QUESTIONS:

Doesanyoneknowabouthowlargetheseessaysshouldbe?Asinafullpagevsafewparagraphs?TIA:)
ifeellikesinceweredoing2theyshouldbeaaboutapageeach?(likethelengthofthecriticalreviewmaybe?)
Iaskedandhesaid1pagemaximumeach.
Doweneedtociteanything?
Healsosaidtheanswershouldbeinnarrativestyle...

Doyouguysknowifthepaperisdoublespacedorsingle?mostlikelysingle.definitelysinglespaced

Whoeverhadaquestionabout#9Isortatriedtoexplainitalittle.

1. Whatarethecostsofbeingsocial?Whatdoesmirroringhavetodowithsociality?Whatwouldyousayis
themostlikelyreasonfortheexistenceofmirrorneurons?Explainwhy.
mirrorneuronshavebeenshowntohelpwithunderstandingwithactions&intentions
Simulation,imitationlearning,understandingactions,understandingintentions,empathy,TheoryofMind,
Language
MNSallowsustorelatetooneanother,themoreyoumirrorthemorethepersonslikelytolikeyou
empathy/theoryofmind
Ashumanswevebecomemoresocial,theextensionofourknowledgeintheMNSandtheextensionofhuman
MNscomparedtootherprimatesshowsthenecessityformirroringforrelationshipsandsocialnetworks
forthecostofbeingsocial,couldyoutalkabouthowyoutendtoloseasenseofindividuality?Youfeeltheneedto
conformandimitateothers?Withtheideaofmirrorneuronsandhowtheyplayaroleinimitation,peopletendto
imitateotherswhoaremorefittingforsurvivalinsociety.(thisiskindofacogs102ainformation)
Mostlikelyreasonformirrorneuronsisforadaptabilityandsurvival
2. Whataretwodifferenthypothesesonhowmirrorneuronscametobe?Whatisthestrongestevidencein
supportofeach?
ASSOCIATIVELEARNINGHYPOTHESIS
MirrorNeuronaretheResultofassociativelearning

Associativelearningresultsfromconditioningortheexposuretoarelationshipbetweentwoevents.
Suchconditioningisafunctionofcontiguity,meaningthattheclosuretwoeventsareintime,thestrongertheassociation
Itisalsoafunctionofcontingency,thatisthatoneeventmustreliablypredicttheother(correlatedactivity)
Thechangeinbehaviorresultsprimarilyfromthestrengtheningofconnectionsbetweeneventrepresentations.Neurally,this
meansincreasingefficacyofsynaptictransmission.
Whatfirestogetherwirestogether(HEBBIANLEARNING)
Motorneuronsandassociativelearningdidnotevolveforthepurposeofproducingmirrorneurons
Motorneuronsareforgedthroughsensorimotorexperience,thatisthecorrelatedexperienceofobservingandexecutingthe
sameaction
CeciliaHeyespromotesassociativelearninghypothesis:
EachhypothesisacknowledgesgeneticandexperientialcontributionstoMNdevelopment
Eachoffersplausibleaccountsoftheoriginsofmirrorneurons
However,theimplicationsaredifferent.
theassociativehypothesishassomeadvantagesovertheadaptationhypothesis
AssociativeLearningadvantages:
Ataskgeneralprocessoflearningfoundinmostspecies
itexplainstheexistenceofmirrorneuronsinmanyareasofthebrain
itisconsistentwithevidenceindicatingthatMNscontributetoarangeofsocialcognitivefunctions,butdonotplaya
dominant,specializedroleinanyofthem(especiallyactionunderstanding)
Itssupportedbyrecentdatashowingthat,eveninadults,onecantransformtheMNSbysensorimotorlearning
Itprovidesanempiricallytestableexplanationforthedifferencesbetweenmonkeysandhumans

CeciliaHeyes:Wheredomirrorneuronscomefrom
associativehypothesis:mirrorneuronscomefromsensorimotorexperience&theexperienceisobtained
throughinteractionwithothers
3advantages:providesstraightforward,testableexplanationforthedifferencebetweenmonkeysand
humansconsistentwithemergingevidencethatmirrorneuronscontributetoarangeofsocialcognitive
functionsrecentdatashowingthateveninadulthood,theMNsystemcanbetransformedby
sensorimotorlearning
strongestevidencewouldbeHebbianlearning
thatsynapticefficacyincreasesifthereiscorrelatedactivityinpreandpostsynapse.

