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Imitation, Empathy, and Mirror Neurons
Abstract and Figures
There is a convergence between cognitive models of imitation, constructs derived from social psychology studies on mimicry and empathy, and recent empirical findings from the neurosciences. The ideomotor framework of human actions assumes a common representational format for action and perception that facilitates imitation. Furthermore, the associative sequence learning model of imitation proposes that experience-based Hebbian learning forms links between sensory processing of the actions of others and motor plans. Social psychology studies have demonstrated that imitation and mimicry are pervasive, automatic, and facilitate empathy. Neuroscience investigations have demonstrated physiological mechanisms of mirroring at single-cell and neural-system levels that support the cognitive and social psychology constructs. Why were these neural mechanisms selected, and what is their adaptive advantage? Neural mirroring solves the "problem of other minds" (how we can access and understand the minds of others) and makes intersubjectivity possible, thus facilitating social behavior.
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... 10 For example, the thought of a spider crawling up someone's arm may evoke a creepy feeling, even when only imagined. Similarly, simply witnessing someone else's actions may evoke strong emotions in us, even if we ourselves are unaffected (Cerulo 2018;Iacoboni 2009;Leschziner and Brett 2019;Lizardo 2009;Semino 2010;Stoltz and Wood 2023). In fact, imagining an action makes it more likely a person will perform the action-a benefit to athletes and a burden for those suffering from addiction (Pearson et al. 2015). ...
The capacity to mentally simulate objects and events is an important yet underexplored component in sociological theorising. Recent sociological research drawing on simulation research from the cognitive sciences suggests opportunities for new insights via a richer interdisciplinary engagement. To this end, we provide a thorough review of the literature on grounded simulation theory, building on the nascent work in sociology engaging with grounded simulation theory, and discuss its potential for sociological analysis. We highlight its utility as a cognitively plausible framework for addressing important issues in the analysis of culture and action and culture and thinking, including questions of salience, novelty, implicit cognition, deliberation and the relation between Type 1 and Type 2 processing. We conclude with some considerations for future research.
... Building on Rizzolatti's (2001) findings on the function of mirror neurons in monkeys, subsequent research posits the existence of a similar system in the human brain. A growing body of evidence suggests that this MNS underpins imitation learning, offering neuroscientific support for simulation theory (Iacoboni, 2009). This discovery highlights not only conceptual reasoning but also the role of direct imitation in understanding other minds. ...
Background
Since its discovery in the late 20th century, research on mirror neurons has become a pivotal area in neuroscience, linked to various cognitive and social functions. This bibliometric analysis explores the research trajectory, key research topics, and future trends in the field of mirror neuron research.
Methods
We searched the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database for publications from 1996 to 2024 on mirror neuron research. Statistical and visualization analyses were performed using CiteSpace and VOSviewer.
Results
Publication output on mirror neurons peaked in 2013 and remained active. High‐impact journals such as Science, Brain, Neuron, PNAS, and NeuroImage frequently feature findings on the mirror neuron system, including its distribution, neural coding, and roles in intention understanding, affective empathy, motor learning, autism, and neurological disorders. Keyword clustering reveals major directions in cognitive neuroscience, motor neuroscience, and neurostimulation, whereas burst detection underscores the emerging significance of brain‐computer interfaces (BCIs). Research methodologies have been evolving from traditional electrophysiological recordings to advanced techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and BCIs, highlighting a dynamic, multidisciplinary progression.
Conclusions
This study identifies key areas associated with mirror neurons and anticipates that future work will integrate findings with artificial intelligence, clinical interventions, and novel neuroimaging techniques, providing new perspectives on complex socio‐cognitive issues and their applications in both basic science and clinical practice.
