Editing Mirror neuron (section)

===Autism===

It has also been proposed that problems with the mirror neuron system may underlie cognitive disorders, particularly [[autism]].<ref name="Oberman_2005">{{cite journal | vauthors = Oberman LM, Hubbard EM, McCleery JP, Altschuler EL, Ramachandran VS, Pineda JA | title = EEG evidence for mirror neuron dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders | journal = Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research | volume = 24 | issue = 2 | pages = 190–198 | date = July 2005 | pmid = 15993757 | doi = 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2005.01.014 }}</ref><ref name="Mirella Dapretto pp. 28-30">{{cite journal | vauthors = Dapretto M, Davies MS, Pfeifer JH, Scott AA, Sigman M, Bookheimer SY, Iacoboni M | title = Understanding emotions in others: mirror neuron dysfunction in children with autism spectrum disorders | journal = Nature Neuroscience | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | pages = 28–30 | date = January 2006 | pmid = 16327784 | pmc = 3713227 | doi = 10.1038/nn1611 }}</ref> However the connection between mirror neuron dysfunction and autism is tentative and it remains to be demonstrated how mirror neurons are related to many of the important characteristics of autism.<ref name="Dinstein" />

Some researchers claim there is a link between mirror neuron deficiency and [[autism]]. EEG recordings from motor areas are suppressed when someone watches another person move, a signal that may relate to mirror neuron system. Additionally, the correlation can be measured with eye-movement tracking of biological motions, together with EEG recordings, mu suppression index can be calculated.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sotoodeh MS, Chien SH, Hadjikhani N | title = Visual attention modulates mu suppression during biological motion perception in autistic individuals | journal = European Journal of Neuroscience | volume = 13 | date = November 2024 | issue = 11 | pages = 6668–6685 | pmid = 39537315 | doi = 10.1111/ejn.16596 }}</ref> This suppression was less in children with autism.<ref name="Oberman_2005" /> Although these findings have been replicated by several groups,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Dapretto M, Davies MS, Pfeifer JH, Scott AA, Sigman M, Bookheimer SY, Iacoboni M | title = Understanding emotions in others: mirror neuron dysfunction in children with autism spectrum disorders | journal = Nature Neuroscience | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | pages = 28–30 | date = January 2006 | pmid = 16327784 | pmc = 3713227 | doi = 10.1038/nn1611 | name-list-style = vanc }}</ref><ref name="pmid20598548">{{cite journal | vauthors = Perkins T, Stokes M, McGillivray J, Bittar R | title = Mirror neuron dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders | journal = Journal of Clinical Neuroscience | volume = 17 | issue = 10 | pages = 1239–1243 | date = October 2010 | pmid = 20598548 | doi = 10.1016/j.jocn.2010.01.026 | s2cid = 15141982 }}</ref> other studies have not found evidence of a dysfunctional mirror neuron system in autism.<ref name="Dinstein" /> In 2008, Oberman et al. published a research paper that presented conflicting EEG evidence. Oberman and Ramachandran found typical mu-suppression for familiar stimuli, but not for unfamiliar stimuli, leading them to conclude that the mirror neuron system of children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) was functional, but less sensitive than that of typical children.<ref name="pmid18304590">{{cite journal | vauthors = Oberman LM, Ramachandran VS, Pineda JA | title = Modulation of mu suppression in children with autism spectrum disorders in response to familiar or unfamiliar stimuli: the mirror neuron hypothesis | journal = Neuropsychologia | volume = 46 | issue = 5 | pages = 1558–1565 | date = April 2008 | pmid = 18304590 | doi = 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.01.010 | s2cid = 14280719 }}</ref> Based on the conflicting evidence presented by mu-wave suppression experiments, [[Patricia Churchland]] has cautioned that mu-wave suppression results cannot be used as a valid index for measuring the performance of mirror neuron systems.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Churcland PS |year=2011 |title=Braintrust |chapter=6 |page=156 |publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref> Recent research indicates that mirror neurons do not play a role in autism:

