PA 9- ESSAY LEC Flashcards
(23 cards)
what does the core imitation circuit contain
WHAT FUNCTION
STS, MNS
superior temporal sulcus
mirror neuron system
gesture and language
motor preparation areas
WHAT MAIN AREA
WHAT FUNCTION
BA46 …
imitative learning
insula and limbic system interact with core imitation circuit to perform
to perform social mirroring
MNs and origin of language
MNs give capacity to recognise actions of others
- inter-individual communication
- manual gesture system
- vocal speech
Inter-individual communication
Actor performs an
action
Observer is interested
and produces small
motor response
visible to actor
Actor recognises
intention of observer
and responds
Observer recognises
they have affected
behaviour of actor
From Gesture to Speech.
suggested evidence that hand gestures predisposed speech
The hand and mouth are functionally linked
(Gentilucci et al., 2001; Darwin)
* When hold large/small objects people make
matching large and small mouth movements
* Make larger mouth movements (and louder
sounds) when asked to produce a syllable whilst
holding large objects
* Size of mouth movement increased when
watching someone else hold a large object
intersubjectivity
intersubjectivity is about how we share experiences, emotions, and understandings with other people. It’s the foundation for social connection — how “my mind” and “your mind” can meet.
- Imitation, empathy, intention
Gallese suggests that when we observe other people, we understand them by simulating their actions and feelings inside our own body and mind. = embodied simulation
Together, crossmodal transfer (put diff senses together) + mirror neurons allow us to internally mirror others’ experiences — forming the basis of imitation, empathy, and predicting intentions.
evidence for motor empathy
p.p press space bar.
watch needle touch hand or control cotton bud touch hand
measure RT of pressing or releasing space bar
found were quicker to release space bar when needle.
BUT opposite true for control
When you see a disgust expression:
brain regions
Your brain internally copies the face (BA44), feels the disgust inside your body (insula), and emotionally reacts to it (amygdala).
Chameleon Effect
Empathy boosts unconscious mimicry
Higher mimicry = better social connections.
3 major theories of autism
- ToM deficit (mentalizing)
- Weak central coherence (focus on detail at expense of bigger picture)
- Broken mirror theory
Broken Mirror Theory
Problem with MNs could explain:Problems with imitation
* Difficulties with empathy/social cognition
* Difficulties with metaphor and indirect
meaning
Examined similarities between observing and
executing actions
* Compared similar action for eating and placing
* Compared autistic and non-autistic children
FOUND what
Increased activity (mouth open) for eating versus placing for both execution and observation
Increased activity only for execution in autistic group
limitations with primate data
- small no. of examples
- often qualitative
- how well can cells distinguish types of movement?
- need evidence of MNS firing in spontaneous social interaction
limitations of human data MNs
many areas outside of MN reas activated during action observation
- are the same (individual) mirror neurones firing?
adaptation protocols
adaptation tasks (in MN)
(similar to line orientation or colour adaptation).
Mirror neuron will fire less when adapted to same gesture.
if see scissors then see scissors again, then the neuron will still be adapted.
if see scissors and then act scissors, the adaptation effect will not show
Hickok’s argument
Observing an action may activate this system with similar electrophysiological consequences, not because it is reading the intention of the actor, but simply because the sensory event is is associated with particular motor acts
In simpler terms:
➡️ You see an action → your brain remembers what it feels like to do that action → your motor system fires.
➡️ It’s habitual sensory-motor matching, not necessarily interpreting someone’s goals.
Action understanding can be
achieved without MNs
- F5 also responds to objects, but it is not
argued to underpin understanding of
objects - Another region, such as Superior
Temporal Sulcus (STS) may be more
critical for action understanding
Human-monkey differences
Higher cognitive functions attributed to
MNs are not seen in monkeys
* Assumed that MN in humans has
developed to include both action
understanding and imitation
* Cannot assume that conclusions from
monkey MNs apply in humans e.g. few
human imaging studies examine overlap
between observation and own action
Calvo-Merino (2005)
Ballet dancers v. Capoeira
Greater activation for
experts in ehich areas
1 ventral pre-motor
2 dorsal pre-motor
3 Inferior parietal sulcus
4 Posterior STS
Problems with the broken mirror
theory of autism
Effects may be due to activity outside of
MN areas
* MN problems cannot explain preference
for local detail and sensory problems
Autistic adults/children can
* Recognise and predict actions
* Imitate under some conditions
Conclusion
More understanding is needed about MNs
More evidence needed for:
specificity of MNs and their existence in humans
- key role of MNs in action understanding and social cognition
- broken mirror theory of autism is over-simplistic