... Despite these works gaining impressive results under single-view settings, their performance significantly deteriorates when switching to the other viewpoint due to the completely different recording angles of cameras. However, some cognitive psychology [20] and cognitive neuroscience [51] theories have demonstrated that benefiting from mirror neurons, humans are naturally capable of putting themselves into others' shoes. To model such human cross-view nature, a few researchers [15,18,35,36,55,61] attempt to bridge the gap between synchronous or asynchronous Ego and Exo videos by constructing video-level consistency and predicting coarse-grained action labels for given video clips. ...
Even from an early age, humans naturally adapt between exocentric (Exo) and egocentric (Ego) perspectives to understand daily procedural activities. Inspired by this cognitive ability, in this paper, we propose a novel Unsupervised Ego-Exo Adaptation for Dense Video Captioning (UEA-DVC) task, which aims to predict the time segments and descriptions for target view videos, while only the source view data are labeled during training. Despite previous works endeavoring to address the fully-supervised single-view or cross-view dense video captioning, they lapse in the proposed unsupervised task due to the significant inter-view gap caused by temporal misalignment and irrelevant object interference. Hence, we propose a Gaze Consensus-guided Ego-Exo Adaptation Network (GCEAN) that injects the gaze information into the learned representations for the fine-grained alignment between the Ego and Exo views. Specifically, the Score-based Adversarial Learning Module (SALM) incorporates a discriminative scoring network to learn unified view-invariant representations for bridging distinct views from a global level. Then, the Gaze Consensus Construction Module (GCCM) utilizes gaze representations to progressively calibrate the learned global view-invariant representations for extracting the video temporal contexts based on focusing regions. Moreover, the gaze consensus is constructed via hierarchical gaze-guided consistency losses to spatially and temporally align the source and target views. To support our research, we propose a new EgoMe-UEA-DVC benchmark and experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our method, which outperforms many related methods by a large margin. The code will be released.
... (Bonini et al., 2022) Mirror neurons enable children to imitate facial expressions, interpret nonverbal cues, and develop an understanding of others' thoughts and emotions. (Rizzolatti et al., 2004;Iacoboni et al., 2009) When this system is impaired, children face challenges in forming emotional connections, engaging socially, and developing empathy-factors that contribute to avoidant, anxious, or disorganized attachment patterns. (Lepage et al., 2007) Recent research has begun to examine a phenomenon similar to trauma-the impact of early screen addiction on the development of the mirror neuron system. ...
For citation: Petkova, S. P., Manolova, V. R., & Vezenkov, S. R. (2025). Restoring attachment in children with early screen addiction. Nootism, 1(1), 74-78, ISSN 3033-1765
Full text: https://www.nootism.eu/issue-01-april-2025
*This paper was presented by Silvia Petkova at the Second Science Conference "Screen Children" on November 23, 2024, in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Abstract
This study examines the restoration of attachment and social learning in children with early screen addiction. It focuses on the disruption of mirror neuron networks, which leads to difficulties in emotional regulation, social interaction, and attachment formation. The therapeutic approach designed to address these deficits includes a complete screen detox, autonomic nervous system rehabilitation, and parallel interventions for parents. The research sample consists of 32 children (aged 3-5 years) diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their mothers. Initial assessments reveal deficits in social engagement, imitation, and attachment. The therapeutic program employs non-apparatus interventions based on social learning, sensorimotor integration, and autonomic regulation. Simultaneously, mothers participate in biofeedback therapy, as their emotional and autonomic balance significantly influences their children's recovery progress. Findings indicate that recovery occurs in stages. By the sixth week, children begin imitating therapists, and between the tenth and fourteenth weeks, they exhibit increased social interactions. By the sixteenth week, 21 children demonstrate restored attachment, while four show partial progress, with two maintaining unstable outcomes. The data underscore the pivotal role of maternal emotional regulation-mothers with better autonomic balance facilitate more rapid social recovery in their children. In the initial stages, children primarily mirror therapists' behaviors due to their stable autonomic regulation before actively engaging with their mothers. This study confirms that early screen addiction is not irreversible. However, effective intervention requires a comprehensive approach that integrates child-focused therapy with family-based support. Successful therapeutic programs should combine psychophysiological rehabilitation, screen time reduction, and parental emotional stabilization to promote long-term social and emotional development in children.
