Grasping the Intentions of Others with One's Own Mirror Neuron System

“questionnaire adapted from the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory [ 36 ].”

“The co-planar highresolution structural T2-weighted EPI volume was subsequently registered to the Montreal Neurological Institute Talairach-compatible MR atlas averaging 152 normal subjects using FMRIB’s Linear Image Registration Tool (FLIRT) [37].”

“Functional images were first registered to the co-planar high-resolution structural T2weighted EPI volume after non-brain structures had been removed with FMRIB’s Brain Extraction Tool (BET) from the co-planar highresolution T2-weighted EPI volume [38].”

“In the monkey brain, ventral premotor area F5 contains, in addition to mirror neurons, a population of cells called canonical neurons [4].”

“Mirror neurons are premotor neurons that fire when the monkey performs object-directed actions such as grasping, tearing, manipulating, holding, but also when the animal observes somebody else, either a conspecific or a human experimenter, performing the same class of actions [3,4,5].”

“Neurons of this type have indeed been previously reported in F5 and referred to as ‘‘logically related’’ neurons [34].”

“Z image statistics were performed with a threshold of Z = 2.3 at voxel level and a cluster level corrected for the whole brain at p , 0.05 [41, 42 ].”

“Time-series statistical analyses were carried out using FMRIB’s Improved Linear model (FILM) with local autocorrelation correction [39].”

“Mirror neuron areas have also been shown to be involved in understanding the intention of others (Iacoboni et al., 2005).”

“heard sound to oneʼs own repertoire of meaningful soundproducing motor actions (Engel et al., 2009; Aglioti, Cesari, Romani, & Urgesi, 2008; Galati et al., 2008; McNamara et al., 2008; Pazzaglia, Pizzamiglio, Pes, & Aglioti, 2008; Lahav et al., 2007; Gazzola et al., 2006; Lewis et al., 2005, 2006; Bidet-Caulet et al.,…”

“…in inferior frontal gyrus and premotor cortex, posteriorly in the inferior parietal lobule) that are considered homologous to the areas forming the mirror neuron system in monkeys (see for example Grafton et al. 1996; Iacoboni et al. 1999; Buccino et al. 2001; Iacoboni et al. 2005).”

“…social-cognitive abilities [Gallese, Keysers, & Rizzolatti, 2004] such as action understanding, perspective taking, theory of mind, and empathizing [Iacoboni et al., 2005; Rizzolatti & Craighero, 2004; SchulteR€uther, Markowitsch, Fink, & Piefke, 2007, but see Cook, Bird, Catmur, Press, & Heyes,…”

“, 2008), particularly when intention can be inferred (Iacoboni et al., 2005).”

“We selected a manipulative and a functional grip on the basis of previous work (see for example Borghi et al., 2012; Iacoboni et al., 2005): the functional grip is aimed at grasping the object to use it, the manipulative grip is similar in terms of fingers configuration (both grips are power grips) but the object is h…”

“…heard and when they are spoken, and it is through that sensorimotor correspondence that auditory perception may be translated into vocal motor performance (Arbib, 2005; Ferrari et al., 2003; Gallese et al., 1996; Iacoboni et al., 1999, 2005; Rizzolatti and Craighero, 2004; Rizzolatti et al., 2001).”

“, he is grasping the cup to clear the table) (Iacoboni et al. 2005), the inference of higher motives (e.”

“This finding showed that the representation of intentions and actions is automatic and pre-cognitive – the MNS is activated without conscious effort (Iacoboni et al., 2005).”

“According to Iacoboni et al. (2005), Mirror neurons are thought to recognize the actions of others, by matching the observed action onto its motor counterpart coded by the same neurons.”

“The decision to use different types of grasp (both observed and executed) was driven by the need to recruit the highest percentage of mirror neurons and thus increment the BOLD signal (Ehrsson et al., 2000; Iacoboni et al., 2005; Cabinio et al., 2010; Marino and Ricciardelli, 2017).”

“In a previous review, Kirsch et al. (2016) also focused on the complexity of the aesthetic experience, and approached the topic by highlighting the activation of a network of cerebral areas involving reward and motor processing.”

“Based on these findings it has been suggested that within the AON actions are represented primarily in terms of the goal or outcome of the observed action (Iacoboni et al., 2005; van Elk et al., 2008; Newman-Norlund et al., 2010).”

“How does the brain perceive music? How does emotional music affect the brain of individuals with ASD? Bridging recent neuroimaging findings on the neural bases of intention understanding, action perception and social communication (90, 93, 138, 139) with findings on the neural bases of music perception, it has been pr…”

“Iacoboni et al. (2005) performed a fMRI study where participants observed three types of stimuli: grasping hand actions without a context, context only (scenes containing objects), and grasping hand actions performed in two different contexts.”

