Continuing to look in the mirror: A review of neuroscientific evidence for the broken mirror hypothesis, EP-M model and STORM model of autism spectrum conditions

Yates, Luke; Hobson, Hannah

doi:10.1177/1362361320936945

Cited by 16 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(123 reference statements)

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“…The TD and DCD groups may have suffered from ceiling and floor effects respectively in motor scores, making it difficult to find correlations within those groups. Thus previously reported discrepancies, with some studies showing differential activity in the IFGop in ASD while others found no differences (for reviews, see Chan & Han, 2020;Yates & Hobson, 2020), may be explained by heterogeneity in motor ability across TD and ASD groups as well as within the ASD group, which prior studies did not assess. We investigated differences in IFGop activity in ASD not only when processing facial expressions, but also hand actions.…”

Section: Activity In Ifgop Correlates With Motor Ability For Socialmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Activity in the IFGop is involved in social cognition, emotion processing, and empathy (for reviews, see de Waal & Preston, 2017; Jeon & Lee, 2018). Interestingly, several ASD studies show differential functioning in the IFGop during imitation and/or action observation tasks compared to TD peers (Dapretto et al, 2006; Kana, Wadsworth, & Travers, 2011; Williams, 2008), though there have been discrepant findings (for reviews, see Chan & Han, 2020; Yates & Hobson, 2020). However, to date no fMRI studies have considered how motor impairment impacts IFGop activity in ASD, or if IFGop impairment is unique to ASD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unique deficit in embodied simulation in autism: An fMRI study comparing autism and developmental coordination disorder

Kilroy

Harrison

Butera

et al. 2020

Human Brain Mapping

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A deficit in pre‐cognitively mirroring other people's actions and experiences may be related to the social impairments observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, it is unclear whether such embodied simulation deficits are unique to ASD or instead are related to motor impairment, which is commonly comorbid with ASD. Here we aim to disentangle how, neurologically, motor impairments contribute to simulation deficits and identify unique neural signatures of ASD. We compare children with ASD (N = 30) to children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD; N = 23) as well as a typically developing group (N = 33) during fMRI tasks in which children observe, imitate, and mentalize about other people's actions. Results indicate a unique neural signature in ASD: during action observation, only the ASD group shows hypoactivity in a region important for simulation (inferior frontal gyrus, pars opercularis, IFGop). However, during a motor production task (imitation), the IFGop is hypoactive for both ASD and DCD groups. For all tasks, we find correlations across groups with motor ability, even after controlling for age, IQ, and social impairment. Conversely, across groups, mentalizing ability is correlated with activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex when controlling for motor ability. These findings help identify the unique neurobiological basis of ASD for aspects of social processing. Furthermore, as no previous fMRI studies correlated brain activity with motor impairment in ASD, these findings help explain prior conflicting reports in these simulation networks.

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Section: Activity In Ifgop Correlates With Motor Ability For Socialmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unique deficit in embodied simulation in autism: An fMRI study comparing autism and developmental coordination disorder

Kilroy

Harrison

Butera

et al. 2020

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Mirror neurons likely play important roles in understanding the actions of others, learning by observation (Ramsey et al, 2021), imitation (Iacoboni et al, 1999), and in motor rehabilitation (Nogueira et al, 2021; Rizzolatti et al, 2021). Furthermore, the mirror neuron system (MNS) is also strongly involved in multiple facets of social cognition, such as empathy or emotional contagion (Bekkali et al, 2021; Paz et al, 2022) and its malfunction has been reported in several neurodegenerative pathologies (Farina et al, 2020) and in autism spectrum disorders (Yates & Hobson, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An action-observation network in the common marmoset identified by ultra-high field fMRI

Zanini

Dureux

Everling

2022

Preprint

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Thirty years have passed since the first description of neurons in Old World macaque monkeys that fire both during the execution and observation of goal-directed actions. Since then, these so-called mirror neurons have been shown to play important roles in understanding the actions of others, learning by imitation, and social cognition in macaques and humans. In contrast to Old World primates, an action-observation network has not yet been identified in New World primates. Here we used ultra-high field fMRI at 9.4T in awake common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) while they watched videos depicting the upper-limb of marmosets performing goal-directed (grasping food) or non-goal-directed actions. We found that the observation of goal-directed actions, compared to non-goal directed ones, activated a frontotemporoparietal network, including areas 6 and 45 in premotor and prefrontal cortices, and areas PGa-IPa, FST, and the TE complex in temporoparietal regions. These results demonstrate the existence of an evolutionarily conserved action observation network in primates that likely predates the separation of Old and New World monkeys.

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“…While studies have reported decreased (Dapretto et al, 2006;Ramachandran & Oberman, 2006), or increased (Martineau, Andersson, Barthélémy, Cottier, & Destrieux, 2010;Wadsworth, Maximo, Donnelly, & Kana, 2018) or normal (Dinstein et al, 2010;Marsh & Hamilton, 2011) MNS activity in ASD, two meta-analyses have concluded that MNS hyperactivity is most consistently found (Chan & Han, 2020;Yang & Hofmann, 2016). It has been proposed that MNS dysfunction in ASD is mainly due to abnormal functional connectivity either within the MNS itself, such as in the IFG-STS automatic mimicry route (Hamilton, 2008), or between the MNS and other brain networks that regulate top-down control or social cognitive functions (Hamilton, 2013;Yates & Hobson, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mirror neuron system compensates for amygdala dysfunction-associated social deficits in individuals with higher autistic traits

Zheng

Yao

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The amygdala is a core node in the social brain which exhibits structural and functional abnormalities in Autism spectrum disorder and there is evidence that the mirror neuron system (MNS) can functionally compensate for impaired emotion processing following amygdala lesions. In the current study, we employed an fMRI paradigm in 241 subjects investigating MNS and amygdala responses to observation, imagination and imitation of dynamic facial expressions and whether these differed in individuals with higher as opposed to lower autistic traits. Results indicated that individuals with higher compared to lower autistic traits showed reduced left amygdala responses to imitation and enhanced responses in the left superior temporal sulcus (STS) of the MNS to observation, imagination and imitation. Additionally, functional connectivity between the left amygdala and the left STS as well as some other MNS regions was increased in individuals with higher autistic traits, especially during imitation of fearful expressions. The amygdala-MNS connectivity significantly moderated autistic group differences on recognition memory for fearful faces and real-life social network indices, indicating that increased amygdala-MNS connectivity could diminish the social behavioral differences between higher and lower autistic trait groups. Overall, findings demonstrate decreased imitation-related amygdala activity in individuals with higher autistic traits in the context of increased cortical MNS activity and amygdala-MNS connectivity which may functionally compensate for amygdala dysfunction and social deficits. Training targeting the MNS may capitalize on this compensatory mechanism for therapeutic benefits in Autism spectrum disorder.

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Continuing to look in the mirror: A review of neuroscientific evidence for the broken mirror hypothesis, EP-M model and STORM model of autism spectrum conditions

Cited by 16 publications

References 64 publications

Unique deficit in embodied simulation in autism: An fMRI study comparing autism and developmental coordination disorder

Unique deficit in embodied simulation in autism: An fMRI study comparing autism and developmental coordination disorder

An action-observation network in the common marmoset identified by ultra-high field fMRI

The mirror neuron system compensates for amygdala dysfunction-associated social deficits in individuals with higher autistic traits

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