Department of Neurology, Music and Neuroimaging Laboratory, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Brain Res Bull. 2010 May 31;82(3-4):161-8. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2010.04.010. Epub 2010 Apr 28.
Individuals with autism show impairments in emotional tuning, social interactions and communication. These are functions that have been attributed to the putative human mirror neuron system (MNS), which contains neurons that respond to the actions of self and others. It has been proposed that a dysfunction of that system underlies some of the characteristics of autism. Here, we review behavioral and imaging studies that implicate the MNS (or a brain network with similar functions) in sensory-motor integration and speech representation, and review data supporting the hypothesis that MNS activity could be abnormal in autism. In addition, we propose that an intervention designed to engage brain regions that overlap with the MNS may have significant clinical potential. We argue that this engagement could be achieved through forms of music making. Music making with others (e.g., playing instruments or singing) is a multi-modal activity that has been shown to engage brain regions that largely overlap with the human MNS. Furthermore, many children with autism thoroughly enjoy participating in musical activities. Such activities may enhance their ability to focus and interact with others, thereby fostering the development of communication and social skills. Thus, interventions incorporating methods of music making may offer a promising approach for facilitating expressive language in otherwise nonverbal children with autism.
自闭症患者在情绪调节、社交互动和沟通方面存在障碍。这些功能归因于假设的人类镜像神经元系统（MNS），其中包含对自我和他人行为做出反应的神经元。有人提出，该系统的功能障碍是自闭症某些特征的基础。在这里，我们回顾了行为和成像研究，这些研究表明 MNS（或具有类似功能的大脑网络）参与感觉运动整合和言语表达，并回顾了支持 MNS 活动在自闭症中可能异常的假设的数据。此外，我们提出，旨在参与与 MNS 重叠的大脑区域的干预措施可能具有重要的临床潜力。我们认为，这种参与可以通过音乐创作的形式来实现。与他人一起进行音乐创作（例如，演奏乐器或唱歌）是一种多模态活动，已被证明可以参与与人类 MNS 大部分重叠的大脑区域。此外，许多自闭症儿童非常喜欢参与音乐活动。这些活动可以增强他们专注和与他人互动的能力，从而促进沟通和社交技能的发展。因此，纳入音乐创作方法的干预措施可能为促进自闭症非言语儿童的表达性语言提供一种有前途的方法。
