Recognize yourself – in the mirror

If you hold up a mirror to an infant, he will not recognize that the face there is his own. It is only a few months later that the child is able to recognize itself. Five areas of the brain help.

The ability to recognize yourself in the mirror is considered an indicator of self-confidence.
Children develop the ability to recognize themselves between the ages of six and 18 months; this phase of development is called the mirror stage.
Your own reflection is formative for our self-image, but it takes a lot more to understand your self.

The mirror test is available in different versions. The best known standardized method is the Rouge test. A red spot is painted unnoticed on the forehead and then held up a mirror. If the child then looks in the mirror and tries to wipe the stain off its own forehead, the test is passed. The scientists conclude from this reaction that the child has recognized itself in the mirror.

The American psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. is considered a pioneer of the mirror test with animals. In 1970 he published in the magazine "Science" a pioneering essay on chimpanzees. In the experiment, the monkeys were stunned to paint two red spots unnoticed on their faces: one on an eyebrow, the other on the opposite ear. When the animals woke up and had no mirror, they rarely touched the markings. When a mirror was placed next to the animals, the animals looked at each other and now constantly touched their markings.
Magpies, dolphins, orangutans and rhesus monkeys also pass the Spiegel test. There were less clear results for elephants: only individual animals passed the test.
Fish react very differently in a mirror test: they fight their reflection in the same way as a real conspecific. However, one experiment has shown that certain regions of the brain responsible for fear were more active when fighting with the mirror image than during real combat. So the fish had noticed that the mirror was slightly different than usual, but they could not reflect what it was.

ear

The ear is not only the organ of hearing, but also of balance. A distinction is made between the outer ear with the pinna and the outer auditory canal, the middle ear with the eardrum and the ossicles, as well as the actual auditory and balance organ, the inner ear with the cochlea and the semicircular canals.

A toddler with red hair stands in front of a mirror: it smacks against it with one hand. Then the boy runs from right to left – and is surprised when he suddenly no longer sees the figure in the mirror. A few seconds later, he bends down and tries to crawl under the mirror as if he wants to visit the other person behind the mirror. But there is the wall. Obviously the child doesn’t recognize himself in the mirror.

Parents often post videos with such scenes on the Internet. In this case, the boy is 14 months old, as described. For children of this age, it is quite normal that they cannot yet recognize their reflection, says Norbert Zmyj, developmental psychologist at the Ruhr University in Bochum. Nevertheless, they react differently to actual people. "We know from six or seven month old children that they show less social behavior in front of a mirror than when they have a child of the same age opposite them," says Norbert Zmyj. "For example, the child smiles less and looks at the other person, his reflection, less often." You can also see how surprised the children are, because the reflection reacts differently to actual people. Norbert Zmyj gives an example of this: When the mom grimaces, the child laughs and then the mother grins as well. So mother and child usually alternate with their facial expressions. The other person in the mirror, on the other hand, does not react, but does everything at the same time – funny. “So the child notices that something is different in the mirror. But it still does not understand what: namely that it is itself. "

facial expressions

Five muscle groups control the visible movements on the surface of our face – and that applies to everyone in the world. For this reason, the basic emotions of fear, anger, disgust, sadness, surprise and joy leave similar traces everywhere on the face, which we can usually also reliably identify with strangers. Neuroscientists suspect that this ability comes about by subconsciously mimicking the facial expression of our counterpart.

Watch yourself making faces

Later – at 15 months or only at 24 months – the child will recognize: That in the mirror, that’s me. “Many children then grimace because it is the first time that they can observe their facial expressions. They could always see their gestures, like how their hands move, ”says Norbert Zmyj. However, other children avoid their reflection: almost as if it is scary that there is not someone else opposite them, but rather themselves.The 14-month-old boy from the video is now entering an exciting development phase: the mirror stage , During this time, the ego developed, the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan suspected as early as the 1930s.