Keywords: Early Screen Addiction, Attachment, Mirror Neurons, Social Learning, Autonomic Balance
Full text: https://www.nootism.eu/issue-01-april-2025
... This reporting is consistent with the findings from neuroscience personality research in recent decades showing that introverts and extroverts have different brain structures, with introverts possessing denser gray matter in specific regions of the prefrontal cortex, compared to extroverts, explaining why introverts take longer to process and react to information (DeYoung et al., 2010;Forsman et al., 2012;Zou et al., 2018). In addition, neuroscience research on mirror neurons (i.e., the brain cells involved in empathy and understanding the emotions of others) suggests that introverts have mirror neurons (Decety & Jackson, 2004;Gallese, 2001;Iacoboni, 2008). Some related comments by participants included, "I can relate to them better because I can put myself in their shoes"; "I think it helps me. ...
This qualitative course-based study explored the lived experiences of introverted child and youth care (CYC) students in the classroom and the field of practice. An interpretive research paradigm was chosen to guide the research design, as this is aligned with the ontological underpinnings of relational-centered CYC practice, which holds the view that multiple realities and perspectives exist and that these are shaped by experiences and contexts. A nonprobability purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit undergraduate CYC students at MacEwan University who self-identified as “introverts.” A data-collection triangulation method was employed, with semi-structured face-to-face and remote interviews and a focus-group conversation. A reflective thematic analysis revealed six significant themes uncovering underlying meanings, concepts, and patterns within the datasets for the three questions posed to participants: a) shyness, b) low social battery, c) comfortable spending time alone and having quiet time, d) quiet energy is my superpower, e) beyond small-talk, and f) honoring my quietness.
... The superior part of the temporal lobe has been extensively documented as a crucial hub for social perception (34)(35)(36), particularly in processing information from faces, such as facial expressions (37,38). Additionally, the role of the STG in sharing others' emotions has been widely documented, particularly for its key role within the Mirror Neuron System (MNS) (39,40). In this context, and for its role in imitation, this region is thought to support the simulation of sensory consequences of the observed action (41)(42)(43). ...
Empathy is crucial for social interactions across all cultures, and is foundational to establishing social cooperation and group ties in human societies. Challenging the current predominant view, we recently proposed that understanding others' emotions (cognitive empathy) might emerge earlier than actually sharing those emotions (affective empathy) (Bulgarelli & Jones, 2023). Here we test this hypothesis by measuring which empathic component matures first during toddlerhood, a critical period for the development of broader social networks. Addressing this question is critical to understand the mechanisms through which caregivers scaffold empathy development. Traditional approaches are inadequate, as they rely on children's verbal skills or unfamiliar scenarios that lack ecological validity.
In this preregistered study, we employed a novel toddler-appropriate task to dissociate neural and physiological correlates of cognitive and affective empathy in N=90 3-to-5-year-olds using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and simultaneous heart rate monitoring to identify internal markers of empathy.
We found that brain regions supporting affective and cognitive empathy in young children resemble those observed in adults. Importantly, we showed an effect of age on network specialisation with brain activations of cognitive empathy stronger in younger compared to older preschoolers, and brain activations of affective empathy stronger in older compared to younger preschoolers. These results provide the first evidence that cognitive empathy develops earlier than affective empathy in preschoolers, challenging existing models and suggesting a new framework for understanding the development of empathy.
... Nonetheless, the majority of traditional neuroimaging studies on persuasion use fMRI and often focus on individuals, missing the dynamic interactions between the Pr and the Pd in a shared decision-making process, overlooking the dynamic and reciprocal interactions between the Pr and the Pd from an interpersonal neuroscience perspective [12]. Effective communication leads the Pd to align their attitudes and behaviors with the message source [11], while shared brain activity fosters cognitive, emotional, and behavioral synchronization [13]. ...
