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Through the looking glass: counter-mirror activation following incompatible sensorimotor learning
Caroline Catmur1, Helge Gillmeister, Geoffrey Bird
1Department of Psychology, University College London, London, UK. c.catmur@ucl.ac.uk
The European Journal of Neuroscience
|September 12, 2008
Summary
The human mirror system
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Motor Control
Background:
- The mirror system is vital for social cognition.
- Its developmental origins remain largely unknown.
- Sensorimotor experience is hypothesized to play a role.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how sensorimotor experience shapes the human mirror system.
- To determine if mirror properties are innate or learned.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed.
- Participants underwent compatible (mirror) or incompatible (counter-mirror) sensorimotor training.
- Neural responses to observed hand and foot actions were measured.
Main Results:
- Counter-mirror training reversed the typical action observation properties of the mirror system.
- Areas responding to hand actions in controls responded to foot actions after incompatible training.
- This indicates plasticity in the mirror system's function.
Conclusions:
- Mirror system properties are acquired through sensorimotor learning, not innate.
- Sensorimotor experience is critical for developing the mirror system's function.
- This challenges previous assumptions about the mirror system's origins.
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