What changes in the brain in this phase, physically, the researchers do not know. "The big methodological problem is: we can’t just put these small children in a scanner," says Norbert Zmyj. Above all, there are ethical concerns. "In Germany, children must not be put into a magnetic resonance tomograph without a medical reason." Such an examination would be an unjustifiable burden for them. There is also a very practical reason: "The small children cannot keep still as they would need for such pictures."

facial expressions

gesture

A non-verbal form of communication, in which certain movements convey content – a shrug of the shoulders, a waving arm movement.

Recommended articles

Star cult is part of our culture. Some imitate their idol – with consequences for their personality?

Thinking and compassion is innate in humans – and yet it has to be learned and practiced.

Sophisticated experiments prove that chimpanzees can put themselves in their own kind.

Researchers are looking for masters of empathy. But measuring compassion is not that easy.

The search for brain areas for compassion and understanding of the thoughts and emotions of others.

Empathy and empathy, both anchored in the brain, make people social beings.

What role do mirror neurons really play in empathy??

Your charisma is often just a mask. Psychopaths feel no empathy for their victims.

Even small children can understand the thoughts of others – and recognize wrong beliefs.

At least five brain regions ensure that you can recognize yourself in the mirror.

Five brain regions help with self-recognition

So scientists have to limit themselves to examining adults. You have long been out of the mirror stage. But at least they can be used to examine what exactly is going on in the brain when they recognize themselves in the mirror or on a photo. Here too, however, the brain researchers do not yet have complete answers. In an overview article from 2011, which summarized 18 studies, neuroscientists from the University of Liège and the University of Amsterdam came to the conclusion: “Unfortunately, it remains a very difficult and daring task to connect specific cognitive processes in self-recognition to certain brain regions bring. "

After all, the studies show that when we recognize ourselves in the mirror or on a photo, five brain regions are mainly active: Is the face that I see my own? Or my sister’s? To answer such questions, the brain searches for similarities and differences. This happens in separate areas: parts of the prefrontal cortex react to differences – and parts of the temporal lobe are primarily responsible for the perception of familiarity, especially the fusiform gyrus.

Regardless of whether you look at a picture of yourself or someone else, the brain is attentive. This is ensured by the cingular cortex of the limbic system. As a rule, we like ourselves. You can also see that in brain activities: When a person sees an image of themselves, a region that is important for emotions works very hard: the island bark. You also perceive the face as part of your own body. This is ensured by the parietal cortex, especially the lower parietal lobe.

Prefrontal cortex

Prefrontal cortex / – / prefrontal cortex

The front part of the frontal lobe, or PFC for short, is an important integration center of the cortex (cerebral cortex): Here, sensory information converges, appropriate reactions are designed and emotions are regulated. The PFC is considered the seat of the executive functions (which control one’s own behavior taking into account the conditions of the environment) and the working memory. It also plays a crucial role in evaluating the pain stimulus.

perception

The term describes the complex process of information acquisition and processing of stimuli from the environment as well as the inner states of a living being. The brain combines the information, which is partly consciously and partly unconsciously, into a subjectively meaningful overall impression. If the data it receives from the sensory organs are not sufficient for this, it supplements them with empirical values. This can lead to misinterpretation and explains why we succumb to optical illusions or fall for magic tricks.

temporal

Temporal lobe / temporal lobe / temporal lobe

The temporal lobe is one of the four large lobes of the cerebrum. Located at the level of the ears, it fulfills numerous tasks – the temporal lobe includes the auditory cortex as well as the hippocampus and the Wernicke language center.