“F-MRI studies revealed that understanding another person’s intention is associated with right inferior frontal gyrus, although the area mainly consists of right pars opercularis [16].”

“…system (MNS), a set of neural substrates dedicated to the observation, imitation, decoding, and implementation of actions (Rizzolatti & Craighero, 2004) and inferring mental states (Iacoboni et al., 2005), has been extensively studied in ASD population and is implicated in their social deficits.”

“In various situations, it has been shown that contextual cues, such as scenes surrounding the action (Iacoboni et al., 2005), presence of another agent (Sebanz, Knoblich, & Prinz, 2005) or relation to another agent (Loula et al.”

“Some studies show an almost equal bilateral activation of the ventral premotor cortices (Buccino et al., 2001, 2004; Iacoboni et al., 2005), whereas others report a stronger or even exclusive activation in the left hemisphere (Iacoboni et al.”

“…strongly supports the role of this ''human mirror system'' in understanding the intention of the actions of others by mapping an observed act onto the motor program for the same or similar act (Nishitani and Hari, 2000; Umiltà et al., 2001; Rizzolatti and Craighero, 2004; Iacoboni et al., 2005).”

“These are also key regions that comprise the purported “mirror neuron system” (MNS), responsible for the embodied expression of others' goal-directed actions (Iacoboni et al., 2005).”

“…is also evidence that mirror neurons take part in intention understanding: Research has shown that observing an action in a context that allows us to understand the intention of the action activates mirror neuron areas that observing the action without the context does not (Iacoboni et al., 2005).”

“This new finding broadens their perceived function from mere imitation and recognition to instantaneous understanding of goal and intent (Iacoboni et al., 2005).”

“TheMNS has been shown to respond to human agents in action (Montgomery et al., 2007) and to the intention of an observed action (Iacoboni et al., 2005).”

“…mere observation of body actions activates fronto-parietal somatosensory and motor cortices (Buccino et al., 2001; Avikainen et al., 2002; Rossi et al., 2002; Raos et al., 2004; Costantini et al., 2005; Iacoboni et al., 2005; Avenanti et al., 2007; Christensen et al., 2007; Sakamoto et al., 2009).”

“In humans, observing actions embedded in a meaningful context which implies an intention results in increased activation of mirror neuron regions (Iacoboni et al., 2005).”

“The mirror neuron system in the frontoarietal cortex [102,103,101,50] was proposed as the main eural basis of sensorimotor resonance between the self and thers.”

“…learning specifically (Kassirer and Gorry, 1978; Peng and Reggia, 1990; Josephson and Josephson, 1994; Meltzoff, 1995; Baldwin and Baird, 2001; Bekkering and Prinz, 2002; Haikonen, 2003; Fuster, 2004; Fogassi et al., 2005; Iacoboni et al., 2005; Walton, 2005; Botvinick, 2008; Katz et al., 2017a).”

“We suggest that recent brain -behavior findings about "mirror neurons"[53] and the phenomenon of "social intelligence"[54] indicate that the patient- caregiver dyad interaction and its association with QOL has roots in the neurology of human behaviour [52-54].”

“in humans (Iacoboni et al. 2005).”

“Work in humans using fMRI (e.g., Iacoboni et al., 1999, 2005; Molnar-Szakacs et al., 2006), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS; Fadiga et al., 1995; Enticott et al., 2010; Sartori et al., 2012), depth electrode recording (Mukamel et al., 2010), and EEG/MEG (e.g., Hari et al., 1998; Nishitani…”

“Numerous studies have investigated the role of mirror neurons in parieto-frontal circuits in monkeys (Di Pellegrino et al. 1992; Gallese et al. 1996; Caggiano et al. 2009; Bonini et al. 2010; Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia 2010) and humans (Iacoboni et al. 2005; Mukamel et al. 2010).”

“For example, a seminal fMRI study demonstrated that context affects how we code high-level components of motor behavior [14].”

“There are very good reasons for thinking that human beings employ sub-conscious and automatic internal forward models of other people rather than updating beliefs by continuously checking on the others (Gallese 2004; Iacoboni et al. 2005).”

“Furthermore, its activation is increased particularly in goal-directed actions (Buccino et al, 2001 ; Iacoboni et al, 2005 ).”

“The human mirror neuron system, encompassing the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), temporal lobes and inferior parietal cortex (IPC), was shown to be involved in this simulation process [19,22].”

