The DOI matches its Crossref record; 52 of the 52 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Mirror Neurons Responding to Observation of Actions Made with Tools in Monkey Ventral Premotor Cortex
Abstract
In the present study, we describe a new type of visuomotor neurons, named tool-responding mirror neurons, which are found in the lateral sector of monkey ventral premotor area F5. Tool-responding mirror neurons discharge when the monkey observes actions performed by an experimenter with a tool (a stick or a pair of pliers). This response is stronger than that obtained when the monkey observes a similar action made with a biological effector (the hand or the mouth). These neurons respond also when the monkey executes actions with both the hand and the mouth. The visual and the motor responses of each neuron are congruent in that they share the same general goal, that is, taking possession of an object and modifying its state. It is hypothesized that after a relatively long visual exposure to tool actions, a visual association between the hand and the tool is created, so that the tool becomes as a kind of prolongation of the hand. We propose that tool-responding mirror neurons enable the observing monkey to extend action-understanding capacity to actions that do not strictly correspond to its motor representations. Our findings support the notion that the motor cortex plays a crucial role in understanding action goals.
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“Single-unit data also show that, even when they are responding to object-directed actions, MNs have field properties suggesting that they were not tuned to do this by genetic evolution.”
From Mirror neurons: from origin to function (2014) · cites this paper as Ferrari, Rozzi, & Fogassi, 2005
In the citing paper
“Equally, the associative account explains in a simple way why 'tool-use' MNs (Ferrari et al., 2005) develop when action performance is reliably predicted by the sight of actions performed with tools (e.g. food items being gripped with pliers), and why 'audiovisual' MNs (Keysers et al., 2003; Kohler et al., 2002) develop when action performance predicts characteristic action sounds (e.g. paper tear”
From Mirror neurons: from origin to function (2014) · cites this paper as Ferrari et al., 2005
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Cites
Action recognition in the premotor cortex
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Self-citationPremotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions
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Self-citationNeurophysiological mechanisms underlying the understanding and imitation of action
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Self-citationCortical mechanisms of human imitation
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Action observation activates premotor and parietal areas in a somatotopic manner: an fMRI study
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Hearing Sounds, Understanding Actions: Action Representation in Mirror Neurons
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Self-citationFunctional organization of inferior area 6 in the macaque monkey
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Self-citation
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Imitation, empathy, and mirror neurons
Iacoboni, M. (2009) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163604 · Cited by 1,606
The mirror neuron system and the consequences of its dysfunction
Iacoboni, M., & Dapretto, M. (2006) · Nature reviews. Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2024 · Cited by 1,464
Seeing or Doing? Influence of Visual and Motor Familiarity in Action Observation
Calvo‐Merino, B., Grèzes, J., Glaser, D. E., Passingham, R. E., & Haggard, P. (2006) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2006.07.065 · Cited by 1,186
Eight problems for the mirror neuron theory of action understanding in monkeys and humans
Hickok, G. (2009) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn.2009.21189 · Cited by 887
The anthropomorphic brain: The mirror neuron system responds to human and robotic actions
Gazzola, V., Rizzolatti, G., Wicker, B., & Keysers, C. (2007) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.02.003 · Cited by 748
Metadata
- Authors
- Ferrari, P. F., Rozzi, S., & Fogassi, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Parma (IT)
- Venue
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
- Publisher
- MIT Press - Journals
- Published
- 2005-02-01
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 212-226
- ISSN
- 0898-929X (ISSN-L)
- 1530-8898
- OpenAlex
- W2124298096
- Cited by
- 283
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 21
- FWCI
- 28.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
- Keywords
- mirror neurons, ventral premotor cortex, F5, action observation, tool use, action understanding, motor cortex, action goals, rhesus monkeys
- MeSH terms
- Action Potentials, Animals, Brain Mapping, Imitative Behavior, Macaca nemestrina, Motor Activity, Motor Cortex, Neurons, Photic Stimulation, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Visual Perception, Statistics, Nonparametric, Hand Strength, Observation
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