Mirror neurons do not have a unique functional role. However, the question of what the function is of the mirror neuron system is probably an ill-posed question. In addition to these, it has also been suggested that the mirror neuron system represents the basic neural mechanism from which language evolved. What might be the functional role of the mirror neuron system? Hypotheses such as action understanding, imitation, intention understanding, and empathy have been put forward to explain the mirror neurons’ functional role. (1) SMA: supplementary motor area, (2) PSSC: primary somato sensory cortex, (3) IPC: Inferior parietal cortex, (4) VPMA: ventral premortal area, neurons having mirror properties, BA: Broca’s area, WA: Wernicke’s area, FG: fusiform gyrus, AG: angular gyrus, PMC: primary motor cortex. The Mirror Neuron System in the Human Brain. In humans, brain activity consistent with that of mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex, and the inferior parietal cortex. These neurons were first discovered in monkeys’ brains. Mirror neurons represent a distinctive class of neurons that discharge both when an individual executes a motor act and when he observes another individual performing the same or a similar motor act.
Wilson.Know that mirror neurons are located in the premotor cortex (frontal lobe).īe able to explain the function of mirror neurons. Other researchers included Giacomo Rizzolatti, Università di Parma in Parma, Italy, and UCLA neuroscience graduate student Stephen M.
This research was conducted at the UCLA Brain Mapping Center. Thus, a deficit in the mirror neuron system may provide a unifying explanation for a variety of disorders associated with autism." "However, autistic children also tend to have language problems. "Previously, we showed that autistic children have mirror neuron deficits that make it difficult for them to understand the emotions of other people," he said. He added that the new findings may also be relevant to understanding language disorders in autism. "Indeed, some scientists think that we humans developed the ability to use language from mirror neurons." "Our study provides the first empirical evidence in support of the long hypothesized role of mirror neurons in language," said Iacoboni. The new data thus suggests that we use mirror neurons not only to understand the actions of other people but also to understand the meaning of sentences describing the same action. Mirror neurons have been hypothesized to contribute to skills such as empathy, socialized behavior and language acquisition. Together, the findings suggest that mirror neurons play a key role in the mental "re-enactment" of actions when linguistic descriptions of those actions are conceptually processed. The researchers - including Marco Iacoboni, director of the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Lab at the Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center of UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior Lisa Aziz-Zadeh, a former graduate student in Iacoboni's lab and now an assistant professor in the occupational sciences department at USC, and their colleagues - used a brain-imaging technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how written phrases describing actions performed by the mouth or the hand influenced mirror neurons that are activated by the sight of those same actions.įor example, when individuals read literal phrases such as "biting the peach" or "grasping a pen," certain cortical areas were activated that were also stimulated when the same participants later viewed videos of fruit being bitten or a pen being grasped.
When we read a book, these specialized cells respond as if we are actually doing what the book character was doing. 19 issue of Current Biology, UCLA researchers show that specialized brain cells known as mirror neurons activate both when we observe the actions of others and when we simply read sentences describing the same action. A new brain imaging study from UCLA may provide an answer, and further, shed light on the language problems common to autistic children.