Understanding emotions in others: mirror neuron dysfunction in children with autism spectrum disorders

To examine mirror neuron abnormalities in autism, high-functioning children with autism and matched controls underwent fMRI while imitating and observing emotional expressions. Although both groups performed the tasks equally well, children with autism showed no mirror neuron activity in the inferio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature neuroscience Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 28 - 30
Main Authors: Dapretto, Mirella, Davies, Mari S, Pfeifer, Jennifer H, Scott, Ashley A, Sigman, Marian, Bookheimer, Susan Y, Iacoboni, Marco
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.01.2006
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
Animal Genetics and Genomics
Autism
Autistic Disorder - physiopathology
Autistic Disorder - psychology
Behavioral Sciences
Biological Techniques
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Brain Mapping
brief-communication
Child
Emotions
Emotions - physiology
Empathy
Facial Expression
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Neurobiology
Neurons
Neurons - physiology
Neurosciences
Physiological aspects
Social Perception
United States
ISSN:1097-6256, 1546-1726
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:To examine mirror neuron abnormalities in autism, high-functioning children with autism and matched controls underwent fMRI while imitating and observing emotional expressions. Although both groups performed the tasks equally well, children with autism showed no mirror neuron activity in the inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis). Notably, activity in this area was inversely related to symptom severity in the social domain, suggesting that a dysfunctional 'mirror neuron system' may underlie the social deficits observed in autism.
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ISSN:1097-6256
1546-1726
DOI:10.1038/nn1611