Arguments for the Hypothesis
Since the inception of the idea that mirror neurons can explain the behavior of an individual in the Autism Spectrum, there have been many theories trying to explain the same, one of the established theory is the broken mirror theory which supports the hypothesis that defects in the mirror neuron systems can explain the symptoms associated with Autism disorders. One of the chief supporters of the hypothesis is Ramachandran, V. S. whose TED talk on mirror neurons is one of the reasons for its widespread publicity relating to evolution. Mu waves related to the sensorimotor region is studied and the analysis suggests that EEG could provide a basis for linking mirror neurons to autism [9]. A brief summary of the imaging
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is one of the most vocal critics of the significance of Mirror neurons, as he doubts that action understanding could lead to activation of mirror neurons while in fact suspects the reverse happens. This also undermines the theory of broken mirror which is built upon the statement that action understanding and in turn social cognition have a basis in mirror neurons [13]. Another study that refutes the claim is the study of "perception of biological motion in autistic individuals" dealing with imitation that is discussed in the hypothesis [14]. Speaking about imitation, a direct contradiction of the hypothesis shows how children with autism were good at performing tasks involving automatic imitation. The study also questions if the sole function of the mirror neuron system can be about imitation as suggested by the broken mirror theory [15]. Mu suppression studies are also not in favor of the hypothesis stating that the visual attention between control and autistic groups were not significantly different [16]. Recently, Hamilton, A. et al., started with observing functional MRI studies that showed certain changes in the mirror neurons regions in the autistic subjects focusing on sequential action predictions but in conclusion, the hypothesis does not hold good enough to stand alone. They suggest combining studying mentalizing and mirror neuron studies to get a better sense of the phenomena
Lawrence fiddled with a toy while listening to the radio. After the broadcast was over, he softly mumbled something, though he generally kept to himself. I listened closely since his autism typically prevented Lawrence from stringing even two words together. He had recited the entire radio program, virtually word for word, even mimicking the tone of the broadcaster's voice. My jaw dropped. At that moment I knew that I wanted to learn more about Lawrence’s autism condition so that I could help him grow, but I also hoped to dedicate myself to studying the brain both from a physiological and psychological standpoint.
In a research project monitoring the brain waves of a child observing a task and completing a task, it was found that the two sets of brain waves were almost identical. However, when testing an autistic child, it was found that two different sets of brain waves were created. This research suggests that autistic children have a lower number of mirror neurons, which would help explain their deficiency in social interaction, imitation, and empathy.
Mindreading is defined as the ability to “make sense of other people and to coordinate our behavior with theirs” (Bermudez, 354). Many cognitive scientists believe the theory of mind mechanism (TOMM) is important to mindreading. These scientists contend that autistic individuals suffer from an impairment to this theory of mind module. However, others have argued that theory of mind, which is “the ability to form beliefs about the mental states of others”, is not a modular ability, but instead the result of the interaction of many different cognitive skills. In their paper “Generous or Parsimonious Cognitive Architecture? Cognitive Neuroscience and Theory of Mind,” Philip Gerrans and Valerie E. Stone take this view of theory of mind. I will review this paper and its arguments, then address the response to Gerrans and Stone made by Carl Hildebrand.
Perception refers to the process of taking in, organizing, and interpreting sensory data. Perception is multimodal, with multiple sensory inputs contributing to motor responses (Bertenthal 1996). In this paper, I will discuss the many differences between people with autism and the people without and how each person reacts to the same stimuli differently. I will focus on a teenage boy named Brandon, who has Autism, the parents have known that he had ASD since he was 16 months of age where they entered him into early intervention. Each person focuses differently on the perception of each thing in the world, but when you add a person with autism into the mix everything changes completely. When it comes to perception I believe that top-down processing is going to be the focus of this paper since, it has a lot to do with perception, that perception may start with the brain this includes a person’s knowledge, experience, and expectation.
With the rate of autism being diagnosed on the rise, the amount of research and interest in the disorder has risen as well. Some research suggests that over the past two decades the occurrence of autism has increased from approximately 2-5 per 10,000 births to about 1-5 per 1,000 births (Acosta & Pearl, 2004; Fatemi et al., 2012). Still others report that the occurrence is as high as 1 in 150 kids (Amaral, Schumann, & Nordhal, 2008). Even though the spectrum of autistic disorders has been studied since 1943, there have still not been any consistent nor persuasive causes or markers, either biological or clinical, identified with autism and its range of disorders (Santangelo & Tsatsanis, 2005). In fact, even with all of the advancements in genetic research technology and the increasing interest in autism, researchers can still only account for approximately 5-15% of autistic cases (Rogers et al., 2013).
The main point the author made was that if one person or monkey see someone else or something doing an action they will follow and repeat the action and then later forget they learned that from someone else. she also made the point that researchers have not been able to prove that humans have individual mirror neurons like monkeys, they have shown that humans have a more general mirror system. I think that the author believes that if one sees someone else doing something they will most likely to mimic what has been done in front of them. the main point is to teach us about the mirror neurons. this is the brain record the difference between seeing and acting. this is the type of brain cell that fires when you do an action, and also when you simply watch someone else doing the same action. Temma supported her main point by stating that many people often confused their own actions with others.in a study did on people who watched a video learning to shuffle a deck of card often mistaken recalled two weeks later that they had once done so themselves. this occurred when the person was told that they could mix up others actions with their own actions ( page33).
