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Cited by 120Action Observation and SynchronizationPrimate Behavior and EcologyChild and Animal Learning Development

From monkey mirror neurons to primate behaviours: possible ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ pathways

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Ferrari, P. F., Bonini, L., Fogassi, L.·2009·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
DOI 10.1098/rstb.2009.0062PMC PMC2865083
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Abstract

The discovery of mirror neurons (MNs), deemed to be at the basis of action understanding, could constitute the potential solution to the 'correspondence problem' between one's own and others' action that is crucial for of imitative behaviours. However, it is still to be clarified whether, and how, several imitative phenomena, differing in terms of complexity and cognitive effort, could be explained within a unified framework based on MNs. Here we propose that MNs could differently contribute to distinct imitative behaviours by means of two anatomo-functional pathways, subjected to changes during development. A 'direct mirror pathway', directly influencing the descending motor output, would be responsible for neonatal and automatic imitation. This proposal is corroborated by some new behavioural evidences provided here. During development, the increased control of voluntary movements and the capacity to efficiently suppress automatic motor activation during action observation assign to the core MNs regions essentially perceptuo-cognitive functions. These functions would be exploited by an 'indirect mirror pathway' from the core regions of the MN system to prefrontal cortex. This latter would play a key role in parsing, storing and organizing motor representations, allowing the emergence of more efficient and complex imitative behaviours such as response facilitation and true imitation.

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  • The mirror neuron system has been hypothesized to underlie automatic response activation in imitation.

    “In the case of imitation, the mirror neuron system (MNS) has been hypothesized to underlie automatic response activation (Ferrari et al., 2009), since it responds during the observation and execution of similar actions and provides input to primary motor cortex (Di Pellegrino et al., 1992; Iacoboni et al., 1999; Rizzolatti and Craighero, 2004).”

    From To imitate or not: Avoiding imitation involves preparatory inhibition of motor resonance (2014) · cites this paper as Ferrari et al., 2009

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Authors
Ferrari, P. F., Bonini, L., & Fogassi, L.
Affiliations
University of Parma (IT)
Corresponding author
Ferrari, P. F.
ORCID
Venue
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
2009-08-27
Volume
364
Issue
1528
Pages
2311-2323
ISSN
  • 0962-8436 (ISSN-L)
  • 1471-2970
DOI
10.1098/rstb.2009.0062
PMC
PMC2865083
OpenAlex
W2157924635
Cited by
120
References
124
Citations by year
2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 14
FWCI
1.76
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
Keywords
mirror neurons, imitation, action understanding, correspondence problem, prefrontal cortex, action observation, automatic imitation, neonatal imitation, response facilitation, voluntary movement control, motor representations, primate development
MeSH terms
Animals, Haplorhini, Behavior, Animal, Brain, Imitative Behavior, Movement, Neural Pathways, Social Behavior

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