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Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation
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Predictive coding: an account of the mirror neuron system.

James M Kilner1, Karl J Friston, Chris D Frith

  • 1The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, 12 Queen Square, WC1N 3BG, London, UK. j.kilner@fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk

Cognitive Processing
|April 13, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Understanding intentions from observed actions involves the brain's mirror neuron system. This study proposes a predictive coding framework, using empirical Bayes, to explain how prediction errors are minimized to infer intentions.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Computational Neuroscience

Background:

  • Inferring intentions from observed actions is a fundamental social cognition ability.
  • The mirror neuron system is hypothesized to play a key role in linking action observation to understanding intentions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a computational framework for understanding how the mirror neuron system facilitates intention inference.
  • To explain the role of predictive coding and empirical Bayes in action observation and intention recognition.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing a predictive coding framework based on empirical Bayes.
  • Modeling the minimization of prediction error across cortical hierarchies during action observation.

Main Results:

  • The proposed framework offers a mechanism for inferring the most likely cause (intention) of an observed action.
  • It highlights the role of prediction error minimization in intention understanding.

Conclusions:

  • The mirror neuron system's function in intention inference can be understood through predictive coding.
  • This computational account provides insights into the neural mechanisms underlying social cognition and intention recognition.