ON IMITATION : FROM MIRROR NEURONS TO MEMES Volume 1 Mechanisms of Imitation and Imitation in Animals

Brain imaging techniques allow the mapping of cognitive functions onto neural systems, but also the understanding of mechanisms of human behavior. In a series of imaging studies we have described a minimal neural architecture for imitation. This architecture comprises a brain region that codes an early visual description of the action to be imitated, a second region that codes the detailed motor specification of the action to be copied, and a third region that codes the goal of the imitated action. Neural signals predicting the sensory consequences of the planned imitative action are sent back to the brain region coding the early visual description of the imitated action, for monitoring purposes ("my planned action is like the one I have just seen"). The three brain regions forming this minimal neural architecture belong to a part of the cerebral cortex

[1]  Scott T. Grafton,et al.  Localization of grasp representations in humans by positron emission tomography , 1996, Experimental Brain Research.

[2]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  Localization of grasp representations in humans by PET: 1. Observation versus execution , 1996, Experimental Brain Research.

[3]  A. P. Georgopoulos,et al.  Cortical mechanisms related to the direction of two-dimensional arm movements: relations in parietal area 5 and comparison with motor cortex , 1983, Experimental Brain Research.

[4]  J. Chatwin.  Conversation analysis. , 2004, Complementary therapies in medicine.

[5]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  Understanding motor events: a neurophysiological study , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[6]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  The essential role of Broca's area in imitation , 2003, The European journal of neuroscience.

[7]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  Modulation of cortical activity during different imitative behaviors. , 2003, Journal of neurophysiology.

[8]  Y. Lamarre,et al.  Unmyelinated tactile afferents signal touch and project to insular cortex , 2002, Nature Neuroscience.

[9]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  Hearing Sounds, Understanding Actions: Action Representation in Mirror Neurons , 2002, Science.

[10]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  Modulation of motor and premotor activity during imitation of target-directed actions. , 2002, Cerebral cortex.

[11]  Mukesh Dhamala,et al.  Hyperscanning : Simultaneous fMRI during Linked Social Interactions , 2001 .

[12]  G. Pagnoni,et al.  A Neural Basis for Social Cooperation , 2002, Neuron.

[13]  C. Frith,et al.  Experiencing Oneself vs Another Person as Being the Cause of an Action: The Neural Correlates of the Experience of Agency , 2002, NeuroImage.

[14]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  Speech listening specifically modulates the excitability of tongue muscles: a TMS study , 2002, The European journal of neuroscience.

[15]  W. Prinz,et al.  The imitative mind : development, evolution, and brain bases , 2002 .

[16]  C. Heyes.  Transformational and associative theories of imitation , 2002 .

[17]  D. Perrett,et al.  The Imitative Mind: Cell populations in the banks of the superior temporal sulcus of the macaque and imitation , 2002 .

[18]  J C Mazziotta,et al.  Reafferent copies of imitated actions in the right superior temporal cortex , 2001, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[19]  Mitsuo Kawato,et al.  MOSAIC Model for Sensorimotor Learning and Control , 2001, Neural Computation.

[20]  J Mazziotta,et al.  A probabilistic atlas and reference system for the human brain: International Consortium for Brain Mapping (ICBM). , 2001, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[21]  C. Heyes.  Causes and consequences of imitation , 2001, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[22]  V. Gallese.  The 'shared manifold' hypothesis: From mirror neurons to empathy. , 2001 .

[23]  L. Parsons,et al.  Location-Probability Profiles for the Mouth Region of Human Primary Motor–Sensory Cortex: Model and Validation , 2001, NeuroImage.

[24]  K. Zilles,et al.  Functional neuroanatomy of the primate isocortical motor system , 2000, Anatomy and Embryology.

[25]  A. Young,et al.  Impaired recognition and experience of disgust following brain injury , 2000, Nature Neuroscience.

[26]  Alan Cowey,et al.  Transcranial magnetic stimulation and cognitive neuroscience , 2000, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[27]  C. Goodwin.  Action and embodiment within situated human interaction , 2000 .

[28]  A. Liberman,et al.  On the relation of speech to language , 2000, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[29]  Charles Goodwin,et al.  Emotion within Situated Activity , 2000 .

[30]  R. Johansson,et al.  Cortical activity in precision- versus power-grip tasks: an fMRI study. , 2000, Journal of neurophysiology.

