Neurons and learning

Today, there are shared opinions among the scientific community about the central role of the brain in learning, i.e., it is understood that we are our brain: our emotions, how we express them, what we understand, how we act, how we express ourselves; everything depends on the brain.

The ability to feel, smell, see, appreciate what surrounds you in all areas lies in the nervous system. Moreover, the ability to locate ourselves spatially and to have previous memories of the place where we are also depends on it. In fact, the very ability to question where you are, who you are talking to, how you feel, depends on the nervous system. In stressful situations, where we may feel fear or worry, this system not only consciously manages threats, but also activates involuntary reactions. All these processes are made possible by the interconnection of cells.

The nervous system is composed of two fundamental cell types: neurons and glial cells. The former, the subject of this lesson, are responsible for processing and transmitting information throughout the complex structure of the nervous system.

Types of neurons

Depending on their function, neurons can be classified into three fundamental classes: sensory, motor and interneurons.

Sensory neurons: Sensory neurons collect information about what is happening inside the organism and in its external environment and send it to the central nervous system for processing. In the event that you touch something that was on the stove, the sensory neurons that have nerve endings in your hands send the information to the central nervous system that the object X on the stove is hot so that your body reacts accordingly.

Motor neurons: Motor neurons receive information from other neurons and send movement orders to other areas of the body such as: glands, muscles and organs. Following the previous example, once the central nervous system received the information that the object is hot, the motor neurons will send signals for your hand to move away from this object as soon as possible.

Interneurons: This type of neurons have the important function of connecting one neuron to another. The mechanism works as follows: they receive information from other neurons (sensory or interneurons) and send it to other neurons (motor or interneurons). For example, and once again we explain through the previous situation: when we touch the hot object placed on the stove, the signal travels from the sensory neurons in the hands to the interneurons in the spinal cord. Some of these interneurons send signals to the motor neurons so that, as we saw above, a quick response is executed, which may be to release the object; while other interneurons send signals through the spinal cord to the neurons in the brain, where a sensation of pain is perceived. Interneurons are the most common type of neuron and are involved in information processing.

Mirror neurons

Mirror neurons are considered one of the major scientific breakthroughs of the end of the last century. They were discovered by Ritzolatti in 1996.

The importance of these neurons lies in the fact that they are essential in the development of cognitive skills related to life in society, such as empathy, the ability to imitate, learning only through observation, communication, speech development and social interaction.

This is why mirror neurons are so important in learning, since much of what we learn from birth, we know by imitation, observation and social communication. These neurons also allow us to know the meaning of the actions performed by other individuals and thus understand their goals, emotions and desires.