The Mirror Neuron System: A Motor-Based Mechanism for Action and Intention Understanding

Abstract

In this chapter we provide evidence that the cortical motor system is involved in action and intention understanding. In the first part of the chapter, we show that at the core of the cortical motor system, formed by ventral premotor and inferior parietal cortex, there are vocabularies of motor acts, such as grasping, holding, and breaking. Neurons that form these vocabularies code the goal of motor acts independent of how the goal is achieved. Many of these motor neurons also respond to the observation of the same motor acts they motorically code (mirror neurons). In the second part, we show that mirror neurons are involved in both the understanding of motor acts done by others and the understanding of the intention behind the acts. In the last part of the chapter we show that the mirror system in humans also plays a role in action and intention understanding. We conclude by presenting data suggesting that some of the deficits present in the autistic syndrome could be caused by an impairment of the mirror system.