[31]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  Cortical mechanisms of human imitation. , 1999, Science.

[32]  Mitsuo Kawato,et al.  Internal models for motor control and trajectory planning , 1999, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[33]  C. Frith,et al.  Interacting minds--a biological basis. , 1999, Science.

[34]  R. J. Seitz,et al.  A parieto-premotor network for object manipulation: evidence from neuroimaging , 1999, Experimental Brain Research.

[35]  T. Chartrand,et al.  The chameleon effect: the perception-behavior link and social interaction. , 1999, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[36]  R. Byrne,et al.  Priming primates: Human and otherwise , 1998, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[37]  D M Wolpert,et al.  Multiple paired forward and inverse models for motor control , 1998, Neural Networks.

[38]  J. Decety,et al.  Top down effect of strategy on the perception of human biological motion: a pet investigation. , 1998, Cognitive neuropsychology.

[39]  R. Passingham,et al.  The Preparation, Execution and Suppression of Copied Movements in the Human Brain , 1996 .

[40]  M. Arbib,et al.  Language within our grasp , 1998, Trends in Neurosciences.

[41]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  The organization of the cortical motor system: new concepts. , 1998, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[42]  J. Mehler,et al.  LANGUAGE AND COGNITION , 1998 .

[43]  E. Procyk,et al.  Brain activity during observation of actions. Influence of action content and subject's strategy. , 1997, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[44]  J. R. Augustine.  Circuitry and functional aspects of the insular lobe in primates including humans , 1996, Brain Research Reviews.

[45]  P. Strick,et al.  Motor areas of the medial wall: a review of their location and functional activation. , 1996, Cerebral cortex.

[46]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  Action recognition in the premotor cortex. , 1996, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[47]  F. Lacquaniti,et al.  Representing spatial information for limb movement: role of area 5 in the monkey. , 1995, Cerebral cortex.

[48]  K Inomata,et al.  Effects of Angle of Model-Demonstration on Learning of Motor Skill , 1995, Perceptual and motor skills.

[49]  A. Roth.  Grammar and Institution: Questions and Questioning in the Broadcast News Interview , 1995 .

[50]  D. Perrett,et al.  Understanding the intentions of others from visual signals: Neurophysiological evidence. , 1994 .

[51]  D. Pandya,et al.  Parietal, temporal, and occipita projections to cortex of the superior temporal sulcus in the rhesus monkey: A retrograde tracer study , 1994, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[52]  M. Petrides.  Comparative architectonic analysis of the human and the macaque frontal cortex , 1994 .

[53]  Noam Chomsky,et al.  On the nature, use, and acquisition of language , 1993 .

[54]  A. J. Mistlin,et al.  Social signals analyzed at the single cell level : someone is looking at me, something touched me, something moved! , 1990 .

[55]  D I Perrett,et al.  Frameworks of analysis for the neural representation of animate objects and actions. , 1989, The Journal of experimental biology.

[56]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  Patterns of cytochrome oxidase activity in the frontal agranular cortex of the macaque monkey , 1985, Behavioural Brain Research.

[57]  A. Liberman,et al.  The motor theory of speech perception revised , 1985, Cognition.

[58]  W. Krieg.  Functional Neuroanatomy , 1953, Springer Series in Experimental Entomology.

[59]  Noam Chomsky,et al.  Knowledge of language: its elements and origins , 1981 .

[60]  R. Buck.  Nonverbal behavior and the theory of emotion: the facial feedback hypothesis. , 1980, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[61]  A. Meltzoff,et al.  Imitation of Facial and Manual Gestures by Human Neonates , 1977, Science.

[62]  V. Mountcastle,et al.  Posterior parietal association cortex of the monkey: command functions for operations within extrapersonal space. , 1975, Journal of neurophysiology.

[63]  H. Sakata,et al.  Somatosensory properties of neurons in the superior parietal cortex (area 5) of the rhesus monkey. , 1973, Brain research.

[64]  Noam Chomsky,et al.  Language and Mind , 1973 .

[65]  S. Wapner,et al.  Imitation of a model's hand movements: age changes in transposition of left-right relations. , 1968, Child development.

[66]  G. Bonin,et al.  The neocortex of Macaca mulatta , 1947 .