The mirror neuron system: social cognition

What are Mirror neurons

neurons that are activated both when we perform an action and when we observe someone else perform the same action

What is likely that mirror neurons are involved with

the social cognitive processes of empathy, perspective taking and Theory of Mind

Who discovered mirror neurons

Rizzolatti (accidentally)

How did they discover this accidentally

They were recording neural activity in the motor cortex of monkeys using electrodes and noticed that when one of the researchers reached for food the monkeys motor cortex reacted the same as when he reached for food

What did further investigation into this suggest

The brain cells that fired when the monkey reached for food were the same when the monkey watched someone else reach for food

What has mirror neurons helped to explain

how individueal imitate one another, for example in meltzoff and moores baby study

Why is this understanding of imitation important

Because imitation is how individuals pick up skills, for example building is aquired by imitating the teacher

What else did they find about mirror neurons

That they don't just imitate activity but they represent intentions in humans, what a person intends to do

Who studied mirror neurons and intentions

lacoboni

What was the method of research into mirror neurons

The researchers used fMRI to examine 23 participants as they watched

videos of a hand picking up a teacup.

What were the different conditions

Condition 1 - teacup sat on a table amid a pot ,assumed the hand was grasping the cup to take a sip.

Condition 2 - table was messy and

scattered with crumbs , a sign that the party was over and the hand

was clearing the table

Condition 3 - In a third video the cup was alone, removed from

any context.

What did they find

found that the mirror neurons in the premotor cortex reacted more strongly in the context conditions than the contextless condition

What did these findings suggest

That mirror neurons are not just interested in motion but also context behind that motion

What did Gallese and goldman suggest memory neurons do

They enable us to experience someones actions like they are our own, empathy and tom

What is a strength of the mirror neuron system

Research support, Helene Haker (2012) demonstrated that an area of the brain believed to be rich in mirror neurons is involved in contagious yawning, using an fMRI while pps watched a video of people yawning, When pps yawned there was higher activity in the broddmans area in the frontal lobe

What is an issue / strength of mirror neuron research

Could explain gender differences in empathy. Cheung recorded EEG activity while men and women watched either a moving dot or hand actions. Hand actions should stimulate mirror neurons. Females

showed a significantly stronger response than males with the hand action.

How has this research been applied

Applied to understanding autism. Dapretto used brain scanning techniques to observe autistic and non autistic children when watching a face of different emotions. Autistic pps had less activity in parts of the brain with Mirror neurons.