SynthesisSocial cognitive and affective neuroscience2024
Two different mirror neuron pathways for social and non-social actions? A meta-analysis of fMRI studies.
Synthesis in Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Differential effects of levodopa on social cognition in people with Parkinson's disease.Journal of Parkinson's disease · 2026Article
- The contextual self: object ownership modulates neural encoding across peripersonal and extrapersonal spaces.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Empathic Dimensions Influence Motor Resonance Magnitude During Transitive but Not Intransitive Action Observation: A Retrospective Investigation.Brain sciences · 2025Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
Mirror neurons (MNs) represent a class of neurons that are activated when performing or observing the same action. Given their role in social cognition and previous research in patients with psychiatric disorders, we proposed that the human MN system (MNS) might display different pathways for social and non-social actions. To examine this hypothesis, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of 174 published human functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. Our findings confirmed the proposed hypothesis. Our results demonstrated that the non-social MN pathway exhibited a more classical pattern of frontoparietal activation, whereas the social MN pathway was activated less in the parietal lobe but more in the frontal lobe, limbic lobe, and sublobar regions. Additionally, our findings revealed a modulatory role of the effector (i.e. face and hands) within this framework: some areas exhibited effector-independent activation, while others did not. This novel subdivision provides valuable theoretical support for further investigations into the neural mechanisms underlying the MNS and its related disorders.
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