Social cognition: The mirror neuron system Flashcards
The discovery of mirror neurons
Mirror neuron system
Rizzolatti et al were studying electrical activity in a monkey’s motor cortex when one researcher reached for his lunch in view of monkey
Monkey’s motor cortex became activated in exactly the same way as it did when monkey itself reached for food
Further investigation revealed that it was same brain cells that fired when monkey reach itself or watched someone else reach
Researchers call these mirror neurons because neurons mirror motor activity in another individual
Mirror neurons & intention
Mirror neuron system
Identifying mirror neurons has given us whole new way of thinking about way we understand each other’s intentions
Gallese & Goldman suggested mirror neurons respond not just to observed actions but to intentions behind behaviour
Rather than common-sense view that we interpret people’s actions w/ reference to our memory, Gallese & Goldman suggested we stimulate others’ actions in our motor system & experience their intentions using our mirror neurons
Mirror neurons & perspective-taking
Mirror neuron system
If mirror neurons fire in response to others’ actions & intentions this may give us neural mechanism for experiencing & hence understanding other peopls’s perspectives & emotional states
Just as we can stimulate intention by making judgements based on our refletced motor responses, this same info may allow us to interpret what others are thinking & feeling
Mirror neurons & human evolution
Mirror neuron system
Ramachandran suggested mirror neurons are so important that they have shaped human evolution
Uniquely complex social interactions we have as humans require brain system that facilitates understanding of intention, emotion & perspective
W/o these cog abilities we couldn’t live in large groups w/ complex social roles & rules that characterise human culture
Ramachandran suggests that mirror neurons are absolutely key to understanding way humans have developed as social species
Mirror neurons & austism
Mirror neuron system
Major source of evidence concerning mirror neurons & p-t comes from study of mirror neurons in autistic children
Some features of autism are associated w/ social-cog abilities linked to mirror neurons
If autistic children can be shown to have dysfunctional mirror neuron system then this may go long way to explaining autsism
Ramachandran & Oberman proposed broken mirror theory of autism
Idea that neurological deficits that include dysfunction in mirror neuron system prevent developing child imitating & understanding social behaviours in others
Manifests itself in infancy when children later diagnosed as autistic typically mimic adult behaviour less than others
Later, problems w/ mirror neuron system lead to changes in social communication as children don’t fully develop usual abilities to read intention & emotion in others
Evaluation: Research support
Mirror neuron system
Strength: existence of supporting evidence
Evidence from neuroscience to support a role for mirror neurons in range of human behaviours
Haker et al scanned brains of people as they watched film of people yawning
Levels of activity in Brodmann’s Area 9, increased when ppts yawned in response
Iacoboni et al showed activity in inferior frontal gyrus increased sigly when ppts tried to understand intentions behind hand-grasping gesture
In other words, mirror neurons encoded why an object was being grasped
Therefore, mirror neurons play role in important aspects of social cognition, including empathy & understanding intentions
Evaluation: Hard to research
Mirror neuron system
Limit: measuring neuron activity
Animal studies of mirror neurons often involve implanting electrodes in brain in order to study electrical activity in individual neurons
However, its ethically impossible to use this kind of procedure in humans & such animal studies tell us little about human cognition
Alternative is to use scanning techniques but these only measure activity in brain areas not individual cells
Therefore, there is no gold standard for measuring mirror neuron activity in humans (Bekkali et al) & no direct evidence for mirror neuron activity in humans
Evaluation: Explaining autism
Mirror neuron system
Strength: support for explaining autism
There is evidence to support link between autism & dysfunctions in mirror neuron system (Hadjikhani)
E.g. brain scans have shown a smaller average thickness of the pars opercularis in autistic people compared w/ neurotypical people
This is an area thought to be especially rich in mirror neurons & thought to be involved in p-t
Nishitani et al used scanning methods to show activity rather than just structure & found lower activity levels in regions of the brain believed to be associated w/ high concs of mirror neurons, again in autistic people compared w/ neurotypicals
Therefore, a cause of autism may be related to mirror neuron system
Evaluation: Explaining autism (Counterpoint)
Mirror neuron system
Although some research supported link between autism & abnormal structure or function in mirror neuron system
Systematic review of 25 studies by Hamilton concluded that evidence was highly inconsistent & results hard to interpret
Therefore, there may not be link between autism & mirror neuron activity after all
