Dr. Ramachandran

Oh, great, another TED Talk, and one from 10 years ago at that.  But this one is worth watching, as it's Dr. Ramachandran explaining mirror neurons and their effects on consciousness and empathy far better than I ever could.  I have posted other videos of Dr. R here before, but not this particular one.  

Back in 2009, I quoted Dr. Ramachandran saying, "One of the theories we put forward is that the mirror-neuron system is used for modelling someone else's behavior, putting yourself in another person's shoes, looking at the world from another person's point of view. This is called an allocentric view of the world, as opposed to the egocentric view. So I made the suggestion that at some point in evolution this system turned back and allowed you to create an allocentric view of yourself. This is," he claims, "the dawn of self-awareness," or consciousness.

This is explicitly tying mirror neurons to mental models, or "mental formations" as the Buddhists put it, and gives us more insight into samskara.  It is these mental models that give rise to consciousness and self-awareness, and validates a deeper examination of the role mental models play in our lives.