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Identifier

000378669

Title

'Mirron neuron theory' versus 'simulation theory' for action understanding

Author

Σπυρόπουλος, Γεώργιος Σ

Thesis advisor

Σαββάκη, Ελένη

Abstract

Since their discovery in the monkey ventral premotor cortex (Di Pellegrino et al., 1992), mirror neurons have been the subject of heated debate in cognitive neuroscience. Mirror neurons allegedly constitute a so-called “mirror-neuron system” in human and non-human primates (Rizzolatti and Craighero, 2004). It has been suggested that this system is responsible for a diverse repertoire of cognitive functions, one of which is action understanding. This has led some neuroscientists to claim that a “mirror neuron theory” can successfully account for the neurobiological foundations of social cognition (Rizzolatti and Fabbri-Destro, 2008). “Mirror neuron theory” is however empirically ill-founded, at least with regard to action understanding. Both action execution and observation evidently involve a wide Fronto-Parieto-Occipital network (Savaki, 2010). This network consists of cortical areas arbitrarily excluded from the so-called “mirror-neuron system”. This pattern of cortical activation during both action observation and execution likely reflects the implementation of a mental simulation mechanism in action understanding. Furthermore differential neural activity between action execution and action observation can plausibly explain how actions are attributed to the right agent.

Language

English

Subject

Action understanding

Familiar Danish dementia

Mirror Neurons

Nervous System

Simulation theory

mental imagery

Κατανόηση πράξεων

Κατοπτρικοί νευρώνες

Νευρικό σύστημα