Mirror Neurones Flashcards
What are neurons?
Neurons are specialised nerve cell
What do neurons do?
They are cells responsible to process and transmit electrical/chemical signals
How is neuron functioning measured?
EEG
Thin electrodes pleaced on brain for single neuron activity
MNS (mirror neuron system) allows us to do what?
Allows us to do social cognition, empathy , allow to inmitate language and facial expressions
Why do mirror neurones fire?
They fire when performs an action or sees someone performing an action
This was discovered in late 1990s in brain of monkeys
It is not fired if there is a meaingless action performed
Mirror neurones only fire when there is intent
It is not fired if there is a meaingless action performed
It is suggested that mirror neurone system is the foundation of what?
Help explain why we emphaise with others and able to understand each other’s mind
How does MNS explain the development of social cognition?
More experiences more inimate using mirror neurones
more compentable in social world
Evidence from studies will non-human animals (Di Pellegrino and Rizzolatti et al 1989)
Procedure
- Using a technique called single unit recording
- Implanting thin electrodes onto a live monkey’s brain and measure the electricaly activity of individual neurones
Evidence from studies will non-human animals (Di Pellegrino and Rizzolatti et al 1989)
Inital findings
- When the monkey reached for a peanut the F5 neurones in the pre motor cortex ‘fired’
- The F5 neurones are part of the brain’s system for controlling voluntary
Evidence from studies will non-human animals (Di Pellegrino and Rizzolatti et al 1989)
Accidental findings
- Researchers noticed that the same F5 neurons fird when the monkeys observed another monkey reaching for a peanut while they themselves were inactive
- The neurons in the observer’s brai seemed to imiate or mirror the activity of neurons in the active monkey’s brain
Evidence from studies will non-human animals (Di Pellegrino and Rizzolatti et al 1989)
Follow up findings
- Mirror neurones only fire if there is an interaction between the movement of an effector (hand or mouth) and an object (for example the monkey reaches for or picks up banana)
- Mirror neurones do not fire in response to random movemens by hand or mouth with no target objct ( e,g the monkey makes a reaching movement with no banana in sight)
A final limitation is how mirror neurones functions support social cognition
- Hickok also questions the role of mirror neurons in social cognition even exist
- Hickok suggests that their role have more to do with using others’ behaviour to plan our own
- This suggess that there is still work to do in this area before firm explanations can be made about the role of mirror neuron in social cognition
A further limitation is the inability to isolate specalist cells
- Hickok (2009) questions whether mirror neurones exist. This is controversial as other researchers (e,g Mukamel et al 2010) do believe there are isolated mirror neurones
- Hickok argues that we only know mirror neurones by their function and failed thus far to identify indvidiual cells and point to their differences from other neurons
- This challenges the existenance of specialist neurons carrying out the mirroring - but does not deny that the function describved is carried out in the brain
Limitation
Mixed evidence for link with ASD
- Hadjikhani (2007) supports the link between ASD and mirror neuron deficts by finding a smaller thickness of pars opercularis in ASD participants
- Other studies using fMRI have shown lower activity in the brain areas associated with mirror neurons in participants with ASD
- However, not all findings have been replicated so the relability of results remain questionable and consequently the evidence linking ASD to mirror neurones is mixed
