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Marco Iacoboni, a neuroscientist at the University of California at Los Angeles, is best known for his work on mirror neurons, a small circuit of cells in the premotor cortex and inferior parietal cortex. What makes these cells so interesting is that they are activated both when we perform a certain action—such as smiling or reaching for a cup—and when we observe someone else performing that same action. In other words, they collapse the distinction between seeing and doing. In recent years, Iacoboni has shown that mirror neurons may be an important element of social cognition and that defects in the mirror neuron system may underlie a variety of mental disorders, such as autism. His new book, Mirroring People: The Science of How We Connect to Others, explores these possibilities at length. Mind Matters editor Jonah Lehrer chats with Iacoboni about his research.
LEHRER: What first got you interested in mirror neurons? Did you immediately grasp their explanatory potential?
IACOBONI: I actually became interested in mirror neurons gradually. [Neuroscientist] Giacomo Rizzolatti and his group [at the University of Parma in Italy] approached us at the UCLA Brain Mapping Center because they wanted to expand the research on mirror neurons using brain imaging in humans. I thought that mirror neurons were interesting, but I have to confess I was also a bit incredulous. We were at the beginnings of the science on mirror neurons. The properties of these neurons are so amazing that I seriously considered the possibility that they were experimental artifacts. In 1998 I visited Rizzolatti’s lab in Parma, I observed their experiments and findings, talked to the anatomists that were studying the anatomy of the system and I realized that the empirical findings were really solid. At that point I had the intuition that the discovery of mirror neurons was going to revolutionize the way we think about the brain and ourselves. However, it took me some years of experimentation to fully grasp the explanatory potential of mirror neurons in imitation, empathy, language, and so on—in other words in our social life.
LEHRER: Take us inside a social interaction. How might mirror neurons help us understand what someone else is thinking or feeling?
IACOBONI: What do we do when we interact? We use our body to communicate our intentions and our feelings. The gestures, facial expressions, body postures we make are social signals, ways of communicating with one another. Mirror neurons are the only brain cells we know of that seem specialized to code the actions of other people and also our own actions. They are obviously essential brain cells for social interactions. Without them, we would likely be blind to the actions, intentions and emotions of other people. The way mirror neurons likely let us understand others is by providing some kind of inner imitation of the actions of other people, which in turn leads us to “simulate” the intentions and emotions associated with those actions. When I see you smiling, my mirror neurons for smiling fire up, too, initiating a cascade of neural activity that evokes the feeling we typically associate with a smile. I don’t need to make any inference on what you are feeling, I experience immediately and effortlessly (in a milder form, of course) what you are experiencing.
LEHRER: In 2006 your lab published a paper in Nature Neuroscience linking a mirror neuron dysfunction to autism. How might reduced mirror neuron activity explain the symptoms of autism? And has there been any progress on this front since 2006?
IACOBONI: Patients with autism have hard time understanding the mental states of other people; this is why social interactions are not easy for these patients. Reduced mirror neuron activity obviously weakens the ability of these patients to experience immediately and effortlessly what other people are experiencing, thus making social interactions particularly difficult for these patients. Patients with autism have also often motor problems and language problems. It turns out that a deficit in mirror neurons can in principle explain also these other major symptoms. The motor deficits in autism can be easily explained because mirror neurons are just special types of premotor neurons, brain cells essential for planning and selecting actions. It has been also hypothesized that mirror neurons may be important in language evolution and language acquisition. Indeed, a human brain area that likely contains mirror neurons overlaps with a major language area, the so-called Broca’s area. Thus, a deficit in mirror neurons can in principle account for three major symptoms of autism, the social, motor and language problems.
LEHRER: If we're wired to automatically internalize the movements and mental states of others, then what does this suggest about violent movies, television programs, video games, etcetera? Should we be more careful about what we watch?
IACOBONI: I believe we should be more careful about what we watch. This is a tricky argument, of course, because it forces us to reconsider our long cherished ideas about free will and may potentially have repercussions on free speech. There is convincing behavioral evidence linking media violence with imitative violence. Mirror neurons provide a plausible neurobiological mechanism that explains why being exposed to media violence leads to imitative violence. What should we do about it? Although it is obviously hard to have a clear and definitive answer, it is important to openly discuss this issue and hopefully reach some kind of “societal agreement” on how to limit media violence without limiting (too much) free speech.
LEHRER: Are you worried about mirror neurons getting over-sold or over-hyped?