Introduction: Within a shared decision-making process, persuasion dynamics develop as a communication sub-process that can be characterized by different phases. This study examines hemodynamic functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) coherence measures in dyads of decision-makers. The interaction occurs in two phases: Phase 1, where the persuader (Pr) introduces the decision topic and uses persuasive strategies, and Phase 2, where the Persuaded (Pd) responds and may agree with the Pr’s selected option. Method: Fourteen dyads participated, with fNIRS measuring oxygenated (O2Hb) and deoxygenated (HHb) hemoglobin concentration changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during both phases. Hemodynamic coherence within dyads was explored through the computation of a dissimilarity index (Euclidean distance). Results: Phase 2 showed increased HHb dissimilarity, indicating greater divergence in brain activity during the Pd’s response phase. Discussion: These findings suggest that, during persuasion, when Pd responds, there is increased dissimilarity in cognitive and neural processes, without implying a loss of synergy. The study highlights the importance of interactional dynamics in shaping decision outcomes and underscores the potential of fNIRS as a non-invasive tool for monitoring brain activity in clinical and collaborative settings.
... A form of motor mimicry is Rapid Facial Mimicry (RFM), where the facial expression displayed by an individual (e.g., smile in Rapid Smile Mimicry, RSM) induces the observer to reproduce the same expression within 1 s Iacoboni, 2009;Palagi et al., 2020;Schütz-Bosbach & Prinz, 2015;Zentall, 2003). A form of behavioral contagion is yawn contagion, which occurs when a perceived yawn triggers a yawning response in the perceiver (Provine, 1989a(Provine, , 1989b. ...
Automatic behavioral matching includes Rapid Facial Mimicry (RFM) and Yawn Contagion (YC) that occur when the facial expression of an individual acts as a ‘mirror social releaser’ and induces the same facial expression in the observer (within 1 s for RFM, and minutes for YC). Motor replication has been linked to coordination and emotional contagion, a basic form of empathy. We investigated the presence and modulating factors of Rapid Smile Mimicry (RSM) and YC in infants/toddlers from 10 to 36 months at the nursery ‘Melis’ (Turin, Italy). In February-May 2022, we gathered audio and/or video of all occurrences data on affiliative behaviors, smiling during play, and yawning during everyday activities. Both RSM and YC were present, as toddlers were most likely to smile (within 1 s) or yawn (within three-min) after perceiving a smile/yawn from another toddler. Sex, age, and parents’ country of origin did not influence RSM and YC occurrence, probably because gonadal maturation was long to come, the age range was skewed towards the early developmental phase, and toddlers had been in the same social group for months. RSM and YC showed social modulation, thus possibly implying more than just motor resonance. Both phenomena were inversely related to affiliation levels (a social bond proxy). Because literature reports that in adults RSM and YC may increase with familiarity, our reversed result suggests that in certain toddler cohorts the same phenomena may help increase socio-emotional coordination and that the function of motoric resonance may be experience- and context-dependent.
An interdisciplinary overview of current research on imitation in animals and artifacts.
The effort to explain the imitative abilities of humans and other animals draws on fields as diverse as animal behavior, artificial intelligence, computer science, comparative psychology, neuroscience, primatology, and linguistics. This volume represents a first step toward integrating research from those studying imitation in humans and other animals, and those studying imitation through the construction of computer software and robots.
Imitation is of particular importance in enabling robotic or software agents to share skills without the intervention of a programmer and in the more general context of interaction and collaboration between software agents and humans. Imitation provides a way for the agent—whether biological or artificial—to establish a "social relationship" and learn about the demonstrator's actions, in order to include them in its own behavioral repertoire. Building robots and software agents that can imitate other artificial or human agents in an appropriate way involves complex problems of perception, experience, context, and action, solved in nature in various ways by animals that imitate.
Bradford Books imprint
An interdisciplinary overview of current research on imitation in animals and artifacts.