{{Blockquote | ...no clear cut evidence emerges for a fundamental mirror system deficit in autism. Behavioural studies have shown that people with autism have a good understanding of action goals. Furthermore, two independent neuroimaging studies have reported that the parietal component of the mirror system is functioning typically in individuals with autism.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Hamilton A, Marsh L | chapter = Two systems for action comprehension in autism: mirroring and mentalizing. | veditors = Baron-Cohen S, Lombardo M, Tager-Flusberg H| title = Understanding Other Minds: Perspectives from developmental social neuroscience. | publisher = OUP | location = Oxford | isbn = 978-0-19-166880-7 | date = August 2013 | pages = 380–396 | chapter-url = http://www.antoniahamilton.com/HamiltonMarsh_UoM_preprint.pdf }}</ref>|sign=|source=}}

Some anatomical differences have been found in the mirror neuron related brain areas in adults with autism spectrum disorders, compared to non-autistic adults. All these cortical areas were thinner and the degree of thinning was correlated with autism symptom severity, a correlation nearly restricted to these brain regions.<ref name="Hadjikhani">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hadjikhani N, Joseph RM, Snyder J, Tager-Flusberg H | title = Anatomical differences in the mirror neuron system and social cognition network in autism | journal = Cerebral Cortex | volume = 16 | issue = 9 | pages = 1276–1282 | date = September 2006 | pmid = 16306324 | doi = 10.1093/cercor/bhj069 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Based on these results, some researchers claim that autism is caused by impairments in the mirror neuron system, leading to disabilities in social skills, imitation, empathy and theory of mind.{{Who|date=February 2014}}

Many researchers have pointed out that the "broken mirrors" theory of autism is overly simplistic, and mirror neurons alone cannot explain the differences found in individuals with autism. First of all, as noted above, none of these studies were direct measures of mirror neuron activity - in other words fMRI activity or EEG rhythm suppression do not unequivocally index mirror neurons. Dinstein and colleagues found normal mirror neuron activity in people with autism using fMRI.<ref name = "Callaway_2010">{{Cite web | date = 12 May 2010 | vauthors = Callaway E | work = New Scientist |url= https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18837-mirror-neurons-seen-behaving-normally-in-autism/|title=Mirror neurons seen behaving normally in autism}}</ref> In individuals with autism, deficits in intention understanding, action understanding and biological motion perception (the key functions of mirror neurons) are not always found,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hamilton AF | title = Goals, intentions and mental states: challenges for theories of autism | journal = Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines | volume = 50 | issue = 8 | pages = 881–892 | date = August 2009 | pmid = 19508497 | doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02098.x | citeseerx = 10.1.1.621.6275 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Murphy P, Brady N, Fitzgerald M, Troje NF | title = No evidence for impaired perception of biological motion in adults with autistic spectrum disorders | journal = Neuropsychologia | volume = 47 | issue = 14 | pages = 3225–3235 | date = December 2009 | pmid = 19666038 | doi = 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.07.026 | s2cid = 12495492 }}</ref> or are task dependent.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Saygin AP, Cook J, Blakemore SJ | title = Unaffected perceptual thresholds for biological and non-biological form-from-motion perception in autism spectrum conditions | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 5 | issue = 10 | pages = e13491 | date = October 2010 | pmid = 20976151 | pmc = 2956672 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0013491 | veditors = Baker CI | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2010PLoSO...513491S  }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cook J, Saygin AP, Swain R, Blakemore SJ | title = Reduced sensitivity to minimum-jerk biological motion in autism spectrum conditions | journal = Neuropsychologia | volume = 47 | issue = 14 | pages = 3275–3278 | date = December 2009 | pmid = 19632248 | pmc = 2779370 | doi = 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.07.010 }}</ref> Today, very few people believe an all-or-nothing problem with the mirror system can underlie autism. Instead, "additional research needs to be done, and more caution should be used when reaching out to the media."<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Fan YT, Decety J, Yang CY, Liu JL, Cheng Y | title = Unbroken mirror neurons in autism spectrum disorders | journal = Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines | volume = 51 | issue = 9 | pages = 981–988 | date = September 2010 | pmid = 20524939 | doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02269.x }}</ref>

Research from 2010<ref name = "Callaway_2010" /> concluded that autistic individuals do not exhibit mirror neuron dysfunction, although the small sample size limits the extent to which these results can be generalized. A more recent review argued there was not enough neurological evidence to support this  “broken-mirror theory” of autism.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Heyes C, Catmur C | title = What Happened to Mirror Neurons? | journal = Perspectives on Psychological Science | volume = 17 | issue = 1 | pages = 153–168 | date = January 2022 | pmid = 34241539 | pmc = 8785302 | doi = 10.1177/1745691621990638 }}</ref>