IACOBONI: I am a bit concerned about that. The good news is, the excitement about mirror neurons reveals that people have an intuitive understanding of how neural mechanism for mirroring work. When told about this research, they can finally articulate what they already “knew” at some sort of pre-reflective level. However, the hype can backfire and mirror neurons may lose their specificity. I think there are two key points to keep in mind. The first one is the one we started with: mirror neurons are brain cells specialized for actions. They are obviously critical cells for social interactions but they can’t explain non-social cognition. The second point to keep in mind is that every brain cell and every neural system does not operate in a vacuum. Everything in the brain is interconnected, so that the activity of each cell reflects the dynamic interactions with other brain cells and other neural systems.
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17 Comments
Add CommentWhy are mirror neurons considered to be part of a special kind of recognition capability rather than just evidence that the brain has concept encodings that are referenced in multiple instances and situations, such as seeing someone else do something, thinking about oneself doing it, reading about it, seeing a photograph of it, etc.?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy question is the same: what proof correlates them to this special recognition? Also, what is the proof that they are entirely (or nearly entirely) for social situations?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI feel that the presence of mirror neurons explains much of psychology, such as peer pressure, loneliness, and attention to aspects. I have termed all perception as direct/indirect, with indirect being the subconscious processes that occur while observing all else. It would probably also play a large role in cognition, such as imagining a logical situation or making sense of religion.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMirror neurons have become the latest "homunculus". People think they magically explain complex phenomena without providing a serious theory of how they can behave the way they do. Obviously they are "over-hyped" and Dr. Iacoboni has had a big part in this. But if we look at his "research" on brain and politics (for example), this should come to no surprise.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree that mirror neurons are the stuff of which myths and legends are made- in fact, one could hypothesize that mirror neurons fire very intensely to behaviors, ideas, and persons who excite us, and the initial discovery itself generated quite a bit of excitement. Much rigorous research remains to be done. However, I do think that mirror neurons do highlight the fact that some brain systems and centers carry out complex social "analyses" that we have heretofore ascribed to conscious cogitation and deliberation. This in itself is a very important and fertile area for investigation. I don't think that mirror neurons should be dismissed as mere hype.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am interested in group dynamics, and am wondering if any readers have ideas about how mutual "mirroring" in a group might combine to account for group dynamics such as conformity, scapegoating, etc.
Has any research looked into different responces of mirror neurons in males and females? People often anecdotally say women are more socially aware, or empathetic than men (in general) - perhaps females have more active mirror neurons?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPeople also talk of 'bonding' with a new born child - again reported more in the mothers. Perhaps a real physical change in the brain occurs for this bonding to take place - say, mirror neurons somehow tune in to the new-born's face...? Just spectulating of course but maybe there is something in it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSure, try these. I am just now finishing two texts which having been published at about the same time cover the same topics and cite in many cases the same research, but each author writes from a different perspective (there are probably many more texts--I chose these based on price and availability):
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http://www.davidmyers.org/Brix?pageID=106
Social Psychology, a full-length social psychology textbook organized into sections about how people think about, influence, and relate to one another, published by McGraw-Hill.
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http://geo1.tcu.edu/psyc/lord/LORD.HTM
Social Psychology, by Charles G. Lord
http://cgi.ebay.com/Social-Psychology-Hardcover-Textbook-by-Charles-G-Lord_W0QQitemZ330115237454QQihZ014QQcategoryZ2228QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
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These types of texts are comprehensive and can be best appreciated in the context of human social history, especially when such history is so relevant to world peace.
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However, please keep your mind open to learning something about neuroscience. It is a complex subject that can be better appreciated with some basic introduction, particularly about neurobiology and how brain science is conducted in the laboratory:
http://www.alibris.com/search/books/author/Kalat,%20James%20W
Biological Psychology
by James W Kalat
Dr. James W. Kalat's BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY is the best selling text in the market because of its extremely high level of scholarship, clear and occasionally humorous writing style, and precise examples integrated throughout the text. Throughout all nine editions, the goal has been to make biological psychology accessible to psychology students, ...
