The mirror neuron system as revealed through neonatal imitation: presence from birth, predictive power and evidence of plasticity

Simpson, Elizabeth A.; Murray, Lynne; Paukner, Annika; Ferrari, Pier Francesco

doi:10.1098/rstb.2013.0289

Cited by 125 publications

(177 citation statements)

References 110 publications

(204 reference statements)

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“…Simpson et al [16] suggested that this measure, the number of published experiments, gives a misleading impression because it does not take account of the sample size in each study. It is certainly not sufficient simply to count experimental outcomes, which is why Ray & Heyes [13] provided detailed methodological analysis of the whole corpus of imitation experiments involving newborns.…”

Section: Reason I: Newborns Can Imitatementioning

confidence: 99%

Homo imitans? Seven reasons why imitation couldn't possibly be associative

Heyes¹

2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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One contribution of 16 to a theme issue 'Understanding self and other: from origins to disorders'. Many comparative and developmental psychologists believe that we are Homo imitans; humans are more skilled and prolific imitators than other animals, because we have a special, inborn 'intermodal matching' mechanism that integrates representations of others with representations of the self. In contrast, the associative sequence learning (ASL) model suggests that human infants learn to imitate using mechanisms that they share with other animals, and the rich resources provided by their sociocultural environments. This article answers seven objections to the ASL model: (i) it presents evidence that newborns do not imitate; (ii) argues that infants receive a plentiful supply of the kind of experience necessary for learning to imitate; (iii) suggests that neither infants nor adults can imitate elementally novel actions; (iv) explains why non-human animals have a limited capacity for imitation; (v) discusses the goaldirectedness of imitation; (vi) presents evidence that improvement in imitation depends on visual feedback; and (vii) reflects on the view that associative theories steal 'the soul of imitation'. The empirical success of the ASL model indicates that the mechanisms which make imitation possible, by aligning representations of self with representations of others, have been tweaked by cultural evolution, not built from scratch by genetic evolution.

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Section: Reason I: Newborns Can Imitatementioning

confidence: 99%

Homo imitans? Seven reasons why imitation couldn't possibly be associative

Heyes¹

2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…Early imitative abilities are associated with some aspects of later social cognitive development (37)(38)(39) and may reflect general social interest (for a review, see ref. 40). For example, macaque infants who consistently imitate in the first week of life, compared with those who do not, are better at recognizing human caregivers (38) and visually attend more to caregivers (39).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Inhaled oxytocin increases positive social behaviors in newborn macaques

Simpson

Sclafani

Paukner

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Early caregiver-infant interactions are critical for infants' socioemotional and cognitive development. Several hormones and neuromodulators, including oxytocin, affect these interactions. Exogenous oxytocin promotes social behaviors in several species, including human and nonhuman primates. Although exogenous oxytocin increases social function in adults-including expression recognition and affiliation-it is unknown whether oxytocin can increase social interactions in infants. We hypothesized that nebulized oxytocin would increase affiliative social behaviors and such effects would be modulated by infants' social skills, measured earlier in development. We also hypothesized that oxytocin's effects on social behaviors may be due to its anxiolytic effects. We tested these hypotheses in a blind study by nebulizing 7-to 14-d-old macaques (n = 28) with oxytocin or saline. Following oxytocin administration, infants' facial gesturing at a human caregiver increased, and infants' salivary oxytocin was positively correlated with the time spent in close proximity to a caregiver. Infants' imitative skill (measured earlier in development: 1-7 d of age) predicted oxytocin-associated increases in affiliative behaviors-lip smacking, visual attention to a caregiver, and time in close proximity to a caregiver-suggesting that infants with higher propensities for positive social interactions are more sensitive to exogenous oxytocin. Oxytocin also decreased salivary cortisol, but not stressrelated behaviors (e.g., scratching), suggesting the possibility of some anxiolytic effects. To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence that oxytocin increases positive social behaviors in newborns. This information is of critical importance for potential interventions aimed at ameliorating inadequate social behaviors in infants with higher likelihood of developing neurodevelopmental disorder.imitation recognition | neonatal imitation | individual differences

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“…We gave ample space in this special issue to this topic [18][19][20][21][22]. It is highly debated whether the mirror system arose as the consequence of association learning or an evolutionary process that endowed a population of neurons with a mechanism necessary for accomplishing a specific function [20,23].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The alternative account maintains that at least part of the mirror neuron system is genetically determined and adapted to serve one function as the consequence of the natural selection process ( [20], but also see [26,27]). More recently, models have been proposed which avoid pitting one view against the other, thus escaping an old fruitless nature-nurture divide.…”

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confidence: 99%