Fogassi Abstract

The Mirror Mechanism as Neurophysiological Basis for Interpersonal Communication

The parieto-frontal cortical circuit that is active during action observation is the most studied of circuits endowed with mirror properties. Yet, there is still controversy on its role in social cognition and its contribution to understanding others’ actions and intentions. Recent studies in monkeys and humans have shed light on what the parieto-frontal cortical circuit encodes and what its functional relevance for cognition might be. We conclude that, although there are several mechanisms through which one can understand other individuals’ behavior, the parieto-frontal mechanism is the only one that allows understanding others’ actions from the inside and gives the observing individual a first-person person grasp of other individuals’ motor goals and intentions.