The effort to explain the imitative abilities of humans and other animals draws on fields as diverse as animal behavior, artificial intelligence, computer science, comparative psychology, neuroscience, primatology, and linguistics. This volume represents a first step toward integrating research from those studying imitation in humans and other animals, and those studying imitation through the construction of computer software and robots.
Imitation is of particular importance in enabling robotic or software agents to share skills without the intervention of a programmer and in the more general context of interaction and collaboration between software agents and humans. Imitation provides a way for the agent—whether biological or artificial—to establish a "social relationship" and learn about the demonstrator's actions, in order to include them in its own behavioral repertoire. Building robots and software agents that can imitate other artificial or human agents in an appropriate way involves complex problems of perception, experience, context, and action, solved in nature in various ways by animals that imitate.
Bradford Books imprint
How people assign mental states to others and how they represent or conceptualize such states in the first place are topics of interest to philosophy of mind, developmental psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. Three competing answers to the question of how people impute mental states to others have been offered: by rationalizing, by theorizing, or by simulating. Simulation theory says that mindreaders produce mental states in their own minds that resemble, or aim to resemble, those of their targets; these states are then imputed to, or projected onto, the targets. In low-level mindreading, such as reading emotions from faces, simulation is mediated by automatic mirror systems. More controlled processes of simulation, here called “enactment imagination”, are used in high-level mindreading. Just as visual and motor imagery are attempts to replicate acts of seeing and doing, mindreading is characteristically an attempt to replicate the mental processes of a target, followed by projection of the imagination-generated state onto the target. Projection errors are symptomatic of simulation, because one’s own genuine states readily intrude into the simulational process. A nuanced form of introspection is introduced to explain self-attribution and also to address the question of how mental concepts are represented. A distinctive cognitive code involving introspective representations figures prominently in our concepts of mental states. The book concludes with an overview of the pervasive effects on social life of simulation, imitation, and empathy, and charts their possible roles in moral experience and the fictive arts.
Imitation guides the behaviour of a range of species. Scientific advances in the study of imitation at multiple levels from neurons to behaviour have far-reaching implications for cognitive science, neuroscience, and evolutionary and developmental psychology. This volume, first published in 2002, provides a summary of the research on imitation in both Europe and America, including work on infants, adults, and nonhuman primates, with speculations about robotics. A special feature of the book is that it provides a concrete instance of the links between developmental psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science. It showcases how an interdisciplinary approach to imitation can illuminate long-standing problems in the brain sciences, including consciousness, self, perception-action coding, theory of mind, and intersubjectivity. The book addresses what it means to be human and how we get that way.
The chameleon effect refers to nonconscious mimicry of the postures, mannerisms, facial expressions, and other behaviors of one's interaction partners, such that one's behavior passively rind unintentionally changes to match that of others in one's current social environment. The authors suggest that the mechanism involved is the perception-behavior link, the recently documented finding (e.g., J. A. Bargh, M. Chen, & L. Burrows, 1996) that the mere perception of another' s behavior automatically increases the likelihood of engaging in that behavior oneself Experiment 1 showed that the motor behavior of participants unintentionally matched that of strangers with whom they worked on a task. Experiment 2 had confederates mimic the posture and movements of participants and showed that mimicry facilitates the smoothness of interactions and increases liking between interaction partners. Experiment 3 showed that dispositionally empathic individuals exhibit the chameleon effect to a greater extent than do other people.
In area F5 of the monkey premotor cortex there are neurons that discharge both when the monkey performs an action and when he observes a similar action made by another monkey or by the experimenter. We report here some of the properties of these 'mirror' neurons and we propose that their activity 'represents' the observed action. We posit, then, that this motor representation is at the basis of the understanding of motor events. Finally, on the basis of some recent data showing that, in man, the observation of motor actions activate the posterior part of inferior frontal gyrus, we suggest that the development of the lateral verbal communication system in man derives from a more ancient communication system based on recognition of hand and face gestures.