Eight problems for the mirror neuron theory of action understanding in monkeys and humans
TL;DR: There is no evidence from monkey data that directly tests this theory that mirror neurons provide the basis of action understanding, and evidence from humans makes a strong case against the position.
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Abstract: The discovery of mirror neurons in macaque frontal cortex has sparked a resurgence of interest in motor/embodied theories of cognition. This critical review examines the evidence in support of one of these theories, namely, that mirror neurons provide the basis of action understanding. It is argued that there is no evidence from monkey data that directly tests this theory, and evidence from humans makes a strong case against the position.
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Citations
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Neuroscience Needs Behavior: Correcting a Reductionist Bias
John W. Krakauer,Asif A. Ghazanfar,Alex Gomez-Marin,Malcolm A. MacIver,David Poeppel,David Poeppel +5 more
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Brain regions with mirror properties: a meta-analysis of 125 human fMRI studies.
TL;DR: A core network of human brain regions that possess mirror properties associated with action observation and execution are suggested, with additional areas recruited during tasks that engage non-motor functions, such as auditory, somatosensory and affective components.
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Exploring the Processing Continuum of Single-Word Comprehension in Aphasia
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Mis)understanding mirror neurons
Gregory Hickok,Marc D. Hauser +1 more
TL;DR: It is suggested that the interpretation of mirror neurons as supporting action understanding was a wrong turn at the start, and that a more appropriate interpretation was lying in wait with respect to sensorimotor learning.
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Action performance and action-word understanding: Evidence of double dissociations in left-damaged patients
TL;DR: Dissociations at behavioural level are supported by anatomical dissociations shown in the analysis of patients' lesions, and these findings suggest that processing action words is independent of the ability to produce the associated object-directed actions.
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