Storytelling and Asperger Syndrome: A Key for Social Integration

Storytelling is a universal way of communication between human beings. It is inhibited when neurodevelopmental disorders hinder human reciprocity, the understanding of body language, and nuances of language. Asperger Syndrome (AS), one of these disorders, is characterized by social impairment and repetitive patterns of behaviour. Messages cannot be conveyed through storytelling, which causes social isolation and withdrawal of individuals with AS from society. The development of the mirror neuron system in the brain, which incites imitation of peers, might be altered in AS by a mechanism that is not entirely understood. Because mirroring the emotions of others is key to understanding their feelings and perceptions of the world, the “theory of mind” is not formed in individuals with AS as it normally would be. While studies have suggested this impediment, current views and evidence show that people with AS may use storytelling as a powerful tool to integrate themselves into society. Future research should investigate storytelling as an intervention to increase social interaction of individuals with AS.

Download Full-text

The mirror neuron system in social interactions and schizophrenia

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s0924-9338(11)73814-7 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 26 (S2) ◽

pp. 2111-2111

Author(s):

T. Kicher

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Social Interaction ◽

Social Interactions ◽

Cognitive Processing ◽

Mirror Neuron System ◽

Mirror Neuron ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Body Language ◽

Neuron System ◽

The Social

The term social cognition comprises of the perception and cognitive processing of stimuli of the social environment that is necessary to understand one's own behaviour and that of others. Social cognition is important for conscious and unconscious behaviour in social interactions and is composed of the recognition and interpretation of emotions in faces, body language and speech, reflection of one's own mental state and intentions as well as the realization of others’ intentions, thoughts and feelings. The mirror neuron system is involved in empathetic processes. Several aspects of the neural correlates of social interaction, embodiment and the mirror neuron system in schizophrenia and autism will be reported.

Download Full-text

A "global" network dysfunction in the mirror neuron system in autism is modulated by task complexity and age: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies

10.21203/rs.2.23748/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mei Yan Melody Chan ◽

Yvonne M.Y. Han

Keyword(s):

Mirror Neurons ◽

Task Complexity ◽

Mirror Neuron System ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Mirror Neuron ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Local Network ◽

Activation Patterns ◽

Neuron System ◽

The Brain

Abstract Background Impaired imitation has been found to be an important factor contributing to social communication deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It has been hypothesized that the neural correlates of imitation, the mirror neuron system (MNS), are dysfunctional in ASD, resulting in imitation impairment as one of the key behavioral manifestations in ASD. Previous MNS studies produced inconsistent results, leaving the debate of whether mirror neurons are “broken” in ASD unresolved.Methods This meta-analysis aimed to explore the differences in MNS activation patterns between typically developing (TD) and ASD individuals when they observe/imitate biological motions with/without emotional components. Effect-size signed differential mapping (ES-SDM) was adopted to synthesize the available fMRI data. Results The MNS is dysfunctional in ASD; not only the brain regions containing mirror neurons were affected, the brain regions supporting MNS functioning were also impaired. Second, MNS dysfunction in ASD is modulated by task complexity; differential activation patterns during the presentation of “cold” and “hot” stimuli might be a result of atypical functional connectivity in ASD. Third, MNS dysfunction in ASD individuals is modulated by age. MNS regions were found to show delayed maturation; abnormal lateralization development in some of the brain regions also contributed to the atypical development of the MNS in ASD. Limitations We have attempted to include a comprehensive set of original data for this analysis. However, whole brain analysis data were not obtainable from some of the published papers, these studies could not be included as a result. Moreover, the results indicating the age effect on MNS in ASD could only be generalized to individuals aged 11-37, as MNS activation remains unstudied for populations beyond this age range. Also, the ES-SDM linear regression modelling might not be ideal to illustrate the associations between age and MNS activation; the meta-regression results should be treated with caution. Conclusion There is a “global” rather than a “local” network dysfunction, which may underlie the imitation impairments in individuals with ASD. Task complexity and age modulate the functioning of the MNS, which may explain the previous peculiar results contributing to the unresolved “broken mirror neuron” debate.

Download Full-text

Seeing the Unexpected: How Brains Read Communicative Intent through Kinematics

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhz148 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 1056-1067 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

James P Trujillo ◽

Irina Simanova ◽

Asli Özyürek ◽

Harold Bekkering

Keyword(s):

Mirror Neuron System ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Mirror Neuron ◽

Neuron System ◽

Communicative Intention ◽

Imaging Experiment ◽

The Social ◽

Social Signaling ◽

The Brain ◽

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Experiment

Abstract Social interaction requires us to recognize subtle cues in behavior, such as kinematic differences in actions and gestures produced with different social intentions. Neuroscientific studies indicate that the putative mirror neuron system (pMNS) in the premotor cortex and mentalizing system (MS) in the medial prefrontal cortex support inferences about contextually unusual actions. However, little is known regarding the brain dynamics of these systems when viewing communicatively exaggerated kinematics. In an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, 28 participants viewed stick-light videos of pantomime gestures, recorded in a previous study, which contained varying degrees of communicative exaggeration. Participants made either social or nonsocial classifications of the videos. Using participant responses and pantomime kinematics, we modeled the probability of each video being classified as communicative. Interregion connectivity and activity were modulated by kinematic exaggeration, depending on the task. In the Social Task, communicativeness of the gesture increased activation of several pMNS and MS regions and modulated top-down coupling from the MS to the pMNS, but engagement of the pMNS and MS was not found in the nonsocial task. Our results suggest that expectation violations can be a key cue for inferring communicative intention, extending previous findings from wholly unexpected actions to more subtle social signaling.

