Thinking about mirror neurons and family caregiving - 2023 12 02

 

It is 9 pm Saturday and I am getting this work completed that has been waiting for attention for at least a week.

Kilner and Lemon (2013) wrote, "What we know currently about mirror neurons". They define mirror neurons as a class of neurons that modulate their activity both when an individual executes a specific motor act and when they observe the same or similar act performed by another individual. The key concept is that there is the close relationship between our experiences of things we do ourselves and things we observe others doing. How both of these activities involve our nervous system.

Each day I start with great intentions to organize my thoughts, make myself a To Do list, and complete creative work projects that require creative energy, concentration and time to focus. I am entering my third year of family caregiving. Mom moved in with me on November 1, 2021. She wasn't expected to survive 6 months, but, here we are, December 2, 2023 and she is living her best life.

Many of us are familiar with the experience of 'contact high'. It is a phenomenon that occurs when we feel intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol or drugs when we are in contact with others who are imbibing and we are sober. Previously the experience of a 'contact high' has been explained as classical conditioning. It has been described as the experience of absorbing "... the ambience of the folks who had actually imbibed the substance." (Wikipedia, Contact High, accessed 2023-12-02).

This morning Mom woke up in a state of heightened agitation. Mom's level of agitation is usually indicated by how loud she is in her room - singing, free rhyming, repetitive fragments of poems, whistling, and tapping on her bedside table. I have been listening to these sound patterns and tones a daily basis since Mom moved in. Some days when I hear them I am able to ignore them, allow her to discharge the energy and she usually settles down afterward. Mom's 'sundowning' is 'sunrising'. She is usually agitated in the early hours of the morning.

In Psychology Today (Jun 28, 2022), Dr. Judith Orloff wrote an article, "How the Brain's Mirror Neurons Affect Empathy". In the article she discussed the relationship between empaths, compassion and mirror neurons. Dr. Orloff wrote, "Studies suggest that empaths have a hyperactive mirror neuron system which places them high on the empathy scale. When someone you love is in pain, you may feel it as if it is actually happening to you."

This morning was a little different. Mom wanted me to hold her hands and stay in her room with her. I could hear her asking, "Where did she go?" when I left her room to go and get her tea.

It might be useful and helpful to inquire into our experience of family caregiving and looking after our family members who cannot fend for themselves through an understanding of mirror neurons. It might give us insight into our internal states of confusion, agitation, depression, anxiety, contentment, and serenity as they are activated in these relationships and within our family caregiving role.

I noticed that all this verbalizing, repetitions, and agitated energy was affecting me. I was having a difficult time settling down. I could barely think of the next task at hand, much less marshalling my concentration, focus and creative energy to do something outside the realm of this disturbance.

As family caregivers, we are constantly 'under the influence' of the mental, emotional and physical health of those we are caring for. Could mirror neurons help us understand why we have a hard time coping with the mental, emotional and physical difficulties we are observiing on a day to day basis?

It has been frustrating trying to organize my thoughts when I am observing and processing the words, emotions and ideas flowing out of Mom. Sometimes the best I can do is step out to walk the dog once she is settled and see if I can collect my great intentions into some sort of creative action for the day.