Summary
Summary Mirror Neuron Notes
- Module
- Cognition and Development
- Institution
- AQA
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Social cognition: The Mirror Neuron SystemSpecification says:
The role –
This is the final spread dealing with social cognition, the cognitive processes that underlie
human social interaction. In particular we deal here with the likely role of a particular class
of brain cell, the mirror neuron.
It seems likely that mirror neurons are involved in the social-cognitive process of empathy,
understanding intention, perspective-taking and theory of mind.
The mirror neuron system consists of special brain cells called mirror neurons distributed in
several areas of the brain. Mirror Neurons are unique because they fire both in response to
personal action and in response to action on the part of others. These special neurons may
be involved in social cognition allowing us to interpret intention and emotion in others.
The role of Mirror Neurons
The discovery
Giacomo Rizzolatti 2002 studying electrical activity in a monkey’s motor cortex (the part of
the brain controlling movement) when one of the researchers reached for his lunch in view
of the monkey. This monkey’s motor cortex because activated in exactly the same way as it
did when the animal itself reached for food. Further investigation revealed that it was in fact
the same brain cells that fired when the money reached itself or watched some else reach.
The researchers called these cells mirror neurons because they mirror motor activity of
another individual.
Mirror neurons and intention
Understanding mirror neurons has given us a whole new way of thinking about the way we
understand each other’s intention- this is central to social cognition. Vittorio Gallese and
Alvin Goldman 1998 suggested that mirror neurons respond not just to observed actions but
to intentions behind behaviour
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