Walk like me, talk like me

Abstract

Understanding social cognition has become a hallmark in deciphering autism spectrum disorder. Neurobiological theories are taking precedence in causation studies as researchers look to abnormalities in brain development as the cause of deficits in social behavior, cognitive processes, and language. Following their discovery in the 1990s, mirror neurons have become a dominant theory for that the mirror neuron system may play a critical role in the pathophysiology of various symptoms of autism. Over the decades, the theory has evolved from the suggestion of a broken mirror neuron system to impairments in mirror neuron circuitry. The mirror neuron system has not gained total support due to inconsistent findings; a comprehensive analysis of the growing body of research could shed light on the benefits, or the disadvantage of continuing to study mirror neurons and their connection to autism.

Motor competency and social communication skills in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder

“…However, future investigations must be done to look for the possibility of the existence of mirror neurons in cerebellum. If consistent research studies found the same findings as above then we would be able to claim with confidence that mirror neurons are damaged in autism because cerebellum contains MNS [Saffin & Tohid, ]. In addition, Fuentes and Bastian emphasize the role of the cerebellum in two processes that could be considered aspects of motor cognition [Fuentes & Bastian, ].…”

Immune dysfunction and neuroinflammation in autism spectrum disorder

“…It is tempting to speculate that astrocyte function may be the bottleneck of a possible suggestive answer to this question (Bianco-Suarez et al 2016). The neurobiological pattern of ASD has recently introduced the role of mirror neurons (Schulte-Rüther et al 2016, Linkovski et al 2016, Saffin and Tohid 2016. Mirror neurons exert direct action that impact the occipital cortex, cingulate cortex, insula and dorsal prefrontal cortex in ASD (Yang and Hoffmann 2015).…”

Frontal lobe alterations in schizophrenia: a review

“…However, the emergence of functional MRI (fMRI) has revolutionized the field of neuroscience, 11 enabling us to understand brain function with far greater precision, improving understanding of concepts involved in complicated topics such as the mirror neuron system. 12 Some of the most interesting findings of structural MRI and fMRI studies with schizophrenic patients include decreased gray matter (frontal lobe) volume, and reduced brain activity and volume. 13 The ventricles and the basal nuclei in the brains of schizophrenic patients are often found to be larger than normal, whereas the hippocampus and amygdala are found to be smaller.…”