The philosopher-linguist and social psychologist George Herbert Mead (1863 - 1931) created the core of his work, which he labeled symbolic interaction, around the idea that somehow, human's must have evolved the ability to mirror other people's gestures -- that our use of symbols in language is based on this mirroring. I am astonished to see this development in science and wonder if anyone knows of any papers relating this work on mirror neurons to Mead's work on gestures, language and identity.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMirror Neurons are a direct response to input information, if you lack the ability to interpet input then you are at a disadvantage.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisComment:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe are independent researchers studying mirror neurons and have recently come to conclusion that the results of the experiments conducted by Iacoboni et al (2005) do not support the notion that mirror neurons code intention. If you are interested, we would like send you work entitled "The Link Between Mirror Neurons and Intention (Iacoboni et al 2005) Is Subject To Further Investigation." Abstract attached.
Sincerely,
Ludmila Vucolova, USA
Peter Boroditch, Russia
ABSTRACT
This work will analyze the findings of Iacoboni et al., 2005 wherein is stated the human mirror neuron system does not simply provide an action recognition mechanism, but also constitutes a neural system for coding the intentions of others and will suggest that the findings are not supported by the results of the experiments.
The analysis of Iacoboni's findings demonstrates that the alleged greater activity in mirror neuron areas in the inferior frontal cortex in the Intention cleaning condition did not show sufficient additional activity to support the principal finding.
The analysis demonstrates that alleged greater activity in mirror neuron areas in the inferior frontal cortex in the Intention drinking condition is not valid since the comparison between Action, Intention drinking and Intention cleaning conditions was not based on the premises of the hypothetical model (identical grasping actions), thus, leading to an improper reading of the data and interpretation of the findings.
The high response in the Intention drinking condition versus Action and Intention cleaning is attributed instead to differences in the types of grasping actions, implemented by Iacoboni and observed by participants. These differences affect the level of mirror neuron response. The high level reported in the Intention drinking is due to the instantaneous recognition of two actions, grasping and bringing to the mouth. These are found to be two consecutive and adjoining links within the drinking action. The lack of additional response in Intention cleaning is due to the recognition of only the grasping action by viewing the Intention cleaning clip. Consequently, the need to resort to the understanding of intention to account for the high response (in the Intention drinking condition) can be eliminated.
I am interested in knowing whether mirror neurons only applies to visual behavior, or whether any research has been done regarding auditory imitation of sounds..... please refer me to such papers.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThank you.
Dorita S. Berger
dsberger@mags.net
If you want to know more about mirror neurons research, I recommend this wonderful site:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://mirrorneuronsresearch.com/
If you are interested in mirror neurons research and their relation to different deficits, I recommend this site:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.mirrorneuronsresearch.com/
Thank you for this informative article. I would like to submit that the mirror neuron difference in autistic people can lead to feelings of isolation (such as the saying "all alone in a crowded room"). I have experienced this with my own autism and with my autistic students. I wonder if the absence of stimulation from others actions and emotions leads to self-stimulating behaviors and sensory-seeking.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThank you for this informative article. I would like to submit that the mirror neuron difference in autistic people can lead to feelings of isolation (such as the saying "all alone in a crowded room"). I have experienced this with my own autism and with my autistic students. I wonder if the absence of stimulation from others actions and emotions leads to self-stimulating behaviors and sensory-seeking.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHi Vic,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou may want to read S. Freud on Group Psychology in the Standard Edition and H. Spotnitz on Emotional Contagion. Hope it helps with group dynamics questions
Hi there,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am interested in finding out if mirror neurons are really that special, or if they are simply another example of autoassociation.
That is, many people (particularly lay people, in areas such as management), are "listening in" on this research, and jumping to all kinds of conclusions. Many people believe that the responses of such neurons are innate (i.e. we are "wired" to recognise the emotions of others).
As there is not enough information in the genome to hardwire such connections (e.g., how could you possibly know the neural representation of how a smile is represented in the visual cortex from birth), I am thinking, that such systems need to be "learned" from experience.
I am thinking that simple autoassociation could explain such circuitry. E.g., when I am in a social situation and there is a shared experience that makes me and others happy, the visual representation of others' smiles, will be autoassociatively linked to my own internal states (e.g., motor representation of smiling, and associated affect). Similarly, there is sufficient overlap in visual representation between my hand grasping an object, and others' hands, to illicit similar visual recognition.
Thus, yes, mirror neurons are cool in that you may be able to learn from others vicariously, and empathise better etc. etc., but is it REALLY a special mechanism at play, or is it simply a nice example of general self-organisation principles of the brain, such as autoassociation.
Interested to hear others' thoughts.
Dr Scott Bolland