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Evolution of mirror systems: a simple mechanism for complex cognitive functions
Author(s) -
Bonini Luca,
Ferrari Pier Francesco
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06002.x
Subject(s) - mirroring , mirror neuron , cognition , psychology , cognitive psychology , mechanism (biology) , neuroscience , cognitive science , social cognition , motor cognition , coding (social sciences) , communication , physics , quantum mechanics , statistics , mathematics
Mirror neurons (MNs) were first discovered in monkeys and subsequently in humans and birds. While MNs are deemed to play a number of high‐level cognitive functions, here we propose that they serve a unitary form of sensorimotor recognition of others’ behavior. We caution that this basic function should not be confounded with the higher order functions that stem from the wider cortical systems in which MNs are embedded. Depending on the species, MNs function at different levels of motor event recognition, from motor goals to fine grained movements, thus contributing to social learning and imitative phenomena. Recent studies show that MNs coding has a prospective nature, suggesting that MNs also play a role in anticipating and predicting the behavior of others during social interactions. The presence of mirroring mechanisms in subcortical structures related to visceromotor reactions and the large diffusion of imitative phenomena among animals suggest that MN systems may be more ancient and widespread than previously thought.