Mirror neuron system

• Who discovered Mirror Neurons?

  Rizzolatti et al
• What 4 things are MN involved in?

  intention

  perspective taking

  human evolution

  ASD
• Who investigated the role of MN in intention?

  Gallese and Goldman
• Why is it adaptive for primates to understand intention?

  understand and predict actions to avoid violence and appear more desirable to a mate
• In which 2 areas of the brain may the mirror neurons play a role in empathy and emotional responses?

  cingulate cortex, insular cortex
• What did Ramachandran say about MN and evolution?


  MN have shaped evolution as without the understanding of intention, emotion and perspective we cannot live in large groups with complex role and rules

  also key to understanding how humans have developed as a social species
• What type of waves are not suppressed in children with autism when they observe others?

  Mu waves
• What is the name of the theory suggested by Ramachandran and Oberman and what are the consequences of it?


  broken mirror theory

  child can't develop imitating skills or understand social behaviour of others leading to ASD as difficulties in social communication
• Which 2 researchers provide evidence for the role of MN?

  Haker et al

  Mouras et al
• Describe Haker et al's study into MN.


  used fMRI to assess the brain activity of p's while stimulated to yawn while watching others yawning. Activity in Brodmann's area which is rich in MN. Supports suggesting MN involved in perceiving the mental sates of others.
• Describe Mouras et al's study into MN.


  got male p's to watch a fishing documentary, Mr bean or porn. Activity in the pars opercularis (which is rich in MN) seen just before arousal, supporting the idea that MN involved in perspective taking.
• What did Hadjikhani find in the brains of those with ASD?

  smaller average thickness of pars opercularis and lower activity in areas associated with MN.
• The mirror neuron system – consists of special brain cells called mirror neurons distributed in several areas of the brain. Mirror neurons are unique because they fire both in response to personal action an in response to action on the part of others. These special neurons may be involved in social cognition, allowing us to interpret intention and emotion in others.  
• Mirror neurons and human evolution

  Ramachandran 2011 suggested that mirror neurons are so important that they have effectively shaped human evolution.

  The uniquely complex social interactions we have as humans require a brain system that facilitates an understanding of intention, emotion and perspective.

  Without these cognitive abilities we could not live in the large groups with the complex social roles and rules that characterise human culture. Ramachandran suggests that mirror neurons are absolutely key to understanding the way humans have developed as a social species.
• The discovery of mirror neurons

  Rizzolatti et al 2002 came across mirror neurons by accident when studying electrical activity in a monkeys motor cortex (part of the brain controlling movement) when one research reached for his lunch in the view of the monkey. Monkey’s motor cortex became activated in exactly the same way as it did when the animal itself reached for food.

  Further investigation revealed that it was the same brain cells fired when the monkey reached itself or watched someone else reach.

  = called cells mirror neurons because the neurons mirror activity in another individual
• Mirror neurons and intention

  Identifying mirror neurons à given us a new way of thinking about the way we understand each others intentions – this is central to social cognition.

  Gallese and Goldman 1998 suggested that mirror neurons respond not just to observed actions but to intentions behind behaviour. Rather than the common-sense view that we interpret people’s actions with reference to our memory, Gallese and Goldman suggested that we simulate others actions in our motor system and experience their intentions using our mirror neurons.
• Mirror neurons and perspective taking

  Also been suggested that mirror neurons are important in other social-cognitive functions, e.g., theory of mind and the ability to take others perspectives.

  If mirror neurons fire in response to others actions and intentions this may give us a neural mechanism for experiencing, hence understanding, other peoples perspectives and emotional states. Just as we can simulate intention by making judgements based on our own reflected motor responses, this same information may allow us to interpret what others are thinking and feeling.
• A major source of evidence concerning mirror neurons and perspective-taking comes from the study of mirror neurons in autistic children.

  Some features of autism are associated with all the social-cognitive abilities linked to mirror neurons. If autistic children can be shown to have a dysfunctional mirror neuron system then this may go a long way to explaining autism.
• Ramachandran and Oberman 2006, have proposed the ‘broken mirror’ theory of autism. This is the idea that neurological deficits that include dysfunction in the mirror neuron system prevent a developing child imitating and understanding social behaviour in others. This manifests itself in infancy when children later diagnosed as autistic typically mimic adult behaviour less than others.

  Later, problems with the mirror neuron system lead to challenges in social communication as children do not fully develop the usual abilities to read intention and emotion in others.
• One +ve is research support for mirror neurons.

  Haker et al 2012 demonstrated via fMRI scans that Broadmann’s area of the brain (part of the brain rich in mirror neurons) is involved in contagious yawning (a simple example of human empathy).
• Mouras et al 2008 found when men watches heterosexual pornography, activity in the pars opercularis (rich in mirror neurons) was seen immediately before sexual arousal. Suggests that mirror neurons produced perspective-taking, = pornography arousing. Supports the important of mirror neurons in social cognition showing that regions of the brain believed to be rich in mirror neurons activate when empathy of perspective-taking take place.
• One limitation is the difficulties involved in studying the system in humans.

  Evidence for mirror neuron activity usually comes from brain scanning. This technique identifies activity levels in regions of the brain but cannot measure activity in individual brain cells. Inserting electrodes is the only way of measuring activity at a cellular level and it is not ethically possible in humans. Mirror neuron research is therefore based on inferences from measuring general activity in areas of the brain and as such cannot provide direct evidence of mirror neuron activity.
• Another limitation is missed evidence for the link with ASD

  Hadikhani 2007, supports the link between ASD and mirror neuron deficits by finding a smaller thickness of the pars opercularis in ASD participants. Other studies using fMRI have shown lower activity in brain areas associated with mirror neurons in participants with ASD. However, not al such findings have been replicated so the reliability of the results remains questionable and consequently the evidence linking ASD to mirror neurons is mixed.
• A further limitation is an inability to isolate specialist cells.

  Hickok 2009, questions whether mirror neurons exist. This is controversial as other researchers (e.g. Mukamel et al 2010) do believe there are isolated mirror neurons. Hickok argues that we only know mirror neurons by their function and have failed thus far to be able to identify individual cells and point to their difference from other neurons. This challenges the existence of specialist neurons carrying out the mirroring – but it does not deny that the function described is carried out in the brain
• A final limitation is how mirror neurons function to support social cognition

  Hickok also questions the role of mirror neurons in social cognition even if they do exist. Hickok suggests that their role may have more to do with use others behaviour to plan our own. This suggests that there is still work to do in this area before firm explanations can be made about the role of mirror neurons in social cognition.