Imagining and Imaging the Social Brain: The Case of Mirror Neurons.
In a contemporary setting in which all things "neuro" have great cultural sway, an analysis of the ways in which neuroscience is indebted to the methods and findings of the social sciences has received less attention. Indeed, in the new specialization of social neuroscience, neuroscientists now collaborate with contemporary psychologists and invoke historical psychological theories to help theorize empathy and social understanding. This article examines the overlap between psychological frameworks of social emotion and neuroscience in the case of mirror neurons, discovered in the 1990s. Some neuroscientists purport that mirror neurons underlie the social behaviours of imitation and empathy, and have found support for this view of theories of simulation and embodied cognition. They have also invoked pragmatic and phenomenological approaches to mind and behaviour dating back to the early 20thcentury. Neuroscientists have thus imported, adapted, and interpreted psychological models to help define social understanding, empathy, and imitation in many imaging studies.
Department of Continuing Education, Harvard University.
Susan
S
Lanzoni
D004644:Emotions; D004645:Empathy; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D059167:Mirror Neurons; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009488:Neurosciences; D012919:Social Behavior
cerveau sociale; cognition incarnée; disease identity; embodied cognition; empathie; empathy; imitation; maladie et identité; mirror neurons; neurones miroirs; neuroscience sociale; simulation; social brain; social neuroscience; social psychologie; social psychology