Mirror neurons

Science knows they exist and are currently studying them. Study is in it's infancy as mirror neurons were first discovered in the 1990s. Before that there were theories of there existence but no hard science. I'm going to lay out a theory I have which will take a bit but it all leads to a point.

You can see for yourself where the research on them stands. There's not much hard science, more indications than anything else. Anyway they've linked the mirror neurons to empathy. How strong are they? How many are needed and for what function(s)? Is there a specific region of the brain that is developed for these types of neurons? So strength, number, etc science doesn't yet have answers to. I'm not an expert but that's my understanding, flawed it may be.

What we know is that mirror neurons live up to their name. They are mirrors. It's, I think, been demonstrated that people with empathic abilities have higher concentrations of mirror neurons. Still with me?

Now I'll get into the weeds here a little bit and also slightly personal. I discovered post divorce after 17 years, that I am an empath. No, I don't read minds and no, I never had any special powers nor do I now. What I figured out was how to be a healthy empath vs the unhealthy empath I was. You know, this is how you are so this is how you live well with it, sort of stuff.

Now come to find out as I got into the research on narcissism (my ex) and empaths (me) I found that those two types often end up in intimate relationships together. You can look into the reasons why. Suffice it to say it's an unhealthy symbiotic relationship at least for the empath or HSP (highly sensitive person).

I learned a lot about narcissism. It was time to move on and learn about other things which I did. Later on I revisited some of the old resources I gleamed knowledge from on narcissism. I came to confirm something I had heard in the spiritual awakening crowd. Having a spiritual awakening is fairly common amongst those that were in a narcissistic relationship and got out of it via very emotionally difficult means. Being rudely dumped after building a life together, abused, abandoned, etc usually around midlife.

There are a number of responses people will utilize in times of crisis. One of those many ways is self reflection. This brings me to my final point. See how I used the word reflection?

What if mirror neurons instead of mirroring those around us were turned inwards on oneself? Outside distractions were minimized, self reflection was maximized and this occurred over an extended period of time. What would a mirror neuron or its system do then?

Simply go dormant? Something else?