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From grasping to complex imitation: mirror systems on the path to language

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Abstract

We focus on the evolution of action capabilities which set the stage for language, rather than analyzing how further brain evolution built on these capabilities to yield a language-ready brain. Our framework is given by the Mirror System Hypothesis, which charts a progression from a monkey-like mirror neuron system (MNS) to a chimpanzee-like mirror system that supports simple imitation and thence to a human-like mirror system that supports complex imitation and language. We present the MNS2 model, a new model of action recognition learning by mirror neurons of the macaque brain and augmented competitive queuing, a model of opportunistic scheduling of action sequences as background for analysis of modeling strategies for “simple imitation” as seen in the great apes and “complex/goal-directed imitation” as seen in humans. Implications for the study of language are briefly noted.

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Acknowledgments

Portions of this paper were presented at EvoLang 6 in Roma in April of 2006, with a related article published as Arbib et al. (2006). We thank Edina Rosta for her valuable contributions. Other portions of this paper were presented by Arbib and Bonaiuto at the Workshop on “Embodied Communication II: An Integrated Perspective” held at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) of Bielefeld University in September 2006. We thank Prof. Ipke Wachsmuth and his colleagues at ZiF for their warm hospitality and lively scientific discussion. This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health Roadmap Initiative, grant number P20 RR20700-01, and in part under award number N0001405C0510 of the DARPA IPTO program on Bio-Inspired Computer Architectures (BICA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-2520, USA

    Michael A. Arbib

  2. Neuroscience, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-2520, USA

    Michael A. Arbib & James Bonaiuto

  3. USC Brain Project, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-2520, USA

    Michael A. Arbib & James Bonaiuto

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  1. Michael A. Arbib
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  2. James Bonaiuto
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Correspondence to Michael A. Arbib.

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Arbib, M.A., Bonaiuto, J. From grasping to complex imitation: mirror systems on the path to language. Mind & Society 7, 43–64 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-007-0041-7

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