I think it is called "mirror neurons", and is the one thing that separates us from every other living creature. They are the reason we can play out a scenario in our heads and then execute as if we’d performed a given task once before. If I were to say “jump up and click your heels” you’d create a visual of this act before doing so, and it would greatly assist you in accomplishing this task.

There is a very common condition that humans can get, that is the lack of mirror neurons, which can be debilitating and these people have a lot of trouble executing even simple tasks. It is called – Autism.