Neuroscience meets dance/movement therapy: Mirror neurons, the therapeutic process and empathy

The recent discovery by neuroscientists of mirror neurons has launched a spate of scientific investigations. A keystone of the therapeutic process of dance/movement therapy (D/MT), the concept of mirroring is now the subject of neuroscience. An interactive phenomenon, studies are revealing that the identical sets of neurons can be activated in an individual who is simply witnessing another person performing a movement as the one actually engaged in the action or the expression of some emotion or behavior. The domains of behavior currently under investigation span motoric, psychosocial and cognitive functions, including specific psychosocial issues related to attunement, attachment theory and empathy. Although D/MT embodies empathic forms, until recently their neurological underpinnings have not been studied. The paper addresses the theoretical constructs of the mirror matching mechanism and empathy, and the implications for D/MT. Beginning with the basic mapping of important central nervous system structures and their behavioral functions, the focus shifts to the mirror neurons with respect to the formative years vis-à-vis the developmental issues of empathy—attachment, attunement, social cognition and morality. The final section offers two exemplars of mirror neurons and empathy as mediated through dance and D/MT.