Mirror Neurons and the Evolution of Brain and Language

Advances in Consciousness Research #42

by Vittorio Gallese (Editor), Maxim I. Stamenov, Maksim I. Stamenov (Editor)

The emergence of language, social intelligence, and tool development are what made homo sapiens sapiens differentiate itself from all other biological species in the world. The use of language and the management of social and instrumental skills imply an awareness of intention and the consideration that one faces another individual with an attitude analogical to that of one’s own. The metaphor of ‘mirror’ aptly comes to mind.

Recent investigations have shown that the human ability to ‘mirror’ other’s actions originates in the brain at a much deeper level than phenomenal awareness. A new class of neurons has been discovered in the premotor area of the monkey brain: ‘mirror neurons’. Quite remarkably, they are tuned to fire to the enaction as well as observation of specific classes of behavior: fine manual actions and actions performed by mouth. They become activated independent of the agent, be it the self or a third person whose action is observed. The activation in mirror neurons is automatic and binds the observation and enaction of some behavior by the self or by the observed other. The peculiar first-to-third-person ‘intersubjectivity’ of the performance of mirror neurons and their surprising complementarity to the functioning of strategic communicative face-to-face (first-to-second person) interaction may shed new light on the functional architecture of conscious vs. unconscious mental processes and the relationship between behavioral and communicative action in monkeys, primates, and humans.

The present volume discusses the nature of mirror neurons as presented by the research team of Prof. Giacomo Rizzolatti (University of Parma), who originally discovered them, and the implications to our understanding of the evolution of brain, mind and communicative interaction in non-human primates and man.

390 pages, Paperback

First published December 17, 2002

About the author

Vittorio Gallese is professor of human physiology at the University of Parma, Italy with appointments in the departments of neuroscience, psychiatry and psychology. He is an expert in neurophysiology, neuroscience, social neuroscience, and philosophy of mind. Gallese is one of the discoverers of mirror neurons. His research attempts to elucidate the functional organization of brain mechanisms underlying social cognition, including action understanding, empathy, and theory of mind.

Reviews

[Andrei Ștefănucă · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series of papers on the subject of mirror neurons and their connection to cognitive processes, especially those that are language centric, offers a glimpse on what people are currently theorizing in regards to neural architecture. Some are clear and precise, some are a bit lacking in depth and detail. What is also lacking is applied usefulness, to the scientist as well as to anyone. While the mirror neuron itself may be structurally and biologically involved in learning by doing and by observing and while it may be an impressive find in itself, a balanced reader would ask himself how does that help with current state of things? The theory and modeling is acceptable, but what about the applications and practice?

[Marcus]

Mirror neurons are fascinating.. they show that we're more connected to each other than once believed. Mirror neurons might be the root of empathy.