The myth of mirror neurons
Subtitle: the real neuroscience of communication and cognition
By: Gregory Hickok, PhD
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 292
ISBN-13: 9780393089615
Subjects: Brain; Mirror neurons; Physiology; Cognitive neuroscience
Description: "In The Myth of Mirror Neurons, neuroscientist Gregory Hickok reexamines the mirror neuron story and finds that it is built on a tenuous foundation--a pair of codependent assumptions about mirror neuron activity and human understanding. Drawing on a broad range of observations from work on animal behavior, modern neuroimaging, neurological disorders, and more, Hickok argues that the foundational assumptions fall flat in light of the facts. He then explores alternative explanations of mirror neuron function while illuminating crucial questions about human cognition and brain function: Why do humans imitate so prodigiously? How different are the left and right hemispheres of the brain? Why do we have two visual systems? Do we need to be able to talk to understand speech? What's going wrong in autism? Can humans read minds? The Myth of Mirror Neurons not only delivers an instructive tale about the course of scientific progress--from discovery to theory to revision--but also provides deep insights into the organization and function of the human brain and the nature of communication and cognition." -- Publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: A neural blueprint for human behavior?; title: Serendipity in Parma; title: Like what DNA did for biology; title: Human see, human do?; title: Anomalies; title: Talking brains; title: The embodied brain; title: Feeling, doing, knowing; title: Homo Imitans and the function of mirror neurons; title: Broken mirrors; title: Predicting the future of mirror neurons; title: Appendix A. A primer on brain organization; title: Appendix B. Cognitive neuroscience toolbox.