Cingular cortex

Cingular cortex / Cortex cingularis / cingulate cortex

A component of the prefrontal cortex that is located on the front of the brain. The cingular cortex winds around the beam like a half donut. Functionally, it belongs to the limbic system that regulates drive-controlled behaviors.

emotions

“Emotions” are neuroscientists who understand psychic processes that are triggered by external stimuli and which result in a willingness to act. Emotions arise in the limbic system, an ancient part of the brain in terms of tribal history. Psychologist Paul Ekman has defined six cross-cultural basic emotions, which are reflected in characteristic facial expressions: joy, anger, fear, surprise, sadness and disgust.

island flap

The island lobe is a recessed part of the cortex (cerebral cortex) that is covered by frontal, temporal and parietal lobes. This overlay is called the opercula (lid). The insula has an influence on the motor function and sensory function of the intestine and is considered in pain processing as a connection between cognitive and emotional elements.

Parietallappen

Parietal lobe / Lobus parietalis / parietal lobe

Also called the parietal lobe and is one of the four large lobes of the cerebral cortex. It lies behind the frontal and above the occipital lobe. Somatosensory processes take place in the front area, sensory information is integrated in the rear area, which enables objects to be handled and orientated in space.

Self-knowledge is not the same as self-knowledge

When people talk about the picture of themselves, they use words like self-confidence or self-knowledge. However, scientists often use these terms to refer to other things. "In everyday language, the word ‘self-confidence’ is connoted with the property of having a high opinion of yourself and showing it. For us scientists, however, the term means that you are aware of yourself, that is, you can reflect on yourself. That’s why I’m talking about self-awareness, ”says developmental psychologist Norbert Zmyj.

Recognizing yourself in the mirror is not enough for self-awareness. This is shown, for example, by experiments by neuroscientist Mariia Kaliuzhna. For her doctoral thesis at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale in Lausanne, Switzerland, she examines how people with neurological and mental illnesses perceive themselves. “A man who has had a stroke and therefore has a memory loss passes the mirror test: he understands the principle of the mirror and can recognize himself. However, he does not remember any information about his personality. Self-recognition is therefore possible, but self-knowledge is not. ”There is also the opposite case: People with damage in a certain area of the temporal lobe cannot recognize faces, not even their own. Apart from this limitation, these people perceive themselves as normal.

Developmental psychologists such as Norbert Zmyj also observe that it is only many months after a toddler has recognized himself in the mirror that he develops the ability to recognize himself. The researchers do not mean, as is understood in the rest of society, an enlightening insight or the wisdom after a long life. Rather, researchers speak of self-knowledge when a child understands that something is only in their own perception, so that someone else can see, feel and evaluate something completely different. The first insights in this direction are already shown by one and a half year old children, but full awareness of this comes later. "Self-knowledge therefore corresponds to the theory of mind and children only succeed at around three or four years," says Norbert Zmyj. The red-haired toddler from the video will stand in front of the mirror for a while until he develops his self-awareness.

temporal

Temporal lobe / temporal lobe / temporal lobe

perception

The term describes the complex process of obtaining and processing information from stimuli from the environment and from the inner states of a living being. The brain combines the information, which is partly consciously and partly unconsciously, into a subjectively meaningful overall impression. If the data it receives from the sensory organs are not sufficient for this, it supplements them with empirical values. This can lead to misinterpretation and explains why we succumb to optical illusions or fall for magic tricks.

for further reading:

Devue Ch, Brédart S: The neural correlates of visual self-recognition. Consciousness and Cognition, 2011; 20 (1): 40 – 51. (to the text).
Prior, H, Pollok, B and Güntürkün, O: Himself vis-à-vis: What magpies perceive. RUBIN, edition 2/2000. (to the text).

Brain research goes to school: neurodidactics and learning

Brain and school – questions for Martin Korte The subject area of school and learning is full of excitement: for the children, of course, but also for…
Your child’s social development: 3 to 4 years, fisher price

Your child’s social development: 3 to 4 years Now that your child no longer sees other children as potential rivals for their toys or your attention,…
Computer games and child development

Christian Albrechts University of Kiel Faculty of Philosophy Institute f. Päd.-Psych. Teaching u. Learning research (IPL) Question: My child often plays…
Personality development: the child in you must find a home

25% discount on online course with Stefanie Stahl We are quickly running out of strength today: high stresses in work and family are often the reason….