Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Mirror Conspiracy
A group of neuroscientists at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Parma discovered "mirror neurons" that basically allow humans engage in mindreading. They say that the neurons let us understand what other people are thinking and anticipate the behavior of others.
The researchers said that these neurons code "some aspects" of future actions. "In this interpretation, an action observed within a familiar context activates mirror neurons for 'logically related' actions, those that most likely will follow the observed one," they wrote. "This suggests the mirror neuron system is intimately involved not only with understanding the behavior of others, but predicting it as well."
The researchers showed their test subjects a series of film clips inside a functional MRI machine. The clips were carefully edited for context, action, and intent. They found that an area known to be involved in the mirror system, the inferior frontal cortex, was activated only by scenes in which intent could be inferred.
The researchers said that these neurons code "some aspects" of future actions. "In this interpretation, an action observed within a familiar context activates mirror neurons for 'logically related' actions, those that most likely will follow the observed one," they wrote. "This suggests the mirror neuron system is intimately involved not only with understanding the behavior of others, but predicting it as well."
The researchers showed their test subjects a series of film clips inside a functional MRI machine. The clips were carefully edited for context, action, and intent. They found that an area known to be involved in the mirror system, the inferior frontal cortex, was activated only by scenes in which intent could be inferred.
