Is human imitation based on a mirror-neurone system? Some behavioural evidence (original) (raw)

Neural Circuits Underlying Imitation Learning of Hand Actions

Neuron, 2004

goal-directed action and when they observe another 1 Dipartimento di Neuroscienze individual doing a similar action ("mirror neurons;" Gal-Università di Parma lese et al., 1996; Rizzolatti et al., 1996a). In the monkey, Parma 43100 mirror neurons are found in the premotor area F5 and Italy in the inferior parietal lobule (see Rizzolatti et al., 2001). 2 Department of Psychology A series of electroencephalographic (EEG), magne-Lancaster University toencephalographic (MEG), transcranial magnetic stim-Lancaster LA1 4YF ulation (TMS), and brain imaging studies (e.g., Fadiga United Kingdom et al.showed that a mirror neuron system exists Universitä tsklinikum der RWTH also in humans. As in the monkey, two key regions form Aachen 52062 it: the caudal part of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and Germany the adjacent premotor cortex and the rostral part of the 5 C. & O. Vogt-Hirnforschungsinstitut inferior parietal lobule (see Rizzolatti et al., 2001). Heinrich Heine Universitä t Although the human mirror neuron system is similar Dü sseldorf 40210 to that of the monkey in many respects, it has certain Germany properties that are lacking or are poorly developed in the monkey. It is activated by the observation of intransitive actions (not only by goal-directed actions as in the mon-Summary key) (e.g., Fadiga et al., 1995; Iacoboni et al., 1999; Maeda et al., 2002) and by action pantomimes (Grè zes The neural bases of imitation learning are virtually unet al., 1998, 2003; Buccino et al., 2001), and it appears known. In the present study, we addressed this issue to code the time course of the observed action (Gangiusing an event-related fMRI paradigm. Musically naive tano et al., 2001). It is plausible that the highly developed participants were scanned during four events: (1) obcapacity of humans, in contrast to nonhuman primates servation of guitar chords played by a guitarist, (2) a (see Visalberghi and Fragaszy, 2001), to learn by imitapause following model observation, (3) execution of tion may be accounted for, at least in part, by the evoluthe observed chords, and (4) rest. The results showed

THE MIRROR SYSTEM HYPOTHESIS: FROM A MACAQUE-LIKE MIRROR SYSTEM TO IMITATION

The Evolution of Language - Proceedings of the 6th International Conference (EVOLANG6), 2006

The Mirror System Hypothesis (MSH) of the evolution of brain mechanisms supporting language distinguishes a monkey-like mirror neuron system from a chimpanzee-like mirror system that supports simple imitation and a human-like mirror system that supports complex imitation and language. This paper briefly reviews the seven evolutionary stages posited by MSH and then focuses on the early stages which precede but are claimed to ground language. It introduces MNS2, a new model of action recognition learning by mirror neurons of the macaque brain to address data on audio-visual mirror neurons. In addition, the paper offers an explicit hypothesis on how to embed a macaque-like mirror system in a larger human-like circuit which has the capacity for imitation by both direct and indirect routes. Implications for the study of speech are briefly noted.

The evolution of imitation and mirror neurons in adaptive agents

2005

Imitation is a highly complex cognitive process, involving vision, perception, representation, memory and motor control. The underlying mechanisms that give rise to imitative behavior have attracted a lot of attention in recent years and have been the subject of research in various disciplines, from neuroscience to animal behavior and human psychology. In particular, studies in monkeys and humans have discovered a neural mirror system that demonstrates an internal correlation between the representations of perceptual and motor functionalities. In contradistinction to previous engineeringbased approaches, we focus on the evolutionary origins of imitation and present a novel framework for studying the evolution of imitative behavior. We successfully develop evolutionary adaptive agents that demonstrate imitative learning, facilitating a comprehensive study of the emerging underlying neural mechanisms. Interestingly, these agents are found to include a neural "mirror" device analogous to those identified in biological systems. Further analysis of these agents' networks reveals complex dynamics, combining innate perceptual-motor coupling with acquired context-action associations, to accomplish the required task. These findings may suggest a universal and fundamental link between the ability to replicate the actions of other (imitation) and the capacity to represent and match others' actions (mirroring).

From monkey mirror neurons to primate behaviours: possible 'direct' and 'indirect' pathways

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2009

The discovery of mirror neurons (MNs), deemed to be at the basis of action understanding, could constitute the potential solution to the 'correspondence problem' between one's own and others' action that is crucial for of imitative behaviours. However, it is still to be clarified whether, and how, several imitative phenomena, differing in terms of complexity and cognitive effort, could be explained within a unified framework based on MNs. Here we propose that MNs could differently contribute to distinct imitative behaviours by means of two anatomo-functional pathways, subjected to changes during development. A 'direct mirror pathway', directly influencing the descending motor output, would be responsible for neonatal and automatic imitation. This proposal is corroborated by some new behavioural evidences provided here. During development, the increased control of voluntary movements and the capacity to efficiently suppress automatic motor activation during action observation assign to the core MNs regions essentially perceptuo-cognitive functions. These functions would be exploited by an 'indirect mirror pathway' from the core regions of the MN system to prefrontal cortex. This latter would play a key role in parsing, storing and organizing motor representations, allowing the emergence of more efficient and complex imitative behaviours such as response facilitation and true imitation.