“The importance afforded to these neurons is such that they are purported to be the building blocks of a host of core human traits, including but not limited to an understanding of others’ intentions (Iacoboni et al., 2005), language (D’Ausilio et al.”

“For example, observing others' goal-directed actions activates areas of the premotor cortex and posterior parietal cortex that are engaged when one performs the same actions (Iacoboni et al, 2005 ; Kilner, Neal, Weiskopf, Friston, & Frith, 2009 ).”

“Indeed, as prior intentions are embodied in kinematics, by simulating observed other-generated actions, one can understand what the observed agent’s intention with the help of one’s own motor experience (Iacoboni et al., 2005; Georgiou et al., 2007).”

“While initially considered as an action recognition mechanism, later studies have expanded the role of mirror neurons to intention recognition (Iacoboni et al., 2005; Kaplan and Iacoboni, 2006).”

“In addition to these motor control functions, the premotor area has also been implicated in the ability to understand the intentions of others’ actions [Iacoboni et al., 2005] and social perception [Lawrence et al.”

“vation of skill training can lead to a performance gain in the motor domain (Brass et al., 2001; Iacoboni et al., 2005; Mattar & Gribble, 2005).”

“The authors demonstrated that the posterior right inferior frontal gyrus was significantly active in deciphering goal or intent when subjects viewed the same grasping action embedded in two different contexts (pick up to drink vs. pick up to clean) (M Iacoboni et al., 2005).”

“The ensemble of neurons that form the MNS are deeply dependent on the intrinsic (between neurons located in the same anatomical sector) and extrinsic (between neurons having the same properties but located in different sectors of the cerebral cortex) connections in which they are embedded and work, as a whole, at a po…”

“Using similar paradigms in humans, Iacoboni et al. (2005) explored how intention is decoded in the brain.”

“…involved in the perception of communicative actions (Buccino, Lui, et al. 2004), in processing action-related sentences (Tettamanti et al. 2005), in imitation (Iacoboni et al. 1999; Buccino, Vogt, et al. 2004), and in basic forms of mind reading (Gallese and Goldman 1998; Iacoboni et al. 2005).”

“The mirror network has also been shown to be modulated by contextual/ intentional differences between stimuli (Iacoboni et al., 2005).”

“In research conducted outside the music domain, contextual cues (e.g., scenes surrounding the action, presence of another agent) have been previously shown to have an impact on the way actions are both perceived and performed (Iacoboni et al., 2005; Sebanz, Knoblich, & Prinz, 2005).”

“These peaks lay in BA6 and both superior and inferior parietal regions supporting previous data [3,27].”

“…actions found in imaging studies, such as occipital, posterior parietal, parietofrontal, and prefrontal areas (Calvo-Merino, Glaser, Grezes, Passingham, & Haggard, 2005; Evangeliou et al., 2009; Grèzes & Decety, 2001; Iacoboni et al., 2005) hints to a modulating role of these brain systems.”

“activated similarly when a participant performs an action or observes the same movement performed by another actor (Gallese et al. 1996; Iacoboni et al. 2005), potentially priming movement production circuits and facilitating the participant’s own actions.”

“It has been conceptualized as central to empathy [68,69].”

“neurons in inferior parietal lobe (IPL), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and ventral premotor cortex, have been shown to respond differentially depending solely on the goal of the action (Fogassi et al. 2005; Iacoboni et al. 2005).”

“…1999; Fadiga, Fogassi, Pavesi, & Rizzolatti, 1995; azzola, Aziz-Zadeh, & Keysers, 2006; Grezes, Armony, Rowe, Passingham, 2003; Hari et al., 1998; Iacoboni et al., 2005; ossi et al., 2002; for review see Grezes & Decety, 2001; izzolatti & Craighero, 2004; Rizzolatti, Fogassi, & Gallese, 2…”

“The ability to observe and recognize other people’s actions contributes to understand goals and intentions (127) and may help people with WS improve their recognition of action process (113).”

“Meanwhile, both behaviour categorization (the what) and semantic interpretation (the why) are encoded in human action perception, with each playing a role in interpretation of observed behaviour as well as in responding appropriately based on previous experiences [34, 47].”

“Mirror neurons were first described by Giacomo Rizzolatti and his group in Parma, Italy, and refer to neurons that fire when you observe an action, mirroring the neurons that are engaged in the same action in the person who acts [20].”

“While the role of context in modulating embodied simulation during action recognition has already been demonstrated and widely discussed [38–41], only recently has this issue been addressed in embodied language research [25, 42–45].”