Mirror neurons responding to observation of actions made with tools in monkey ventral premotor cortex
Mirror neurons responding to observation of actions made with tools in monkey ventral premotor cortex
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DOI：
10.1162/0898929053124910
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发表时间：
2005-02-01
影响因子：
3.2
通讯作者：
Fogassi, L
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ferrari, PF;Rozzi, S;Fogassi, L
在本研究中，我们描述了一种新型视觉运动神经元，称为工具响应镜像神经元，它存在于猴子腹侧前运动区 F5 的外侧部分。当猴子观察实验者使用工具（一根棍子或一把钳子）执行的动作时，工具响应镜像神经元就会放电。这种反应比猴子观察生物效应器（手或嘴）做出的类似动作时获得的反应更强。当猴子用手和嘴执行动作时，这些神经元也会做出反应。每个神经元的视觉和运动反应是一致的，因为它们共享相同的总体目标，即占有一个物体并修改其状态。据推测，在对工具动作进行相对较长的视觉接触后，手和工具之间产生了视觉关联，从而使工具成为手的一种延伸。我们提出，工具响应镜像神经元使观察猴子能够将动作理解能力扩展到不严格对应其运动表征的动作。我们的研究结果支持这样的观点：运动皮层在理解行动目标方面发挥着至关重要的作用。
In the present study, we describe a new type of visuomotor neurons, named tool-responding mirror neurons, which are found in the lateral sector of monkey ventral premotor area F5. Tool-responding mirror neurons discharge when the monkey observes actions performed by an experimenter with a tool (a stick or a pair of pliers). This response is stronger than that obtained when the monkey observes a similar action made with a biological effector (the hand or the mouth). These neurons respond also when the monkey executes actions with both the hand and the mouth. The visual and the motor responses of each neuron are congruent in that they share the same general goal, that is, taking possession of an object and modifying its state. It is hypothesized that after a relatively long visual exposure to tool actions, a visual association between the hand and the tool is created, so that the tool becomes as a kind of prolongation of the hand. We propose that tool-responding mirror neurons enable the observing monkey to extend action-understanding capacity to actions that do not strictly correspond to its motor representations. Our findings support the notion that the motor cortex plays a crucial role in understanding action goals.