Mirror Neurons

Question 1

[mirror neuron] IMAGING DATA LINKS TO MIRROR NEURONES TO SOCIAL COGNITION:

Answer 1

E: Haker - used fMRI to show that activation increased in the inferior frontal gyrus during contagious yawning
Iacoboni - also found increased activity in the inferior frontal gyrus when subjects inferred thr intentions behind a hand-grabbing gesture.
- mirror neurons play a vital role in processing social cue and understanding others mental state
- C -> correlational research
(+validity)

Question 2

[mirror neurons] X METHODOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS OF IMAGING;

Answer 2

E - Evidence for mirror neuron activity is primarily derived from fMRI studies, such as those by Iacoboni which track blood oxygenation rather than individual cell activity.
E - A single unit recording reported by Mukamel does provide more direct measurement, but these studies are rare which makes them difficult to generalise from since they have a neurological condition.
EEG studies looking at Mu desynchronisation (e.g. muthukumaraswarmy} but again these lack the required spatial resolution to confirm cellular activity.