Abstract
Over the past decade many studies indicate that we utilize our own motor system to understand the actions of other people. This mirror neuron system (MNS) has been proposed to be involved in social cognition and motor learning. However, conflicting findings regarding the underlying mechanisms that drive these shared circuits make it difficult to decipher a common model of their function. Here we propose adapting a “value-driven” model to explain discrepancies in the human mirror system literature and to incorporate this model with existing models. We will use this model to explain discrepant activation patterns in multiple shared circuits in the human data, such that a unified model may explain reported activation patterns from previous studies as a function of value.
Highlights
Understanding other people’s actions and feelings is an essential component of successful social interactions
One study found increased activity in the caudate, as well as typical mirror neuron system (MNS) regions, when participants had to predict another person’s future actions from more ambiguous prior observed actions, and the authors argued that ambiguous actions which need to be learned may be tied with more reward processing (Diersch et al, 2013)
The role of the dopamine reward circuit and emotion processing in modulating MNS activity needs to be an important part of any future model of the MNS, or other shared circuits
Summary
Understanding other people’s actions and feelings is an essential component of successful social interactions. Because observing others activates one’s own motor systems, it is thought that the MNS is important for action and social understanding.
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