Mirror neurons in primates; the human mirror system

(Under construction)

Michael Arbib

Iacoboni paper - see Owlspace Ling 320 page, under Resources, Folder Readings, subfolder Extra Readings.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

A note on fMRI: The way fMRI works is relatively simple: different levels of cerebral blood oxygenation have different magnetic properties. Moreover, changes in blood oxygenation correlate with changes in neural activity. Thus, without using any contrast agent, fMRI can measure how much brain areas are activated during sensory, cognitive and motor experiences. (from introduction to "Who Really Won the Super Bowl? The Story of an Instant-Science Experiment", By Marco Iacoboni, linked below.

Who really won the SuperBowl? An fMRI study of the effects of the SuperBowl ads in 2008 on people's brains as shown by neuroimaging. The results show that certain ads provoke strong responses in the "mirror areas" of the cortex, and some activate the amygdala, where threats and danger are processed neurologically. There seems to be quite a disconnect between people's reports of which commercials they found most interesting, exciting, or appealing, and those which caused strong brain responses.

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