1. Intention Detection and Mirror Neurons
Xuan Zhao

2. CONTENT Terms used in mind perception?
What is Mirror Neuron System (MNS)?
How was MNS discovered and proved to be related with intention detection?
What are components of Core Social Imitating System?
How it works?

3. Terms Used in Mind Perception
Empathy: ‘Feeling inside’ in Latin
Theory Of Mind (TOM):
Seeing both oneself and others as subjective beings with minds and mental states. Going beyond the sensory into the mental.
Mentalizing
Mind-Reading
Intentionality: ‘about something else’ in presentation
Intention
Intersubjectivity

4. Three theories to explain TOM
Module theory: a theory of mind module (TOMM)
Separate from but builds on other mental abilities that may be shared with non-human primates and other mammals. Only humans have a complete TOMM.
Theory theories:
TOM abilities develop as a primitive, implicit theory over the course of development.
Abrupt changes in behavior and understanding of their own minds.
Simulation theory:
Understand other minds by internally simulating their mental states in each situation.
The dual responsiveness of mirror neurons to self- and other- generated action could be taken as support.

5. Mirror Neuron System (MNS)
A collection of cortical neurons that allow humans to understand the intentions of others from observation of their actions.
They fire when:
A particular action is perceived
The observer performs the same action.
Discovered in the frontal cortex and parietal cortex of macaque monkeys.

6. Discovery of Mirror Neurons
Giacomo Rizzolatti et al.
Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions. Cognitive Brain Research 3 (1996):
Mirror neurons in F5 (Part of the frontal motor area)
(Tammer et al., 2006)

7. Discovery of Mirror Neurons
Responded when:
Experimenter grasped peanuts placed on a board.
Monkey grasped the peanuts.
Monkey grasped peanuts in darkness
Didn’t respond when:
Peanuts were alone on board.
The experimenter grasped peanuts with a tool
Giacomo Rizzolatti et al. Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions. Cognitive Brain Research 3 (1996):

8. To rule out possibilities of monkey-experimenter interaction or food expectancy.
Giacomo Rizzolatti et al. Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions. Cognitive Brain Research 3 (1996):

9. Evidence for Human MNS
Giacomo Rizzolatti et al. Motor and cognitive functions of the ventral premotor cortex. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 2002, 12:149–154
F5 & Broddman 44: Hand
F4 & Lower B area 6: wrist and arm movements in particular locations around the body, which implies that they are not simply representing general movements, but rather acts connected to particular goals., eg reaching particular locations in space.

10. Brodmann area 44 in the left hemisphere:
Broca’s area (cortical speech area)
Mirror neuron capabilities involving representation of actions with the hand and arm.
Broca’s area has mixed abilities.
(Rizzolatti et al., 2002)

11. Action Recognition or Intention Detection?
Does the MNS respond to the act regardless of context (action recognition), or does it respond to acts in particular contexts (intention detection)?
Studies of human acts carried out in different contexts show that actions are embedded in contexts.

12. Marco Iacoboni, Istvan Molnar-Szakacs, Vittorio Gallese, Giovanni Buccino, John C. Mazziotta, Giacomo Rizzolatti. Grasping Intentions with Mirror Neurons. PLoS Biol 3(3): e79

13. Marco Iacoboni, Istvan Molnar-Szakacs, Vittorio Gallese, Giovanni Buccino, John C. Mazziotta, Giacomo Rizzolatti. Grasping Intentions with Mirror Neurons. PLoS Biol 3(3): e79
Significant fMRI increase in the posterior part of the inferior frontal gyrus
(Iacoboni et al., 2005)

14. Automaticity of Intention Detection
Does the conscious goal to infer intention matter to the activity of the MNS?
Explicit group:
Watch video clips with instructions of inferring the intention of the action.
Implicit group:
Simply watch without instructions
Results:
Increased activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus for Explicit group.
No difference between the groups in activity in the inferior frontal gyrus.

15. Mirror Neurons in IPC In macaque monkeys (Fogassi et al. ,2005)
Results of microelectrode studies in the inferior parietal cortex (IPC).
In humans (Decety et al., 2002)
Left IPC is activated when we imitate actions that we observed in others;
Right IPC is activated when we observe others imitating us.
(Cartographers: Fu and Baars)

16. Core Social Imitation System
1. Superior temporal sulcus (STS) creates a higher-order visual representation of the observed action.
2. Fed forward to the frontoparietal MNS to code the goal of action and the motor specification for the action.
3. Return to STS to match between the expected sensory consequences of the action and the visually observed actions takes place.
(Iacoboni et al., 2005)

17. Imitation Learning Imitation Learning Social mirroring
Two roles of the mirror neuron system:
Imitation Learning
Imitation learning occurs when we observe others performing an action and then recreate that action ourselves.
Social mirroring
(Iacoboni et al., Cartographers: Fu and Baars)

18. Social Mirroring Wicker et al. (2003a):
Insula and the anterior cingulate cortex (part of the limbic system) are activated in participants who experience the emotion of disgust or watch another person experiencing disgust.
(Iacoboni et al., Cartographers: Fu and Baars)

19. (Iacoboni et al., 2005)

20. Reference
Bernard J. Baars, Nicole M. Gage. Cognition, Brain, and Consciousness. Elsevier Ltd
Giacomo Rizzolatti et al. Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions. Cognitive Brain Research : \
R. Tammer, L. Ehrenreich, S. Boretius, T. Watanabe, J. Frahm, T. Michaelis. Compatibility of glass-guided recording microelectrodes in the brain stem of squirrel monkeys with high-resolution 3D MRI. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 2006, 153(2):
Giacomo Rizzolatti et al. Motor and cognitive functions of the ventral premotor cortex. Current Opinion in Neurobiology. 2002, 12:149–154
Marco Iacoboni, Istvan Molnar-Szakacs, Vittorio Gallese, Giovanni Buccino, John C. Mazziotta, Giacomo Rizzolatti. Grasping Intentions with Mirror Neurons. PLoS Biol 3(3): e79
Leonardo Fogassi, Pier Francesco Ferrari, Benno Gesierich, Stefano Rozzi, Fabian Chersi, Giacomo Rizzolatti. Parietal Lobe: From Action Organization to Intention Understanding. Science. 2005, 308. no. 5722, pp. 662 – 667.
J. Decety, T. Chaminade, J. Grèzes and A. N. Meltzoff. A PET Exploration of the Neural Mechanisms Involved in Reciprocal Imitation. NeuroImage. 2002,15(1):

21. Xuan Zhao zhaoxuanzju@gmail.com
THANK YOU!
Xuan Zhao