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Chapter 3: Visual Pathways

3.8. Mirror Neurons

We have seen that perceiving motion is an important part of the visual system. We also have a specialized set of mirror neurons that fire both when a person observes another individual performing a movement (e.g., smiling) and when they perform the same movement themselves. These neurons were first discovered in monkeys’ brains. In humans, mirror neurons are thought to exist in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex, and the inferior parietal cortex (Figure 3.13).

An outline of the brain showing SMA near the front and PSSC near the middle.
Figure 3.13 The Mirror Neuron System in the Human Brain. (1) SMA: supplementary motor area, (2) PSSC: primary somato sensory cortex, (3) IPC: Inferior parietal cortex, (4) VPMA: ventral premortal area, neurons having mirror properties, BA: Broca’s area, WA: Wernicke’s area, FG: fusiform gyrus, AG: angular gyrus, PMC: primary motor cortex. (Provided by Acharya and Shukla, JNSBM. License: CC BY 3.0).

It has been suggested that mirror neurons help us to understand actions and intentions of other people, and facilitate imitation, language, and empathy.

One of the fundamental arguments surrounding the discovery of mirror neurons lies in the fact that these neurons help understand the motor acts of others in an immediate way, without being mediated by a reflexive-conceptual process. This type of understanding of intentionality is obtained based on the acts perceived in others through motor resonance in the perceiver, which in turn enables the understanding of motor intentions as emotional states. Thus, the understanding of perceived motor acts arises first at the motor and emotional level rather than at the reflexive and conceptual level. More details about the connection between mirror neurons and emotions/empathy can be found in the RACC article (Brunsteins, 2011).

However, the question of what the function is of the mirror neuron system is probably an ill-posed question. Mirror neurons do not have a unique functional role. Their properties indicate, rather, that they represent a mechanism that maps the pictorial description of actions carried out in the higher order visual areas onto their motor counterpart. This matching mechanism may underlie a variety of functions. More details about specific functions served by mirror neurons are in this Scholarpedia article.

Learn more about mirror neurons in the video linked here and included below.

 

 

Much of the material from Chapter 3 comes from:

Dommett, E. (2023). Lighting the world: our sense of vision. In C. Hall (Ed). Introduction to biological psychology. University of Sussex. https://doi.org/10.20919/ZDGF98294

Some of the materials come from Olman, C. & the Class of 3031 at the University of Minnesota. https://pressbooks.umn.edu/sensationandperception/
Some comes from: Grose-Fifer, J., Spielman, R. M., Dumper, K., Jenkins, W., Lacombe, A., Lovett, M., & Perlmutter, M. (2021). Introduction to Psychology (A critical approach). CUNY Pressbooks. https://pressbooks.cuny.edu/jjcpsy101/

 

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Sensation and Perception Copyright © 2025 by Dr. Jill Grose-Fifer; Students of PSY 3031; and Edited by Dr. Cheryl Olman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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