The worst polluters on the planet? It's us when we're in a bad mood. Do we want to save him? Here's what to do!

We all stay infected with the mood of the people we live with and, sometimes unknowingly, absorb it; for example, if our partner is angry, we often end up being too. This means that in the relationship with others and in the relationship of the couple in particular, it is necessary to invest a lot in this sense, it takes a lot of commitment to show our "best face", to appear as much as possible happy, knowing how enormously this has influence on the surrounding environment and therefore on our own happiness And quality of life.

Smile And laugh even when we don't feel like it, it can affect the mood of those around us; the research carried out indicates that we tend to mimic the expressions of others, and if someone greets us at the door with a smile, we generally return it; if, on the other hand, we are greeted by a sullen and sad face, we too tend to assume the same expression.

"Smile and the universe will smile at you" goes an old planetary adage.

One of the reasons we like funny shows so much is that the smiling faces of comedians affect the activity of our autonomic nervous system. When we observe the expression on the face of others, we do not limit ourselves to receiving information, but we feel the same emotions. This could be of great importance for the treatment of patients in hospitals and for our overall attitude towards the disease. These are truths that have always been known, but forgotten in this technological age.

Great writers have always known the power of facial expressions. In his story The stolen letter Edgar Allan Poe he writes that when he wants to find out how wise, stupid, good or bad a person is, or what he is thinking at that moment, he takes on the same expression he sees on the other's face. "I imitate his expression as accurately as possible and then wait to see what thoughts and feelings arise in my heart or in my mind." Poe probably knew nothing of hormonal or chemical pathways, but he had come to the truth by intuition.

This all has to do with the Mirror neurons. Let's see what it is.

• How come we are infected by the sullen face of a stranger we meet on the street?
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• Why can a film involve us so much that we have the feeling that we are the protagonists of the love scene on the screen?
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• How come by descending in the wake of a ski instructor we learn to ski faster (it's not a pun ...)?
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• How come what remains of a profound spiritual experience are not so much the words that one hears himself said, but rather the way they are said, the gestures, the looks, the silences, the flashes of light of a smile, of a heart-warming thought, that we make ours forever?

Identifying ourselves in the actions of others is something we do every day, automatically and without even realizing it. It is our brain that takes care of it, thanks to some nerve cells called Mirror neurons. Discovered in the monkey brains, human mirror neurons control very sophisticated processes, such as understanding others' actions, intentions and emotions, imitation, learning and language.

Understanding this mechanism helps us to predict, understand and imitate what others do, feel and say. EMPATHY

THE mirror neurons allow us to explain ours physiologically ability to relate to others.

This is the discovery he made Giacomo Rizzolatti with his team of the University of Parma which earned him the Brain Prize which is the "Nobel Prize" for neuroscientists:

When we observe our fellow man perform a certain action, the same neurons are activated in our brain that come into play when we perform that same action.

They allow us to understand on the fly what the person in front of us is doing, without the need for complex reasoning. Furthermore, they prepare our nervous system to imitate the actions of others and to empathize with our interlocutors.

We instinctively understand the emotional expressions of others because we relive them within us.
In social situations we unconsciously tend to imitate others, their gestures, their physical and verbal expressions because this helps us to understand their state of mind: it is what psychologists call the "chameleon effect".

This ability to understand others immediately, instinctively, without reasoning of any kind, is due to mirror neurons, which interact with classic emotional areas of the brain, such as the insula and amygdala, to produce EMPATHY.

IS  because of these cells that, when we see a scene that makes us laugh, we are instinctively and without any reasoning infected.

In the same way, when we watch sports at the stadium or even simply on TV, we literally participate in the athletes' performances: we often unconsciously assume their postures and facial expressions and we place ourselves in an attitude of muscular tension, as if we were sharing their effort.

A great truth is deduced from this that makes us feel less alone

It can be said that:

• we live the others within us,

  and therefore that, in a certain sense,

• we and the others are "the same"

  Let's be clear: everyone has their individuality, but

• each inhabits worlds that are more united than it first appears
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• in others we see ourselves, through the mirror neurons that are
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• the glue that binds us together