talking the other day with some friends told me about a bird that repeats the songs of other birds to impress your potential partner. That bird was so good that even repeated the sounds they made cameras that had ever heard. Then I thought that in nature there are more examples in which different behaviors are imitated. For this topic I used to enter the participation of David Heras Horacio Sandoval Neurocog I present below.
Monkey see Monkey do (What the hand makes the following)
An ability unique among primates, especially human beings is to imitate his fellows, and in some cases its not similar. This we can observe a lot in preschool children in stages (eg imitating the barking dog, the face of father or mother, or Trompitos eyes of the grandparents, then the words and more deployments behavioral own social group they belong) . Imitation is something recurrent in our species, even hobbies include demonstration of the ability to amaze and amuse others. Also mimic becomes a way of learning tasks and acquire new knowledge. But which brain regions or neural substrate is behind this behavioral strategy?
The question asked was answered in part in the 1990's to found a group of neurons called mirror with a specific function or mirror, in the prefrontal cortex and parietal area, through records of electrical activity in the brain of macaques. The name is due to mirror neurons that fire both when an action is exerted on an object, as if there is action on the same subject.
And there?
For though you can not prove the existence of mirror neurons directly, as in macaques, we can consider its presence in certain areas, which are activated in response to effects that might result from activity of mirror neurons . For example, the parietal cortex (PC) is thought to contain mirror neurons, because it is an area that has expanded recently in evolution, suggesting they may be important in cognitive functions with social significance, such as imitation. The PC also integrates visual impulses, motor and somatosensory involved in moving objects, and the parietal cortex lesions impair the ability to imitate. Broca's area (AC), although it has had contrasting results may also support this type of neurons, since this area has increased activity in some imitation tasks compared with non-imitation tasks, as demonstrated by stimulation transmagnética (TMS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The superior temporal sulcus (STS), posterior (STSP) is a focal point of stimulation from the motion processing area of \u200b\u200bthe visual cortex and characterization of content via the ventral branch also has a large connection with the orbitofrontal cortex and the amygdala, also in macaques there are cells in the STS that respond to the view direction of view, face and eye movement. In sum, they believe that mirror neurons are located in the ventral premotor cortex and inferior parietal cortex (in the intraparietal sulcus, IPS), and receive visual impulses from the bark back, through the STS and the temporoparietal junction forming the " mirror neuron system. "
Any speculation about the mirror.
Victor Gallese has collected enough data about the functioning of these neurons and regions involved in both macaques and humans, with the "ability to read minds" (but not that they are thinking, not) the framework of the theory of mind (ToM, in English), proposed by Premack and Woodruff in 1978, according to which humans (and probably primates, in context) we have the ability to understand the mental states of others such as beliefs, desires and intentions, and appreciate that differ from ours. Three brain regions would be significantly involved in ToM, the medial prefrontal cortex, the STSP and the temporal pole. In addition, other structures related to empathy (important for ToM) would be the insula and anterior cingulate cortex.
An interesting aspect of ToM is the evolutionary value that would, as this behavior would be conserved across different phylogenetic branches of vertebrates (mostly mammals) that would allow state agencies to predict a mental / behavioral / Cognitive other agencies, which in turn would yield more clues in the world and act accordingly. However despite the various studies in different organisms, from crows to nonhuman primates has been difficult clarify whether different species of human is ToM.
One explanation for Autism
The existence of ToM in humans is unclear and different tests of ToM, as proof of Sally and Ann, or the four cookies (which are based on the false belief of reality) have shown that ToM is developed in humans after 5 years and arguably before age 5 (modified for infants experiments, non-verbal). But in people with brain injuries or who have Autism, this ability is affected.
In terms of autism, a hypothesis that attempts to explain the psychopathology of autism, not without taking into account the implications of its principles, is precisely the "hypothesis of mirror neurons in autism." Some points that help to apply this hypothesis are: 1) ToM can be developed based on an intact function of "comparison of self and non-self." Understanding the intentions of others, in the context of memory allows the retro-diction of memories and associated thoughts. 2) Mirror neurons can function in the comparison of self and non-typical for coding action. Can also encode the relationship between the target and an object, allowing the formation of intentional representations. 3) dysfunction in mirror neurons can explain the echolalia (hyperactivity), and failure to generate imitation in progress, needed to develop ToM.
Rogers and Pennington, and in 1985, suggested that autism was a biological disorder that restricted the ability of children to train and coordinate social representations of themselves, and others, increased levels of complexity, through processes of representation and cross-morphs, which prevents them from imitations and affect their social skills and emotional communication.
Some of the evidence favoring the hypothesis of mirror neurons in psychopathology of autism are studies Nishitani, and Hari Avikainen people with Asperger syndrome (AS, a variant of autism) in which assessed the ability to mimic gestures by electromyography and fMRI, where people with AS had difficulties to imitate the gestures and lower activity in Broca's area. Besides the reduction in the activity of Broca's area is related to the severity of autism. Another was that the registration of transmagnética stimulation of the premotor cortex was involved in children with autism, looking white action, and that this depended on the management how they were presented with the action. Other regions with decreased activity in autism are the temporal lobe, amygdala and the STSP. All these regions comprise the mirror neuron system and in turn support the existence of the ToM.
As we see there is sufficient evidence favoring the existence of mirror neurons in the human brain, its role in understanding the actions of others and their dysfunction in disorders such as autism, but the need for a method need for identification and evaluation of its role in human brain very important. The large number of studies on these neurons are an example of how neurons with a very specific function may have an important role in complex functions such as integration of social knowledge, perceptual, informational and emotional.
References
Phil. Trans. R. Soc B (2007) 362, 659-669
Nature reviews, Neuroscience, volume 3, june 2002, 463-471
Annu Rev Psychol . 2009, 60:87-113.
Autism Res 2008 Apr; 1 (2) :73-90.
