Does f MRI repetition suppression reveal mirror neuron activity in the human brain? Insights from univariate and multivariate analysis
Open accessAbstract
Mirror neurons (MN) have been proposed as the neural substrate for a wide range of clinical, social and cognitive phenomena. Over the last decade, a commonly used tool for investigating MN activity in the human brain has been functional magnetic resonance (f MRI) repetition suppression (RS) paradigms. However, the available evidence is mixed, largely owing to inconsistent application of the methodological criteria necessary to infer MN properties. This raises concerns about the degree to which one can infer the presence (or absence) of MN activity from earlier accounts that adopted RS paradigms. We aimed to clarify this issue using a well‐validated f MRI RS paradigm and tested for mirror properties by rigorously applying the widely accepted criteria necessary to demonstrate MN activity using traditional univariate techniques and Multivariate Pattern Analysis (MVPA). While univariate whole brain analysis in healthy adults showed uni‐modal RS effects within the supplementary motor area, no evidence for cross‐modal RS effects consistent with mirror neuron activity was found. MVPA on the other hand revealed a region along the anterior intraparietal sulcus that met the criteria for MN activity. Taken together, these results clarify disparate evidence from earlier RS studies, highlighting that traditional univariate analysis of RS data may not be sensitive for detecting MN activity when rigorously applying the requisite criteria. In light of these findings, we recommend that short of increasing sample sizes substantially, future studies using RS paradigms to investigate MN s across the human brain consider the use of MVPA.
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Changes in neural activity that are considered to reflect a mirror neuron response may also overlap with non-MNS related activity.
“changes in neural activity that are considered to reflect a mirror neuron response may also overlap with non-MNS related activity.”
From Is the Putative Mirror Neuron System Associated with Empathy? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2021) · cites this paper as Fuelscher et al., 2019
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- Fuelseher, I., Caeyenberghs, K., Enticott, P. G., Kirkovski, M., Farquharson, S., Lum, J. & Hyde, C. (2019). Does <i>f</i>MRI repetition suppression reveal mirror neuron activity in the human brain? Insights from univariate and multivariate analysis. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, 50 (5), pp.2877-2892. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14370. Persistent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11343/285642
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Is the Putative Mirror Neuron System Associated with Empathy? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Bekkali, S., Youssef, G. J., Donaldson, P. H., Albein-Urios, N., Hyde, C., & Enticott, P. G. (2021) · Neuropsychology Review · doi:10.1007/s11065-020-09452-6 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Fuelscher, I., Caeyenberghs, K., Enticott, P. G., Kirkovski, M., Farquharson, S., Lum, J., & Hyde, C.
- Affiliations
- Deakin University (AU)
- Australian Catholic University (AU)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Fuelscher, Ian
- ORCID
- Venue
- European Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-03-25
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 2877-2892
- ISSN
- 0953-816X (ISSN-L)
- 1460-9568
- OpenAlex
- W2913425162
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 1.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- European Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Victoria University Research Repository (Victoria University) (submittedVersion)
- Research Bank (Australian Catholic University) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- mirror neurons, repetition suppression, multivariate pattern analysis, supplementary motor area, anterior intraparietal sulcus
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Psychomotor Performance, Multivariate Analysis, Young Adult, Mirror Neurons, Functional Neuroimaging
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