Recognition, Thirdness, and the Mirror Neuron System

Relational synapse of the mirror neuron system

Jessica Boyatt talks about the mirror neuron system as a "relation synapse" that is part of the relational psychoanalysis (below, 2009).  The mirror neurons enable a connection that is in "the physical and experiential space" (p.2) in between people who are communicating, such as a therapist and client.  It can also be the space surrounding the members of crowd, or what she calls a social "bubble."  What emerges from the "bubble" becomes part of eveyone's experience, and is the cause for more communication, and more experience construction.  The quality of the experience, I imagine, would depend on its context and the emotions experienced in the "bubble."

"Conscious verbal articulation" Boyatt says, "is the tip of the iceberg."  There is "implicit, nonconscious communication" in the bubble that is derived from experience.  This reminds me of the constructivist "community of knowledge" where "knowledge is a complex of meanings continually negotiated" (Constructivism and education).  Boyatt calls communication within her system "languaging" and she says that it operates at a much higher speed than normal articulated langauge.  She describes in the context of the therapist/client relationship, but I would probably see it more explicitly in romance, and hence highly more emtional--perhaps emotional communication.


Boyatt, J. (2009). Relational Synapse: Recognition, Thirdness, and the Mirror Neuron System. Washington, District of Columbia, US: American Psychological Association.