Evidence that Neurological Mirroring Extends to Humans:
While the findings on specific mirror neuron system functioning is remarkable, it must be noted that the initial breakthrough single cell recording studies were not done with human participants, but with monkeys. Therefore, the systems and the presence of mirror neurons in humans can be deduced but not directly tested due to the ethical concerns of the single mirror neuron recording methods. As a result, skeptics have emerged with significant doubts of the presence of this system in humans. However in researchers who disagree with the skeptics, some key assumptions are made when extending the argument of mirror neurons past non-human primate to mankind. These assumptions are rooted in …show more content…
Nonetheless, because of extraneous circumstances that allow for single neuron recording in humans to ethically be conducted, there is a small number of single mirror neuron recording studies involving the human brain. Through recording extracellular activity of neurons, one such study conducted by Mukamel et al. provided evidence of mirror neurons in humans on a single cell basis throughout hand-grasping and facial emotional expression tasks. Evidence of individual neurons that respond both to the execution of a task as well as the observation of a task is most strong in the medial frontal cortex, as well as the medial temporal cortex. This research also observed an interesting excitation and inhibition pattern at the individual cell level that they propose may act as a mechanism for maintaining a self-other distinction during both the observation and implementation of an action (Mukamel et al., 2010). However, one critique of this otherwise groundbreaking single cell human study is that because of the ethical implications of single cell recording in humans, the sample population of this study were individuals with epilepsy. Basic research on any neurobiologically unhealthy brain must always be taken with some
While the findings on specific mirror neuron system functioning is remarkable, it must be noted that the initial breakthrough single cell recording studies were not done with human participants, but with monkeys. Therefore, the systems and the presence of mirror neurons in humans can be deduced but not directly tested due to the ethical concerns of the single mirror neuron recording methods. As a result, skeptics have emerged with significant doubts of the presence of this system in humans. However in researchers who disagree with the skeptics, some key assumptions are made when extending the argument of mirror neurons past non-human primate to mankind. These assumptions are rooted in …show more content…
Nonetheless, because of extraneous circumstances that allow for single neuron recording in humans to ethically be conducted, there is a small number of single mirror neuron recording studies involving the human brain. Through recording extracellular activity of neurons, one such study conducted by Mukamel et al. provided evidence of mirror neurons in humans on a single cell basis throughout hand-grasping and facial emotional expression tasks. Evidence of individual neurons that respond both to the execution of a task as well as the observation of a task is most strong in the medial frontal cortex, as well as the medial temporal cortex. This research also observed an interesting excitation and inhibition pattern at the individual cell level that they propose may act as a mechanism for maintaining a self-other distinction during both the observation and implementation of an action (Mukamel et al., 2010). However, one critique of this otherwise groundbreaking single cell human study is that because of the ethical implications of single cell recording in humans, the sample population of this study were individuals with epilepsy. Basic research on any neurobiologically unhealthy brain must always be taken with some