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More than associations: An ideomotor perspective on mirror neurons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2014

Marcel Brass  and
Paul S. Muhle-Karbe
Marcel Brass
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. [email protected]@ugent.behttp://users.ugent.be/~mbrass/Web-Site/Dr._Marcel_Brass.html
Paul S. Muhle-Karbe
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. [email protected]@ugent.behttp://users.ugent.be/~mbrass/Web-Site/Dr._Marcel_Brass.html
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Abstract

In this commentary, we propose an extension of the associative approach of mirror neurons, namely, ideomotor theory. Ideomotor theory assumes that actions are controlled by anticipatory representations of their sensory consequences. As we outline below, this extension is necessary to clarify a number of empirical observations that are difficult to explain from a purely associative perspective.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , April 2014 , pp. 195 - 196
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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