MOTOR ACTION AND BRAIN PROCESSES: A NEUROSCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The rapid development of neuroscience has shown how numerous aspects of behaviour reflect the characteristics of the nervous system and how having experiences depends on the interaction between numerous brain functions. In 1996 Rizzolatti’s team published an article in the journal Brain entitled “": Action Recognition in the Premotor Cortex"”, in which they demonstrated the existence of a special class of cells, defined as “mirror neurons”. When we perform a movement, we program it based on the objective we have set for ourselves: we perform different gestures and movements based on the act we want to perform, for example, having a cup of tea or clearing the table. There is a close link between motility and thought and that is often reflected by the way our mind works. Mirror neuron activity is not affected by the presence of food or the character of the visual stimulus, but, rather, by acts performed by the experimenter involving and effector-object interaction.