Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

EPSA Philosophy of Science: Amsterdam 2009 pp 217–226Cite as

Mirror Neurons and Social Cognition: An Expanded Simulationist Framework

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

  • 731 Accesses

Part of the book series: The European Philosophy of Science Association Proceedings ((EPSP,volume 1))

Abstract

In this chapter, I critically assess the thesis that the discovery of mirror neurons (MNs) provides empirical support for the simulation theory (ST) of social cognition. This thesis can be analyzed into two claims:

(i) MNs are involved in understanding others’ intentions or emotions.

(ii) The way in which they do so supports a simulationist viewpoint.

I will be giving qualified support to both (i) and (ii). Starting with (i), I will present theoretical and empirical points in support of the view that MNs play a substantial role and are perhaps necessary although not sufficient for understanding at least some intentions or emotions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adolphs, R. 2003. Cognitive neuroscience of human social behaviour. National Review of Neuroscience 4(3): 165–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adolphs, R., F. Gosselin, T.W. Buchanan, D. Tranel, P. Schyns, and A.R. Damasio. 2005. A mechanism for impaired fear recognition after amygdala damage. Nature 433: 68–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S. 1995. Mindblindness: An essay on autism and theory of mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barsalou, Lawrence. 1999. Perceptual symbol systems. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22: 577–609.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barsalou, Lawrence. 2009. Simulation, situated conceptualization, and prediction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences 364: 1281–1289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barsalou, Lawrence, W. Kyle Simmons, Aron Barbey, and Christine Wilson. 2003. Grounding conceptual knowledge in modality-specific systems. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7(2): 84–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bastiaansen, J.A.C.J., M. Thioux, and C. Keysers. 2009. Evidence for mirror systems in emotions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364: 2391–2404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buccino G., F. Binkofski, G.R. Fink, L. Fadiga, L. Fogassi, V. Gallese, R.J. Seits, K. Zilles, G. Rizzolatti, and H.-J. Freund. 2001. Action observation activates premotor and parietal areas in a somatotopic manner: An fMRI study. European Journal of Neuroscience 13: 400–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carruthers, P. 2009. How we know our minds: The relationship between metacognition and mindreading. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 32: 121–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castelli, F., C. Frith, F. Happé, and U. Frith. 2002. Autism, Asperger syndrome and brain mechanisms for the attribution of mental states to animated shapes. Brain 125(8): 1839–1849.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csibra, G. 2008. Action mirroring and action understanding: An alternative account. In Sensorimotor foundation of higher cognition: Attention and performance, eds. P. Haggard, Y. Rossetti, and M. Kawato, 435–458. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frith, C., and T. Singer. 2008. The role of social cognition in decision-making. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 363: 3875–3886.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallese V., and A. Goldman. 1998. Mirror neurons and the simulation theory of mind-reading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2: 493–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallese, V., C. Keysers, and G. Rozzolatti. 2004. A unifying view of the basis of social cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8(9): 396–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, A. 1993. The psychology of folk psychology. In Readings in philosophy and cognitive science, ed. A. Goldman, 347–380. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, A. 2006. Simulating minds: The philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience of mindreading. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, A. 2008. Mirroring, mindreading and simulation. In Mirror neuron system: The role of mirroring processes in social cognition, ed. J.A. Pineda, 311–330. New York: Humana Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gopnik, A. 1993. The illusion first-person knowledge of intentionality. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 16: 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, R. 1995. Simulation without introspection or inference from me to you. In Mental Simulation: Evaluations and applications, eds. T. Stone and M. Davies, 53–67. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, R. 2007. Ascent routines for propositional attitudes. Synthese 159: 151–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heal, J. 1986. Replication and functionalism. In Language, mind and logic, ed. J. Butterfield, 135–150. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heiser, M., M. Iacoboni, F. Maeda, J. Markus, and J. Maziotta. 2003. The essential role of Broca’s area in imitation. European Journal of Neuroscience 17: 1123–1128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iacoboni, M., I. Molnar-Szakacs, V. Gallese, G. Buccino, J.C. Mazziotta, and G. Rizzolatti. 2005. Grasping the intentions of others with one’s own mirror neuron system. PLoS Biology 3: 529–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacob, P. 2008. What do mirror neurons contribute to human social cognition? Mind and Language 23(2): 190–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacob, P. 2009. The tuning-fork model of human social cognition: A critique. Consciousness and Cognition 18(1): 229–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson-Frey, S.H. 2004. The neural basis of complex tool use in humans. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8: 71–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keysers, C., B. Wicker, V. Gazzola, J.L. Anton, L. Fogassi, and V. Gallese. 2004. A touching sight: SII/PV activation during the observation and experience of touch. Neuron 42: 335–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leslie, A. 2000. Theory of mind as a mechanism of selective attention. In The new cognitive neurosciences, ed. M. Gazzaniga, 1235–1247. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahon, B.Z., A. Caramazza. 2005. The orchestration of the sensory-motor systems: clues from neuropsychology. Cognitive Neuropsychology 22(2/3): 480–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mukamel, R., A.D. Ekstrom, J. Kaplan, M. Iacoboni, and I. Fried. 2010. Current Biology 20: 750–756.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newman-Norlund, R., H. van Shie, A. van Zuijlen, and H. Beckering. 2007. The mirror system is more active during complementary compared with imitative action. Nature Neuroscience 10(7): 817–818.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberman L., P. Winkielman, and V.S. Ramachandran. 2007: Face to face: Blocking facial mimicry can selectively impair recognition of impair emotional expressions. Social Neuroscience, 2(3–4): 167–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pobric, G., and A. Hamilton. 2006. Action understanding requires the left inferior frontal cortex. Current Biology 16: 524–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prinz, Jesse. 2002. Furnishing the mind: Concepts and their perceptual basis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rizzolatti, G., and L. Craighero. 2004. The mirror-neuron system. Annual Reviews of Neuroscience 27: 169–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothi, L.J.G., C. Ochipa, and K.M. Heilman. 1991. A cognitive neuropsychological model of limb praxis. Cognitive Neuropsychology 8: 443–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, T., B. Seymour, J. O’Doherty, H. Kaube, R.J Dolan, and C. Frith. 2004: Empathy for pain involves the affective but not sensory components of pain. Science 303: 1157–1162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wicker, B., C. Keysers, J. Plailly, J. Royet, V. Gallese, and G. Rizzolatti. 2003. Both of us disgusted in my insula: The common neural basis of seeing and feeling disgust. Neuron 40: 655–654.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolpert, D.M. 1997. Computational approaches to motor control. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 1: 209–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolpert, D.M., K. Doya, and M. Kawato. 2003. A unifying computational framework for motor control and social interaction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 358: 593–602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. GNOSIS Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    John Michael

Authors
  1. John Michael
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John Michael .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. De Boelelaan 1105, HV Amsterdam, 1081, Netherlands

    Henk W. de Regt

  2. PO Box 90153, Tilburg, 5000 LE, Netherlands

    Stephan Hartmann

  3. Bristol, BS8 1TB, United Kingdom

    Samir Okasha

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this paper

Cite this paper

Michael, J. (2012). Mirror Neurons and Social Cognition: An Expanded Simulationist Framework. In: de Regt, H., Hartmann, S., Okasha, S. (eds) EPSA Philosophy of Science: Amsterdam 2009. The European Philosophy of Science Association Proceedings, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2404-4_19

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation