Work

Associative learning alone is insufficient for the evolution and maintenance of the human mirror neuron system

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Cook et al. argue that mirror neurons originate from associative learning processes, without evolutionary influence from social-cognitive mechanisms. We disagree with this claim and present arguments based upon cross-species comparisons, EEG findings, and developmental neuroscience that the evolution of mirror neurons is most likely driven simultaneously and interactively by evolutionarily adaptive psychological mechanisms and lower-level biological mechanisms that support them.

Source: Behavioral and Brain Sciences

DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x13002422

Authors: Lindsay M. Oberman, Edward M. Hubbard, Joseph P. McCleery

Institutions: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard University, Berenson Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Birmingham

Language: English

Topic: Action Observation and Synchronization

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation, University of Michigan, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

Award: G8925705019