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Confounding the origin and function of mirror neurons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2014

Giacomo Rizzolatti
Giacomo Rizzolatti*
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition (BCSMC), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), 43125 Parma, Italy. [email protected]
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Abstract

Cook et al. argue that mirror neurons originate in sensorimotor associative learning and that their function is determined by their origin. Both these claims are hard to accept. It is here suggested that a major role in the origin of the mirror mechanism is played by top-down connections rather than by associative learning.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , April 2014 , pp. 218 - 219
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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