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a growing disorder that affects 1 in 300 children in the U.S. Autism can be defined as a disorder in brain developments that can cause a lack in motor skills. Motor skills progress throughout the life span creating growth in the human brain, thus allowing the child to grow developmentally and physically. Simple motor skills including brushing your teeth, snapping buttons on a shirt, brushing your hair, and writing your name are learned easily by most children. However, children with ASD may not develop these skills causing them to be behind most children their age socially, cognitively, and in their daily living skills. Motor delays and lack of social responsiveness can be found in children who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder possibly due to brain developmental delays Due to the lack of motor skill development in autism patients, it is advised they seek therapy to help increase their motor ability and social skills in order to stimulate growth in these areas and have the chance to become more independent at home. This research investigates autism, the importance of motor therapy, and describes the changes seen in patients with therapeutic treatments.
Additionally, autistic children seem to have difficulty in recognising bodily gestures and context on an emotional level, yet seem to compare similarly to typically developing children on recognising simple actions (Hubert et al, 2007). ASD consists of various mental disorders such as autism, Asperger’s syndrome, and childhood disintegrative disorder (DSM-IV). Autism is undeniably a part of ASD, defined as a triad of impairments, it consists of specific deficits which may be more susceptible in recognising certain types of motion (Wing and Gould in 1979 as cited in Mitchell & Fenja, 2013). As Parron et al hypothesised to find differences in autistic children, the findings are more generalised to ASD rather than autism thus reducing the internal validity of the findings. Gepner and Mestre in 2002 found those with autism showed less postural reactivity in comparison to those with Asperger’s syndrome whom showed increased postural activity (as cited in Greffou et al, 2011). This suggests, regardless of the subcategories within ASD, there are variations amongst the specific mental disorders, which affects the internal validity of this study.
The past 20 years has seen much interest in the development of cognitive profiles and mentalising ability, particularly in how they may account for some characteristics of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Two of the most influential theories to date are: (i) Weak Central Coherence theory (WCC), which posits that those with WCC focus on detailed (local) features and fail to apply a global context in understanding their environment (Frith & Happe, 1994); and (ii) Theory of Mind (ToM), also referred to as ‘mentalising’, which relates to the ability to recognise ones’ own or others’ mental states (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Hill, Rast & Plumb, 2001).
Observation of the behavior of autistics makes it clear that they do interact with their world and understand certain aspects of it to a degree. However they often appear intensely focused on one perception or sensory experience and are unable to integrate multiple factors of emotion, intention, or personality in the way most people do. As a result of this inability to perceive order in all of the circumstances of their environment, they often find themselves in a world that seems very chaotic and random.
I often hear the phrase, “humans learn through observing and imitating,” and after reading about mirror neurons, it makes sense. As babies, we learn our first words by imitating the sounds our parents make. Growing up, we observe our environments; we learn what is acceptable and what is not. In turn, what we learn about our society allows us to conform and have a sense of belongingness to our community—we start to socialize. Socialization then translates to empathy. We discover feelings and we start to relate to other people’s conditions and situations enabling us to facilitate connections and develop relationships. Of course, more research is needed to validate the correlation of these mirror neurons to learning, language, social behaviors
There is evidence from Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation studies that suggests a plastic human mirror neuron system (Mehta et al., 2015). However more research in this area must be done to confirm noteworthy and symptomatically noticeable plasticity of the mirror neuron system. Nevertheless, if the associative learning theory of mirror neuron origin is correct, then there may be great implications for treatment and therapies for individuals who have disorders or diseases associated with stunted mirror neuron systems, such as schizophrenia,
Motion perception in autism has been investigated extensity, particularly in the last few years; however, the causes of impairment in detecting coherent motion are not fully understood. One important observation in the recent research, which conducted to assess the motion perception in patient with autism, is that the impaired motion detection is not necessary to occur in all patients with autism (Sanchez & Padila-Medina, 2007; Swettenham, Hansen & Ramus). These studies did not show any significant group difference between children with autism and controls, however, some children with autism showed elevated motion coherence thresholds whereas others performed well like the control group. In addition, the impairment in motion detection occurs
The way these children learn to roll over and later to walk is not the same as the way of normally developing children. Overall, the movements of autistic children are less coordinated. For example, when sitting, they distribute their weight unevenly, causing them to fall over. Results from his study led Teitelbaum to conclude that “movement disturbances play an intrinsic part in the phenomenon of autism… and can be used to diagnose the presence of autism in the first few months of life.”
In order to find this, he conducted the mirror neuron experiment in which he used an electroencephalogram, or EEG brain scan to measure brain waves in autistics, and specifically the mu wave, which is “suppressed” when completing motor/voluntary actions as well as when watching these actions completed (in normally developing people). In those with autism, researchers found that their mu waves were not suppressed in watching these actions completed (reflective of trouble mimicking and copying observed social interactions/practices) evidencing the deficiency/abnormality of the mirror-neuron system in