Abstract

BackgroundChildren with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) are thought to have poor imitation abilities. Recently, this characteristic has been suggested to reflect impairments in mirror neuron systems (MNS). We used near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to examine the brain activity of children with PDD during tasks involving imitation and observations of others.FindingsThe subjects were 6 male children with PDD (8–14 years old) and 6 age- and gender-matched normal subjects (9–13 years old). A video in which a woman was opening and closing a bottle cap was used as a stimulus. Hemoglobin concentration changes around the posterior part of the inferior frontal gyrus and the adjacent ventral premotor cortex were measured with a 24-channel NIRS machine during action observation and action imitation tasks. Regional oxygenated hemoglobin concentration changes were significantly smaller in the PDD group than in the control group. Moreover, these differences were clearer in the action observation task than in the action imitation task.ConclusionsDysfunction in the MNS in children with PDD was suggested by the reduced activation in key MNS regions during tasks involving observations and imitations of others. These preliminary results suggest that further studies are needed to verify MNS dysfunction in children with PDD.

Highlights

  • Children with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) are thought to have poor imitation abilities

  • Dysfunction in the mirror neuron systems (MNS) in children with PDD was suggested by the reduced activation in key MNS regions during tasks involving observations and imitations of others

  • These preliminary results suggest that further studies are needed to verify MNS dysfunction in children with PDD

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Summary

Introduction

Children with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) are thought to have poor imitation abilities. This characteristic has been suggested to reflect impairments in mirror neuron systems (MNS). Mirror neurons, which were discovered in monkey F5 and PF areas, are activated when a monkey performs an action and observes it [4,5] These areas are assumed to correspond to the human inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and inferior parietal lobule [6], respectively, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) studies have suggested that these areas contain human mirror neurons [7,8].

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