I Feel Your Pain: Embodied Knowledges and Situated Neurons

Abstract

The widely touted discovery of mirror neurons has generated intense scientific interest in the neurobiology of intersubjectivity. Social neuroscientists have claimed that mirror neurons, located in brain regions associated with motor action, facial recognition, and somatosensory processing, allow us to automatically grasp other people's intentions and emotions. Despite controversies, mirror neuron research is animating materialist, affective, and embodied accounts of intersubjectivity. My view is that mirror neurons raise issues that are directly relevant to feminism and cultural studies, but interventions are needed for the work to be compatible with nonreductionist critical thought. In this article I critique the dominant neuroscientific account of mirror neurons, called embodied simulation theory. I draw from feminist epistemologies as well as alternative interpretations of mirror neurons in cognitive science and philosophy of mind to consider mirroring as situated, embodied perception.

Toward Defining the Causal Role of Consciousness: Using Models of Memory and Moral Judgment from Cognitive Neuroscience to Expand the Sociological Dual‐Process Model

“…In particular, the work of Turner (2007b) and Lizardo's (2009) seeks to lay a foundation for theory building by using cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience. This work complements a wide array of theory building that seeks to integrate findings from cognitive science (Bergesen, 2004;Ignatow, 2007Ignatow, , 2009Lizardo & Strand, 2010;Vaisey, 2009Vaisey, , 2010Vaisey & Lizardo, 2010) and cognitive neuroscience (Von Scheve & Von Luede, 2005;Lizardo, 2007;Turner, 2002Turner, , 2007aTurner, , 2012Pitts-Taylor, 2013).…”

“…Spackman & Yanchar, ) and embodiment (e.g. Pitts‐Taylor, ) that are beyond the scope of this article but should be addressed in future work.…”

Neurocientistas feministas e o debate sobre o “sexo cerebral”: um estudo sobre ciência e sexo/ gênero

“…A proposta das neurofeministas -apesar de se manterem críticas e anti-essencialistas -é não ignorar e, mais, debruçar-se sobre a materialidade do corpo. É consenso na NeuroGenderings que este seria o momento de uma "virada naturalizante", ou seja, de rejeitar o antibiologicismo e incluir a "verdadeira matéria" -os órgãos, células e moléculas -de nossos corpos biológicos nas análises feministas (ROY, 2007;PITTS-TAYLOR, 2013;VIDAL, 2014). Nas palavras da neurofeminista Deboleena Roy: onde estão o sangue e as tripas em nossas tentativas feministas de retorno ao corpo?…”

Cautionary Notes on Navigating the Neurocognitive Turn

“…Mirror neurons, which are known as neurons that fire both when a subject performs an action and when s/he sees another performing the same action, are appealing to social theorists because they seem to offer evidence that intersubjective understanding is a bodily, prelinguistic activity instead of an intellectual or mentalist one; thus they are often used to ground embodied or affective accounts of cognition and social interaction (e.g., Colebrook ; Connolly ; Franks ). Not only do scholars in the humanities and social sciences often fail to acknowledge the empirical and methodological controversies about mirror neurons (which are vigorous), but they also neglect the details of how mirror neuron researchers themselves adopt models from other disciplines, notably philosophy of mind and psychology, to make sense of their findings (see Pitts‐Taylor for discussion). This leads to the reification of neuroscientific claims that in their original context are often considered to be still tentative, and the treatment of neuroscientific research as strictly empirical rather than also theoretical.…”