Download Full-text

Is the Putative Mirror Neuron System Associated with Empathy? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

10.31234/osf.io/6bu4p ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Soukayna Bekkali ◽

George Joseph Youssef ◽

Peter Donaldson ◽

Natalia Albein-Urios ◽

Christian Hyde ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mirror Neuron System ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Mirror Neuron ◽

Empirical Support ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Future Research ◽

Neuron System ◽

Cognitive Components ◽

Theoretical Perspectives

Theoretical perspectives suggest that the mirror neuron system (MNS) is an important neurobiological contributor to empathy, but empirical support is mixed. Here, we adopt a summary model for empathy, consisting of motor, emotional, and cognitive components of empathy. This review provides an overview of existing empirical studies investigating the relationship between putative MNS activity and empathy in healthy populations. 52 studies were identified that investigated the association between the MNS and at least one domain of empathy, representing data from 1044 participants. Our results suggests that emotional and cognitive empathy are moderately correlated with MNS activity, while motor empathy showed no relationship. Results varied across techniques used to acquire MNS activity (TMS, EEG, and fMRI). Overall, results provide some evidence for a relationship between the MNS and empathy. Our findings also highlight methodological variability in study design as an important factor in understanding this relationship. We discuss limitations regarding these methodological variations and important implications for clinical and community translations, as well as suggestions for future research.

Download Full-text

Why our brains love arts and crafts

Form Akademisk - forskningstidsskrift for design og designdidaktikk ◽

10.7577/formakademisk.1908 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Minna Huotilainen ◽

Mimmu Rankanen ◽

Camilla Groth ◽

Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen ◽

Maarit Mäkelä

Keyword(s):

Mirror Neuron System ◽

Social Activity ◽

Mirror Neuron ◽

Well Being ◽

Mental States ◽

Skill Learning ◽

Arts And Crafts ◽

Neuron System ◽

The Arts ◽

The Brain

Art and craft practitioners have personal experience of the benefits of making: the handling of material can help to regulate our mental states through providing a means to reach flow states. The mirror neuron system helps in skill learning, and the plasticity of the brain ensures that skills may be learned at all stages of life. Arts and crafts play a role in controlling stress and enhancing relaxation. They also enable us to fail safely and handle our emotions. Furthermore, they facilitate social activity for many individuals who are at risk of social isolation. This article aims to integrate knowledge from both the field of neuroscience and the arts by focusing on the implications that flow experience and the mirror neuron system integral to making processes have on our psychophysical well-being.

Download Full-text

Identifying the What, Why, and How of an Observed Action: An fMRI Study of Mentalizing and Mechanizing during Action Observation

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2010.21446 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 63-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 129

Author(s):

Robert P. Spunt ◽

Ajay B. Satpute ◽

Matthew D. Lieberman

Keyword(s):

Mirror Neuron System ◽

Action Observation ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Mirror Neuron ◽

Mental States ◽

Action Identification ◽

Human Beings ◽

Neuron System ◽

Embodied Simulation ◽

Mentalizing System

Humans commonly understand the unobservable mental states of others by observing their actions. Embodied simulation theories suggest that this ability may be based in areas of the fronto-parietal mirror neuron system, yet neuroimaging studies that explicitly investigate the human ability to draw mental state inferences point to the involvement of a “mentalizing” system consisting of regions that do not overlap with the mirror neuron system. For the present study, we developed a novel action identification paradigm that allowed us to explicitly investigate the neural bases of mentalizing observed actions. Across repeated viewings of a set of ecologically valid video clips of ordinary human actions, we manipulated the extent to which participants identified the unobservable mental states of the actor (mentalizing) or the observable mechanics of their behavior (mechanizing). Although areas of the mirror neuron system did show an enhanced response during action identification, its activity was not significantly modulated by the extent to which the observers identified mental states. Instead, several regions of the mentalizing system, including dorsal and ventral aspects of medial pFC, posterior cingulate cortex, and temporal poles, were associated with mentalizing actions, whereas a single region in left lateral occipito-temporal cortex was associated with mechanizing actions. These data suggest that embodied simulation is insufficient to account for the sophisticated mentalizing that human beings are capable of while observing another and that a different system along the cortical midline and in anterior temporal cortex is involved in mentalizing an observed action.

Download Full-text