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What Happened to Mirror Neurons?

Cecilia Heyes1,2, Caroline Catmur3

  • 1All Souls College, University of Oxford.

Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science
|July 9, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mirror neurons are crucial for imitation and basic action processing but not for understanding intentions or autism. Research confirms their origin in general visual-motor learning.

Keywords:
action understandingassociative learningautismmirror neuronsneurosciencesocial cognition

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Psychology

Background:

  • A decade ago, the Mirror Neuron Forum debated mirror neuron functions in action understanding, speech, imitation, and autism.
  • Key questions included whether mirror neurons are acquired through visual-motor learning.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review and synthesize advances in mirror neuron research since the 2011 forum.
  • To assess the current understanding of mirror neuron roles in various cognitive functions and their origins.

Main Methods:

  • Review of subsequent research utilizing multivoxel pattern analysis, patient studies, brain stimulation, and neuroimaging.
  • Behavioral and neurological measures in autism research.
  • Studies on the developmental origins of mirror neurons.

Main Results:

  • Mirror neuron areas contribute to low-level action processing but not high-level intention interpretation.
  • The motor system is involved in speech discrimination, though a specific mirror neuron role is unclear.
  • Strong evidence supports a causal role for mirror neuron areas in imitation.
  • No evidence supports the "broken-mirror theory" of autism.
  • Mirror neurons originate from domain-general visual-motor associative learning.

Conclusions:

  • Mirror neuron research has advanced significantly, clarifying their role in imitation and basic action perception.
  • Current evidence does not support a role in complex intention understanding or autism.
  • Visual-motor associative learning is key to mirror neuron development.