Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0515, USA.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2007 Mar;2(1):62-6. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsl022.
The discovery of the mirror neuron system (MNS) has led researchers to speculate that this system evolved from an embodied visual recognition apparatus in monkey to a system critical for social skills in humans. It is accepted that the MNS is specialized for processing animate stimuli, although the degree to which social interaction modulates the firing of mirror neurons has not been investigated. In the current study, EEG mu wave suppression was used as an index of MNS activity. Data were collected while subjects viewed four videos: (1) Visual White Noise: baseline, (2) Non-interacting: three individuals tossed a ball up in the air to themselves, (3) Social Action, Spectator: three individuals tossed a ball to each other and (4) Social Action, Interactive: similar to video 3 except occasionally the ball would be thrown off the screen toward the viewer. The mu wave was modulated by the degree of social interaction, with the Non-interacting condition showing the least suppression, followed by the Social Action, Spectator condition and the Social Action, Interactive condition showing the most suppression. These data suggest that the human MNS is specialized not only for processing animate stimuli, but specifically stimuli with social relevance.
镜像神经元系统（MNS）的发现促使研究人员推测，该系统是从猴子的具身视觉识别装置进化而来，对于人类的社交技能至关重要。人们普遍认为，MNS 专门用于处理有生命的刺激，但社交互动对镜像神经元放电的调节程度尚未得到研究。在当前的研究中，EEG mu 波抑制被用作 MNS 活动的指标。当受试者观看四个视频时，收集数据：（1）视觉白噪声：基线，（2）非交互：三个人将球抛向空中，（3）社会动作，观众：三个人互相抛球，（4）社会动作，互动：类似于视频 3，但偶尔球会从屏幕上飞向观众。mu 波受到社交互动程度的调节，非互动条件下的抑制作用最小，其次是社会动作，观众条件和社会动作，互动条件下的抑制作用最大。这些数据表明，人类的 MNS 不仅专门用于处理有生命的刺激，而且专门用于处理具有社会相关性的刺激。