 correlatedmeaningbothcontiguityandcontingency.
neuronsthatwiretogetherfiretogether
adaptationhypothesis
:bornwithmirrorneurons
capacitytomatchobservedwithexecutedactionsisinherited

adaptation:phylogeneticnaturalselectionandcanalizationprocesses
evolvedtofulfillaparticularfunctionandsolveaspecificprobleminanefficient,reliable,andprecise
wayinthistheory,experiencehasaminorroleaseitheratriggerortofacilitateMNdevelopment
Strongestevidence:foundindayoldbabiesandprimates
Argumentsagainstit:cantfindoutifmirrorneuronsarepresentatbirth(unethical)orwiredbetween
birthandtestingretainedfunctionalityandexaptationargueagainstapreviousfunctioninevolution
(mirrorneuronsinprimatesandbirds)havingthesamecurrentfunction(mirrorneuronsinhumans)
evidenceforthiswouldbemonkeys?Naturalselectionthroughunderstandingobservedactionsandexecuting
themandyoucanseethisoccursthroughmonkeys.

3. Howdowebridgethegapbetweenanimalandhumanstudieswithrespecttomirrorneurons?Whatare
problemswithanimalmodels?Howdowedealwithfunctionaldifferencesacrossspecies?Whatarethe
constraints?
Myguessisthatyoufocusonpartsofthemirrorneuronsthatbothanimalsandhumanshaveincommon.Exampleof
theselectiveimitationandtheoverimitation.Resultsshowthatmonkeysfocusontheendgoalinsteadoftheprocess.
Childrenontheotherhand,theyfollowtheprocessandthisisexplainedbythesocietalpressuretofollowadultsand
conform,etc.
Problemwithanimalmodelsisthattheydonthavetheexactsamemirrorneuronsthathumanshave.Exampleabove
withtheboxandhowtheytesttoseeifmonkeysimitatejustlikehumans.
dealwithfunctionaldifferencesacrossspeciesby

4. Whatpopulationsofindividualsmaynothaveproperlyfunctioningmirrorneuronsystems?Whatevidence
wouldsupporttheirclassificationashavingdysfunctionalmirroring?
ASD(?)
:Deficits/delaysinsocialinteraction(whichrelatestosocialfunctionofMNS)
Interactive/symbolicplay(anothersocialfunctionofMNS)

 Jointattention(mirroring),imitation(mirroring),empathy
ChildrenwithASDhavealackofsocialunderstanding.
ThereisevidenceofEEGsmeasuresmusuppressionandtheyfoundoutthatASDhaslessmusuppression.
AlthoughASDchildrenareabletoimitateandobserve,theylacktheaspectthatconnectsMNStoan
emotionalexperience.
TheMNSregionsresponsibleforactionunderstandingwasnotactivewhiletheMNSregions
responsibleforobservingandimitatingwas.
dysfunctionalmirroringbecauseevidencefromPinedathatshowsthatresearchersdidneurofeedback
trainingtoimprovemusuppressioninchildrenwithASDanditworks.
EvidenceintheDaprettoreadingASDshowednomirrorneuronactivityininferiorfrontalgyruswhichisalso
relatedtosocialcognitionthereforeitsuggeststhatadysfunctionalmnsisthecauseofsocialdeficitsin
autism.

5. WhatevidencesupportstheMNStheoryofautism?Describewhatamurhythmisandwhereitcomesfrom?
WhataresomeissuesabouttherelationshipbetweenmusuppressionandMNactivity?Whatfactors
contributetothediversityofresultsintheautismMNSliterature?Whatwouldyouwantorneedtoknowto
developaneffectiveautismintervention?
MNSTheoryofASD:MNSsaidtobeinvolvedinimitationandempathy,twoimportantissuesforpeoplewithASD
Fromppt:IftheMNSisdysfunctionalinautistics,Murhythmsuppressionshouldnotoccur(tothesame
extentasinneurotypicals)
MuRhythm:813Hzbandgeneratedbysensorimotorareas(fromppt)
Suppressedbyselfinitiatedmovement,observationofmovementandimaginedmovement.
IssuesMu/MNS:Fromthepowerpoint,therelationshipbetweenmusuppressionandmirrorneuronsisthattheyare
notexclusive.Ifthereis

therearebroadwideregionssensitivetovisualinputthatmediatemusuppressionsoitisnotjustlimitedto
mirrorneurons.


6. WhichofHickoks8argumentsisthestrongestandposesarealproblemforproponentsofmirroringas
instantiatedbymirrorneurons?Howwouldyouaddresshiscriticismthatitsdifficulttogaintrue
understandingwhenwedefinefuzzytermswithevenfuzzierconcepts?
Week10:
Howwouldyouaddresshiscriticism...
It is not obvious from the definitions what action understanding means.

