Neuroscience
Above image: Jim Peters almost wins the marathon Vancouver, 7 August 1954, with mirror neurons by Rizzolatti & Craighero (2004).
Greg Hickok at Talking Brains has a series of posts dismantling the mirror neuron theory of action understanding. Actually, he lets one of the leading researchers in the field, Giacomo Rizzolatti [and his coauthor] dismantle the theory himself in a recent review paper (Rizzolatti & Sinigaglia, 2010). Greg points out the inconsistencies in the NRN article...
Mirror Neurons - The unfalsifiable theory
Mirror neurons support action understanding -- "from the inside"?
Self-destruction of the mirror neuron theory of action understanding
Reference
Rizzolatti, G. & Sinigaglia, C. (2010). The functional role of the parieto-frontal mirror circuit: interpretations and misinterpretations. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11 (4), 264-274.
See Spindle Neurons: The Next New Thing?
- Is This The First Ever Direct Evidence For Human Mirror Neurons?
Mirror neurons are one of the most hyped concepts in psychology and neurocience. V.S. Ramachandran famously wrote that they will 'do for psychology what DNA did for biology'. Although recordings from single cells in the brains of monkeys have...
- Music And Empathy
I've been reading the book Rat Girl, a memoir by musician Kristin Hersh, who started the band Throwing Muses in 1980, at the age of 14 (along with Tanya Donelly, Leslie Langston, and David Narcizo). The book recounts an eventful year in her...
- Mirror Neurons In Primary Motor Cortex?
The mirror neurons, it would seem, dissolve the barrier between self and others. I call them "empathy neurons" or "Dalai Llama neurons". -- MIRROR NEURONS AND THE BRAIN IN THE VAT by V.S. Ramachandran Everyone knows what mirror neurons are,...
- Spindle Neurons: The Next New Thing?
In a neuroanatomical tour de force, Nimchinsky and colleagues (1999) obtained access to samples of the anterior cingulate cortex (and other cortical regions) from 28 different primate species, from prosimians to anthropoids to great apes to humans. They...
- Neuroscience & Real Life
Interesting application of neuroscience to real life over at the Creating Passionate Users blog. Angry/negative people can be bad for your brain. Kathy Sierra posted (almost a year ago; I'm slow sometimes) three reasons why it's good to avoid...
Neuroscience
Mirror Neuron Death March
Above image: Jim Peters almost wins the marathon Vancouver, 7 August 1954, with mirror neurons by Rizzolatti & Craighero (2004).
Greg Hickok at Talking Brains has a series of posts dismantling the mirror neuron theory of action understanding. Actually, he lets one of the leading researchers in the field, Giacomo Rizzolatti [and his coauthor] dismantle the theory himself in a recent review paper (Rizzolatti & Sinigaglia, 2010). Greg points out the inconsistencies in the NRN article...
So, mirror neurons, those cells that fire during specific actions such as grasping-with-the-hand and while watching the same specific action -- the very cells that got everyone SO excited -- are not involved in action understanding. Rather, according to R&S, action understanding is achieved by cells that do not code for actions at all, but something higher level, goals/intentions....and also the problems with promoting an unfalsifiable theory:
It's worth noting that R&S directly contradict themselves in the sidebar definition of "Mirror-based action understanding":The comprehension of an observed action based on the activation of a motor programme in the observer’s brain. p. 265
A motor program presumably controls a specific action, such as grasping-with-the-hand, not an action-independent goal or intention.
I think the mirror neuron folks have a serious problem on their hands: there is apparently no empirical result that can falsify the theory. If a mirror neuron shows up in an unexpected place, it is a new part of the mirror system. If a mirror neuron's activity dissociates from action understanding, it was not coding understanding at that moment. If damage to the motor system doesn't disrupt understanding, it is because that part of the motor system isn't mirroring.As another long-time mirror neuron skeptic, I highly recommend this series:
Mirror Neurons - The unfalsifiable theory
Mirror neurons support action understanding -- "from the inside"?
Self-destruction of the mirror neuron theory of action understanding
Reference
Rizzolatti, G. & Sinigaglia, C. (2010). The functional role of the parieto-frontal mirror circuit: interpretations and misinterpretations. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11 (4), 264-274.
Everybody in Mirror Neurons!
See Spindle Neurons: The Next New Thing?- Is This The First Ever Direct Evidence For Human Mirror Neurons?
Mirror neurons are one of the most hyped concepts in psychology and neurocience. V.S. Ramachandran famously wrote that they will 'do for psychology what DNA did for biology'. Although recordings from single cells in the brains of monkeys have...
- Music And Empathy
I've been reading the book Rat Girl, a memoir by musician Kristin Hersh, who started the band Throwing Muses in 1980, at the age of 14 (along with Tanya Donelly, Leslie Langston, and David Narcizo). The book recounts an eventful year in her...
- Mirror Neurons In Primary Motor Cortex?
The mirror neurons, it would seem, dissolve the barrier between self and others. I call them "empathy neurons" or "Dalai Llama neurons". -- MIRROR NEURONS AND THE BRAIN IN THE VAT by V.S. Ramachandran Everyone knows what mirror neurons are,...
- Spindle Neurons: The Next New Thing?
In a neuroanatomical tour de force, Nimchinsky and colleagues (1999) obtained access to samples of the anterior cingulate cortex (and other cortical regions) from 28 different primate species, from prosimians to anthropoids to great apes to humans. They...
- Neuroscience & Real Life
Interesting application of neuroscience to real life over at the Creating Passionate Users blog. Angry/negative people can be bad for your brain. Kathy Sierra posted (almost a year ago; I'm slow sometimes) three reasons why it's good to avoid...