I also suspect from a polystatic perspective that the assemblage of multiple part of the brain to produce action is often (if not always) experienced as an anticipatory emotion (such as “looking forward” to breakfast or to receiving praise for taking “courageous” action.) It would seem, given these neuroscience findings, that some of the most difficult (and perhaps most important) work that coaches do is assist their clients in moving from thought to action—in helping them “fire up” these multiple portions of their brain.
Mirror Neurons
Another major finding that may hold major implications for the field of professional coaching concerns the apparent presence of mirror neurons in our neurophysiological system. In a series of controversial research projects and articles, it has been proposed that certain neurons will fire when a person is observing someone else doing a task and these neurons tend to mimic the neuronal firings of the person being observed. Thus, when we watch someone performing a physical act, mirror neurons will fire that mimic the neuronal firings in the person being observed.
Some of these mirror neurons seem to teach us how to carry out actions by simulating an observed action and creating a neural template/map for how it’s done. But much more than this, many scientists believe that mirror neurons help us develop our “theory of mind” regarding other people. This is a theory we develop over time during our youth that enables us to understand the intentions behind the action of others, and possibly the social meaning of their behaviors and emotions. As Rock and Page (Rock and Page, 2009, p. 431) speculate:
“Might the firing of neurons when observing the intentional actions of others account for our capacity for empathy and our ability to develop a theory of mind? It does appear that we grasp the experience of others through direct experiences of ourselves, through sensing, not thinking. When someone is feeling sad, we know so partly because we also feel sad.”
Furthermore, many scientists believe that the evolution of our mirror neurons probably facilitated the evolution of language and simultaneously the evolution of culture. Perhaps, the polystatic capacity to anticipate how another person might wish to know what we are thinking and feeling provides the incentive for inventing a way (language) to let them know what we are thinking and feeling. Even more broadly, we might want to ensure that the nuances of what we are thinking and feeling have been effectively conveyed and even that the communication of these thoughts and feelings is sustained beyond the one engagement with another person. We create works of art to ensure and sustain the nuances. Cultural artifacts are produced because we anticipate that other people are just as hungry for full appreciation of other people’s ideas and emotional states as we are.
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