DEFINITION 1
: Gallese et al. (1996) define action understanding as the capacity to recognize that an individual is
performing an action, to differentiate this action from others analogous to it, and to use this information in order to
act appropriately (p. 606).
For example, with respect to the first definition, upon seeing an individual producing meaningless, non-goal-directed
actions (e.g., flailing the arms, which should yield no mirror neuron activity), one could presumably recognize that
actions are being performed, differentiate such actions from other actions (e.g., swinging the arms rhythmically),
and act appropriately in response (walk away or call 911), all without understanding the meaning of the actions in
the goal-directed sense.
DEFINITION 2
: Rizzolatti et al. (2001) propose that action understanding is the capacity to achieve the internal
description of an action and to use it to organize appropriate future behavior (p. 661).
The nature of the internal description in the second definition is itself undefined and therefore adds little clarity to
the nature of action understanding.
DEFINITION 3
: Rizzolatti and Craighero (2004) claim, Each time an individual sees an action done by another
individual, neurons that represent that action are activated in the observers premotor cortex. This automatically
induced, motor representation of the observed action corresponds to that which is spontaneously generated during

active action and whose outcome is known to the acting individual. Thus, the mirror system transforms visual
information into knowledge (p. 172).
In the third definition, the idea that understanding is achieved by knowing the outcome is also somewhat vague
because outcome is not defined.
DEFINITION 4
: Nelissen et al. (2005) state that A mere visual representation [of an action], without involvement
of the motor system, provides a description of the visible aspects of the movement of the agent, but does not give
information critical for understanding action semantics, i.e., what the action is about, what its goal is, and how it is
related to other actions (p. 332).
The fourth definition also includes concepts that are underspecified: What is the action of grasping a peanut about?
What is the goal of such an action? And on what level of analysis is relation between actions defined?
Dr. Jamie Pineda Does a lack of consensus on definition invalidate the research? Clearly not

7. ThomasNagelarguedthatwewillneverknowwhatitsliketobeabatbut,isitpossibletoknowwhatits
liketobeanotherhuman?Canaspectsofsubjectiveexperiencebereducedtobrainactivity?Howdoesthe
existenceofmirrorneurons,mirroring,andembodimentfitintothisargument?

8. Ifwecansimulatethemotoractionsofothers,howdoesthatleadtoempathy,whichmaybeviewedasa
simulationofthementalstatesofotherpeople?Whatneuralmachinery,inadditiontomirroring,mightbe
necessarytomakethathappen?

9. Properfunctioningofthemirrorneuronsystemisnecessaryforimitation,andtheabilitytoimitateis
essentialforthenormaldevelopmentofsocialcognition.Isthisrelationshipasimplecausalrelationship?
Or,morecomplex?Inwhatways?
*
Idontunderstandwhatthisquestionisasking!Cansomeoneexplainplease?

Itappearstobeasking:Explaintheabilitytoimitateinrelationtosocialcognition.Doessocialcognitiondevelop
abnormally?
Moreso,isthe
MirrorNeuronSystem
causative
ofdevelopingnormal
socialcognition
intermsof
Imitation
?
TheOr,morecomplex?partmeans:Yes,itismorecomplex.Explainhow.
Thatsmyunderstandingofthisquestion.Hopethathelpsalittle.

10. Wouldyouexpectmirroringmechanismstobethesameforhandmovementsasforfacialexpressions?In
whatwaysaretheydifferent?Inwhatwaysmighttheybethesame?Isitfair/safetocallbothofthem
mirroring?

GROUPPRESENTATIONS:
MirroringandMimickingintheAbsenceofFacialExpression(KatieJue,JenWindsor,ChrisLim,TiffanyLim):
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gGDv03OZ_lomgttyj_7B4poTYxU7irWGu4Xh7Amivc/edit?usp=sharing

Murhythmsandsleepspindles
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iGtZ22eXTCu4_6Joh1ZqdtfeLS8wUusOs82bzhuFQo/edit

PhysicalImitationTraining
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12zsw9BAntvg_pFEBdG2lHhGTwW_7BAY8dssaSDJJqc/edit?usp=sharing
HorrorMovies,Empathy,andtheMirrorNeuronSystem
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CH_pB_6cWgTCCpT8X79wKrspUS5W5Lp8p0cQlapEo14/edit#slide=id.p

UnderstandingtherelationshipbetweenhumansanddomesticatedcaninesImitationasthefoundationforempathy:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1EGRITEKeI8cGbRu_oElUZZbkpUjZcbf6Gg4Fb3VZeYw/edit?usp=sharing