ReviewBiological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society2017
Mirror neurons in the tree of life: mosaic evolution, plasticity and exaptation of sensorimotor matching responses.
Review in Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Differential mirror neuron system (MNS) activation during action observation with and without social-emotional components in autism: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies.Molecular autism · 2020Pooled it
- Effects of High-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Combined with Task-Oriented Mirror Therapy Training on Hand Rehabilitation of Acute Stroke Patients.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2018Trial
- What Else Is Happening to the Mirror Neurons?-A Bibliometric Analysis of Mirror Neuron Research Trends and Future Directions (1996-2024).Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- More Thumbs Than Rules: Is Rationality an Exaptation?Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Intersubjectivity and the Emergence of Words.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Review
- A New Neurorehabilitative Postsurgery Intervention for Facial Palsy Based on Smile Observation and Hand-Mouth Motor Synergies.Neural plasticity · 2021Article
- Ordered interpersonal synchronisation in ASD children via robots.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Comparison of Activation Patterns in Mirror Neurons and the Swallowing Network During Action Observation and Execution: A Task-Based fMRI Study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2020Article
- Learning new sport actions: Pilot study to investigate the imitative and the verbal instructive teaching methods in motor education.PloS one · 2020Article
- Children with facial paralysis due to Moebius syndrome exhibit reduced autonomic modulation during emotion processing.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2019Article
- Exploring the EEG mu rhythm associated with observation and execution of a goal-directed action in 14-month-old preterm infants.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Autonomic Responses to Emotional Stimuli in Children Affected by Facial Palsy: The Case of Moebius Syndrome.Neural plasticity · 2019Article
- EEG beta desynchronization during hand goal-directed action observation in newborn monkeys and its relation to the emergence of hand motor skills.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2018Article
- Reflections on the differential organization of mirror neuron systems for hand and mouth and their role in the evolution of communication in primates.Interaction studies · 2018Article
- The Effects of Maternal Mirroring on the Development of Infant Social Expressiveness: The Case of Infant Cleft Lip.Neural plasticity · 2018Article
- Evolutionary neuroscience of cumulative culture.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Considering the properties of mirror neurons (MNs) in terms of development and phylogeny, we offer a novel, unifying, and testable account of their evolution according to the available data and try to unify apparently discordant research, including the plasticity of MNs during development, their adaptive value and their phylogenetic relationships and continuity. We hypothesize that the MN system reflects a set of interrelated traits, each with an independent natural history due to unique selective pressures, and propose that there are at least three evolutionarily significant trends that gave raise to three subtypes: hand visuomotor, mouth visuomotor, and audio-vocal. Specifically, we put forward a mosaic evolution hypothesis, which posits that different types of MNs may have evolved at different rates within and among species. This evolutionary hypothesis represents an alternative to both adaptationist and associative models. Finally, the review offers a strong heuristic potential in predicting the circumstances under which specific variations and properties of MNs are expected. Such predictive value is critical to test new hypotheses about MN activity and its plastic changes, depending on the species, the neuroanatomical substrates, and the ecological niche.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.