Confounding the origin and function of mirror neurons.
Cook et al. argue that mirror neurons originate in sensorimotor associative learning and that their function is determined by their origin. Both these claims are hard to accept. It is here suggested that a major role in the origin of the mirror mechanism is played by top-down connections rather than by associative learning.
Department of Neuroscience, Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition (BCSMC), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), 43125 Parma, Italy. giacomo.rizzolatti@unipr.it.
Giacomo
G
Rizzolatti
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D059167:Mirror Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D012938:Social Perception