggest that this area may be a precursor to our current Broca’s area (the area which is concerned with language), and I will explain later why this is useful to us. 

Mirror neuron function was first observed in monkeys who were watching other monkeys grab onto twigs for leaves and food on trees. Let us name these group 1 and group 2 for clarity. They created a distinction between other neuron function and that of mirror neurons, by determining the area of the brain in which the neurons were firing in group 1. In this case, the electrical impulses were only firing in areas of group 1’s brain concerned with movement, even though group 1 was completely still. This led to the discovery that the neurons in the subject were firing to predict the movement of group 2, as if group 1 monkey’s brain was thinking from the point of view of group 2 monkeys; a highly complex evolutionary advantage previously only credited to human, as it can help organisms (such as group 1 ) to determine the intentions of someone mid-action, and for us to react according, especially if a threat is imminent. 

Therefore, it would be logical to believe that when you watch great sportsmen and -women play sports you could mimic their every movement. In fact, this is sometimes an observed phenomenon, that people who have watched a certain sport for long enough or often enough can have developed some natural talent in the sport without rigorous physical practice or training. 

I mentioned the Broca’s area before, and the location of the mirror neurons is extremely advantageous. Many areas of the brain are joined by nerve fibres to Broca’s area - including the inferior parietal lobule. The inferior parietal lobule is largely separated into two sections, the angular gyrus and supra marginal gyrus, which are situated at a junction between the areas which detect hearing, touch and vision modalities. This means that the mirror neurons are able to work with all the senses to create their impulses by watching someone do an action.  

This leads to a phenomenon described by V.S. Ramachandran as cross-modal abstraction. This is when different senses can overlap, and is likened to synaesthesia. This is explained by the Bouba-Kiki effect. This describes a test where participants are exposed to 2 lines - one with jagged sides and edges and the other in swirls. The participants are absurdly then asked to say which they believe corresponds to the word “bouba” and which corresponds to the work “Kiki”. Preposterously, more than 95% people answer that the swirly line is linked to the word “bouba” and the jagged drawing relates to the name “Kiki” and on second inspection, this is not so preposterous. The sharp edges and the hard consonant sound of the “k” corresponds to the sharp edges in the drawing with sharp edges and the opposite is true for b (the swirly line corresponds to the soft sound and curved look of the b in “bouba”). 

This could be applied to racquet sports - for example when watching India play cricket or watching Andy Murray play tennis, we can see the angle at which he hits the ball (the vision modality) and we can hear how hard it leaves the racket or how loudly it bounces, and we can therefore come up with some sort of an idea as to how powerfully he must he have struck the ball. Particularly with successful shots, we can use this power of cross-modal abstraction and overlap our senses to somewhat translate sounds and sights into movements and muscle contractions, helping us learn from experts without moving a muscle. 

In humans, it is said that this is possibly what led to us having empathy and the ability to judge what people’s intentions are. We can predict peoples’ lip and tongue movements by watching them speak, and therefore form their words in advance and possibly determine their intentions beforehand. Thus, in a sporting context, it may make sense for teams to learn what the most common or predictable actions are in a certain sport, and therefore purposefully make surprising moves or even misdirect the other team as much as they can to prevent them from predicting your intentions, and therefore intercepting accordingly.

You may be wondering, if we can mimic the neurons of those completing an action, for example watching Roger Federer play tennis, then why is it we aren’t constantly swinging our hands when we watch Wimbledon, and why are we not copying each shot during the Cricket World Cup? To block us from executing each of the actions alongside the experts on TV, we have null signals which pass to prevent our sensory mimicry and frontal inhibitory circuits which prevent our motor neurons from carrying out each action we witness. 

Interestingly, when these frontal inhibitory circuits fail, a phenomenon known as echopraxia can occur - where certain people involuntarily keep mimicking other people’s movements or motor functions, as there is no inhibitory circuit between the impulses created by the mirror and motor neurons. Another potential problem with mirror neurons is known as phantom pain - a phenomenon which is very common in amputees who say they can still feel their limb and that it is constantly painful. The reason hypothesised for this, is that due to the loss of the limb, there are no longer the necessary null signals to prevent mirror neurons from generating impulses which may generate feeling for this removed limb. 

Mirror neurons and their effect on our brain is an increasingly important and interesting area of research, but until we have mapped all connections of all neurons to each area of the brain and their effect on the entire body, with no exceptions, we can not be certain if we can use mirror neurons as a truly proven way to improve sporting ability - but it is indisputable that mirror neurons are definitively helpful in increasing the speed of learning and cognitive reasoning through experience.