Journal
NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS
Volume 489, Issue 1, Pages 57-61Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2010.11.067
Keywords
Social cognition; Mirror neurons; Transcranial magnetic stimulation; Primary motor cortex; Premotor cortex; Mirror systems
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Funding
- NARSAD
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The effects of action observation on cortical processes have typically been interpreted in the context of so-called mirror systems (i.e., brain regions active during both the experience and observation of behaviour, emotion, or sensation), and viewed as subserving social cognition via a self-other matching mechanism. If such cortical processes do indeed facilitate social understanding, then cortical activity during action observation might be further enhanced when observing behaviour embedded within a social, interactive context. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was administered to 27 healthy adults, and corticospinal excitability (CSE), which is a putative measure of the mirror system, was examined during the observation of (1) meaningless behaviour, (2) goal-directed behaviour, and (3) social behaviour. Although CSE was enhanced during the observation of both goal-directed and social behaviour, there was no difference between the two. These findings suggest that while the putative human mirror system is responsive to goal-directed behaviour, it may not be more responsive to behaviour that occurs within a social context. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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