The Myth of Mirror Neurons: The Real Neuroscience of Communication and Cognition

When I first saw the title of this book, I was taken aback. I had read various books written by science writers and researchers on various topics from consciousness, the sense of self, autism and even psychopathy and all of them had treated mirror neurons as firm established scientific fact. These authors then used mirror neurons to explain aspects of their subjects. Then I see this book entitled; "The Myth of Mirror Neurons", and figured it was written by a type of anti-scientific crank and was curious. Now that I have read the book, I know that the author is far from an anti-science crank dismissing a firm scientific fact. The author is a professor of cognitive science and has written a very scientific and understandable book. This book teaches you about the origins of the idea of mirror neurons at first. Then in a very coherent and well argued style the book reveals that mirror neurons have been taken up by many researchers as an explanation of brain functions for which there is little real evidence that the mirror neurons are the true basis. Indeed, the mirror neurons may not actually exist, but such functions may be parts of other areas in the brain. The book relentlessly undermines the claims of mirror neuron believers with well done experiments which always refer to the original findings of the first discoverers of mirror neurons. Essentially, you realize that mirror neurons have lost touch with reality and have been taken up as a magic bullet which explain things way beyond its explanatory basis. This book is all good science and the way things should work. Science must always self correct and not run off in unfounded directions. This not the work of a crank at all but it is a great example of the scientific method at its best. Good science must always think about the foundations of its facts otherwise the facts become beliefs.

The book is well written and thorough from where I stand: well outside the field of neuro-science.For me its greatest value lies in that it is exceptionally as a critique. It points to mirror neurons strengths as well as weaknesses throughout the book, and the way to the conclusion underplays nothing as far as this lay-reader can see.

This book criticizes hype from scientists and the media about embodied cognition, mirror neurons, and the differences between the left and right brain hemispheres. Popular accounts of these ideas contain a little bit of truth, but most versions either explain very little or provide misleading explanations.A good deal of our cognition is embodied in the sense that it's heavily dependent on sensory and motor activity. But we have many high-level thoughts that don't fit this model well, such as those we generate when we don't have sensory or motor interactions that are worth our attention (often misleading called a "resting state").Humans probably have mirror neurons. They have some value in helping us imitate others. But that doesn't mean they have much affect on our ability to understand what we're imitating. Our ability to understand a dog wagging its tail isn't impaired by our inability to wag our tails. Parrots' ability to imitate our speech isn't very effective at helping them understand it.Mirror neurons have also been used to promote the "broken mirror theory" of autism (with the suggestion that a malfunction related to mirror neurons impairs empathy). Hickok shows that the intense world hypothesis is more consistent with the available evidence.The book clarified my understanding of the brain a bit. But most of it seems unimportant. I had sort of accepted mild versions of the mirror neuron and left-brain, right brain hype, but doing so didn't have any obvious effects on my other beliefs or my actions. It was only at the book's end (discussing autism) that I could see how the hype might matter.Most of the ideas that he criticizes don't do much harm, because they wouldn't pay much rent if true. Identifying which neurons do what has negligible effect on how I model a person's mind unless I'm doing something unusual like brain surgery.

Excellent, tightly argued, detailed discussion of evidence. My focus is ASD; didn't completely agree w/ his analysis of ASD, though he is right to emphasize that we interact socially using multiple brain systems organized hierarchically, that the role of sensory systems is vastly under appreciated, and that no single theory can yet match the extraordinary diversity of the ASD population.

A very engaging overview of mirror neurons and their role. As made clear by the title, the author contends that mirror neurons are not the foundation of understanding the motivations of others or learning new skills. He makes a solid argument that seems to give fair consideration of the opposing view.

Refreshingly clear language about an otherwise complex topic. Hickok does a masterful job of 'cutting through the brush', and the hype. Can be usefully read in conjunction with Arbib's How the Brain got Language.

While the subject of the book is mirror neurons and you get an good explanation of claims being made for them as well as the evidence or lack thereof for such claims, you also get a nice example of how science works. I was interested in the book because I have heard so much about mirror neurons and I wanted to understand what they were really all about. However, I found myself drawn to the author's contrary view which is very well articulated and argued.I think people interested in the brain and science in general will enjoy this book, but if the idea of a book about a very specific topic within neuroscience doesn't sound appealing, you probably aren't going to like it. Otherwise I easily recommend it.

Technically challenging but well worth the effort.

Un libro bastante accesible para especialistas en neurociencias, pero también para los legos que compartan el interés por las neuronas espejo. La obra de Hickok es la más completa en cuanto a carácter crítico y argumentativo en contra de la simplicidad de explicaciones basadas en neuronas espejo, popularizadas por Giacomo Rizzolatti y su equipo de la Universidad de Parma. Hickok va progresivamente adentrando al lector en cada uno de los capítulos a las capacidades asociadas con las neuronas espejo: el lenguaje, la empatía, la imitación, etcétera., esto permite al lector una mejor comprensión de las tesis y argumentos que propone, sin duda, esta es la mayor ventaja del libro. Es ampliamente recomendable para el que desee adentrarse en el estudio crítico de las neuronas espejo, pero también para quien desee elaborar argumentos más finos a favor o en contra de esta clase de teorías.

Hickok makes a convincing argument that the wildly popular mirror neuron theories are wrong. This is a hardcore scientific book that discusses and references the original peer-reviewed literature, not some popular-science easy-reading stuff. An absolute must-read for professionals who have been captured by the mirror neuron meme, and a recommended read for everyone who is seriously interested in how the brain works.

Very interesting and well written scientific essay on an intriguing and actual theme. Highly convincing

This is a fascinating read. Hickok has some really good arguments against the mirror neuron theory. I am lovin it.

A++