A category of stimuli of great importance for primates, humans in particular, is that formed by actions done by other individuals. If we want to survive, we must understand the actions of others. Furthermore, without action understanding, social organization is impossible. In the case of humans, there is another faculty that depends on the observation of others' actions: imitation learning. Unlike most species, we are able to learn by imitation, and this faculty is at the basis of human culture. In this review we present data on a neurophysiological mechanism--the mirror-neuron mechanism--that appears to play a fundamental role in both action understanding and imitation. We describe first the functional properties of mirror neurons in monkeys. We review next the characteristics of the mirror-neuron system in humans. We stress, in particular, those properties specific to the human mirror-neuron system that might explain the human capacity to learn by imitation. We conclude by discussing the relationship between the mirror-neuron system and language.

The mirror-neuron system.

Semantic memory refers to knowledge about people, objects, actions, relations, self, and culture acquired through experience. The neural systems that store and retrieve this information have been studied for many years, but a consensus regarding their identity has not been reached. Using strict inclusion criteria, we analyzed 120 functional neuroimaging studies focusing on semantic processing. Reliable areas of activation in these studies were identified using the activation likelihood estimate (ALE) technique. These activations formed a distinct, left-lateralized network comprised of 7 regions: posterior inferior parietal lobe, middle temporal gyrus, fusiform and parahippocampal gyri, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and posterior cingulate gyrus. Secondary analyses showed specific subregions of this network associated with knowledge of actions, manipulable artifacts, abstract concepts, and concrete concepts. The cortical regions involved in semantic processing can be grouped into 3 broad categories: posterior multimodal and heteromodal association cortex, heteromodal prefrontal cortex, and medial limbic regions. The expansion of these regions in the human relative to the nonhuman primate brain may explain uniquely human capacities to use language productively, plan, solve problems, and create cultural and technological artifacts, all of which depend on the fluid and efficient retrieval and manipulation of semantic knowledge.

/pdf/where-is-the-semantic-system-a-critical-review-and-meta-4aaglbm4tj.pdf

Where Is the Semantic System? A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of 120 Functional Neuroimaging Studies

To understand the endogenous components of the event-related brain potential (ERP), we must use data about the components' antecedent conditions to form hypotheses about the information-processing function of the underlying brain activity These hypotheses, in turn, generate testable predictions about the consequences of the component We review the application of this approach to the analysis of the P300 component The amplitude of the P300 is controlled multiplicatively by the subjective probability and the task relevance of the eliciting events, whereas its latency depends on the duration of stimulus evaluation These and other factors suggest that the P300 is a manifestation of activity occurring whenever one's model of the environment must be revised Tests of three predictions based on this “context updating” model are reviewed Verleger's critique is based on a misconstrual of the model as well as a partial and misleading reading of the relevant literature

Is the P300 component a manifestation of context updating

� Abstract A category of stimuli of great importance for primates, humans in particular, is that formed by actions done by other individuals. If we want to survive, we must understand the actions of others. Furthermore, without action understanding, social organization is impossible. In the case of humans, there is another faculty that depends on the observation of others’ actions: imitation learning. Unlike most species, we are able to learn by imitation, and this faculty is at the basis of human culture. In this review we present data on a neurophysiological mechanism—the mirror-neuron mechanism—that appears to play a fundamental role in both action understanding and imitation. We describe first the functional properties of mirror neurons in monkeys. We review next the characteristics of the mirror-neuron system in humans. We stress, in particular, those properties specific to the human mirror-neuron system that might explain the human capacity to learn by imitation. We conclude by discussing the relationship between the mirror-neuron system and language.

/pdf/the-mirror-neuron-system-4coc36y6dq.pdf

The mirror neuron system.

http://apps.usd.edu/coglab/schieber/pdf/mishkin_etal_1983.pdf

Object vision and spatial vision: two cortical pathways

Experiments were made on the posterior parietal association cortical areas 5 and in 17 hemispheres of 11 monkeys, 6 M. mulatta and 5 M. arctoides. The electrical signs of the activity of single cortical cells were recorded with microelectrodes in waking animals as they carried out certain behavioral acts in response to a series of sensory cues. The behavioral paradigms were one for detection alone, and a second for detection plus projection of the arm to contact a stationary or moving target placed at arm's length. Of the 125 microelectrode penetrations made, 1,451 neurons were identified in terms of the correlation of their activity with the behavioral acts and their sensitivity or lack of it to sensory stimuli delivered passively; 180 were studied quantitatively. The locations of cortical neurons were identified in serial sections; 94 penetrations and 1,058 neurons were located with certainty. About two-thirds of the neurons of area 5 were activated by passive rotation of the limbs at their joints; of these, 82% were related to single, contralateral joints, 10% to two or more contralateral joints, 6% to ipsilateral, and 2% to joints on both sides of the body. A few of the latter were active during complex bodily postures. A large proportion of area 5 neurons were relatively insensitive to passive joint rotations, as compared with similar neurons of the postcentral gyrus, but were driven to high rates of discharge when the same joint was rotated during an active movement of the animal...

Posterior parietal association cortex of the monkey: command functions for operations within extrapersonal space

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Posterior parietal association cortex of the monkey: command functions for operations within extrapersonal space