Mirror neurons have been touted as the basis for everything from action understanding and language to empathy and autism. Yet the evidence unambiguously refutes all of these claims. Dr. Hickok will discuss the origins of mirror neuron theory, how researchers made a wrong theoretical turn from the start, and where mirror neurons fit in a more balanced perspective on the neural basis of communication and cognition.
Presented at
the 22nd International Symposium via Livestream.
Presented live and recorded October 2020.
The views expressed in the following presentation are those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect those of STAR Institute.
Level: Intermediate
Length: 2 hours
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Learning Objectives:
- Explain what mirror neurons are and why neuroscientists originally believed they were important for action understanding
- Describe how the original data and ideas were scaled up to include many cognitive functions and social abilities in humans
- Explain why modern data refutes not only the application of mirror neuron theory to human cognition but also the original claims
- Summarize how current models reframe mirror neuron function as well as cognition and communication
Presenter:
Dr. Hickok’s research focuses on the neurobiology of language, speech, and hearing with application to understanding the nature of acquired language disorders (aphasia). He has published over 165 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters and edited several book volumes on the neurobiology of language and hearing. His research uses a multi-method approach including functional MRI, electrocorticography, neuropsychology, and computational modeling, and has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for the last three decades. He is also a PI on the NIH funded Center for the Study of Aphasia Recovery (C-STAR).
Dr. Hickok was the inaugural Chair of the Society for the Neurobiology, founding director of UC Irvine’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and Editor-in-Chief of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review from 2014-2019. He is the author of The Myth of Mirror Neurons: The Real Neuroscience of Communication and Cognition.
Dr. Hickok received his Ph.D. in Psychology and Linguistics
at Brandeis University in 1991 and did post-doctoral training in Cognitive
Neuroscience at MIT and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He joined
the faculty at UC Irvine in 1996 where he is currently Professor of Cognitive
Sciences and Language Science.
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The views expressed in the following presentation are those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect those of STAR Institute.