Research article summary (published 27 Mar 2003):

What imitation tells us about social cognition: a rapprochement between developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience.

Full Abstract

Both developmental and neurophysiological research suggest a common coding between perceived and generated actions. This shared representational network is innately wired in humans. We review psychological evidence concerning the imitative behaviour of newborn human infants. We suggest that the mechanisms involved in infant imitation provide the foundation for understanding that others are 'like me' and underlie the development of theory of mind and empathy for others. We also analyse functional neuroimaging studies that explore the neurophysiological substrate of imitation in adults. We marshal evidence that imitation recruits not only shared neural representations between the self and the other but also cortical regions in the parietal cortex that are crucial for distinguishing between the perspective of self and other. Imitation is doubly revealing: it is used by infants to learn about adults, and by scientists to understand the organization and functioning of the brain.

Author information

Author/s: Meltzoff, Andrew N (AN); Decety, Jean (J);

Affiliation: Center for Mind, Brain & Learning, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA. meltzoff(-atsign-)u.washington.edu

Grants: HD-22514 (Agency:NICHD NIH HHS) ; R37 HD022514-15 (Agency:NICHD NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences (Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Mar; vol 358 (issue 1431) : pp 491-500

Dates: Created 2003/04/11; Completed 2003/05/01; Revised 2008/11/20;

PMID: 12689375, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Child Development - physiology Cognition - physiology Empathy Humans Imitative Behavior Infant, Newborn

Infant, Newborn Neurons - physiology Neurosciences Parietal Lobe - physiology Psychology Social Perception

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