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Jessica Nyberg, B.S. Slide 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8WV1 zAh9zU Slide 3 A specialized cell in the brain Slide 4 Subset of Motor Neurons Fire when a motor action is performed Motor Templates for every action Practice makes perfect (well reinforced motor templates) Different groups fire for different actions = coding of actions Slide 5 These same neurons that fire while performing an action, fire while WATCHING the action as well Why are motor neurons firing if theres no motor movement? Answer: MIRROR NEURONS Mirror Neurons internally imitate what you see Mirror Neurons build motor templates by watching others perform actions Slide 6 Mirror neurons are active in as young as 41 minute-old babies Imitation of simple facial expressions Motor Template building begins with infant & caregiver Expressions, gestures, and later speech sounds Slide 7 Slide 8 Connecting Senses Fire when doing, watching, or hearing an action Connecting Emotions Same neurons that fire when we are in pain fire when we watch someone in pain Which is why we can feel their pain when we see this Slide 9 Slide 10 Connecting Emotions Continued Mirror Neuron activity is correlated to testing scores of empathy Internal imitation (thank you mirror neurons) of what someone is going through triggers the same emotional response Slide 11 Slide 12 Different groups of mirror neurons fire for each picture Mirror neurons take CONTEXT CLUES into account Internal motor imitation + context clues= reading the intentions or motives of others Picture #1: drinking neurons fired Picture #2: cleaning neurons fired Slide 13 Imitation plays a major role in social interactions Body language Facial expressions Syntactic use (what we say & how we say it) Theres a reason why we do this Research shows an association between imitating & liking someone Slide 14 We learn & use imitative behaviors to control conversations Making eye contact= your turn to talk Looking at watch= I need to leave Being able to internally imitate others we feel what they are feeling understand intentions & motives through contextual cues= we respond compassionately and appropriately Slide 15 Through our understanding of typical mirror neuron activity, we believe they play a role in: Imitation abilities Emotional recognition Social cognition What would broken mirrors look like? Autism Slide 16 fMRI scans looking at neural activity during imitation & observation of facial expressions of children with high- functioning autism compared to typically developing peers Slide 17 EEG studies looking at mu wave suppression Typical individuals have mu wave suppression while they perform an action and while they watch an action performed by someone else Individuals with ASD have mu wave suppression while performing an action but NOT while watching someone else perform an action Slide 18 Delayed activation & overall lower activity levels of MNs in patients with autism Clear correlation between MN activity & severity level of ASD Lack of eye contact plays a role with children not making associations between their movement & the movement of others imitating them MN templates cannot be shaped or reinforced Slide 19 Treatment Experiments: Imitation Therapy Children being imitated by an adult demonstrated much more social behavior and reciprocal play vs. children who were only playing with an adult Slide 20 Dapretto, M., Davies, M.S., Pfeifer, J.H., Scott, A.A., Sigman, M., Bookheimer, S.Y., and Iacoboni, M. (2006). Understanding emotions in others: mirror neuron dysfuntion in children with autism spectrum disorders. Nature Neuroscience, 9, 28-30. Iacoboni, M. (2008). Mirroring people: The new science of how we connect with others. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Iacoboni, M., and Dapretto, M. (2006) The mirror neuron system and the consequences of its dysfunction. Nature Publishing Group, 7, 942-951. Oberman, L., Ramachandran, V. (2007). The Simulating Social Mind: The role of the mirror neuron system and simulation in the social and communicative deficits of autism spectrum disorders. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 310-327. Ramachandran, V., Oberman, L. (2007). Broken Mirrors: A theory of autism. Scientific American- Special Edition Child Development, 17, 20-29.