EBD Blog

Mirror neurons, which have been connected to deficits seen in Autism (see here and here), might be artificially stimulated, thus promoting function that is more similar to that seen in individuals who do not have Autism. Recently on NPR’s Morning Edition John Hamilton described two presentations at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, in San Diego that bear on this possibility.

In one study, Lindsay Oberman and her colleagues examined the mu rhythms of individuals with and without Autism while they watched videos of hands performing actions (Mu rhythms are a human brain-wave pattern; they are suppressed when the brain is performing, seeing or imagining actions, and they are correlated with the activity of the mirror neuron system.) Mr. Hamilton reported that Oberman and others are examining use of transcranial magnetic stimulation to excite mirror neurons.

In the second study, Jaime Pineda and colleagues described how they are using a video game in which children move a car by bio-feedback. The researchers are deriving the bio-feedback from frequencies that require use of mirron neurons. They report post-hoc change in the function of mirror neuron areas of the children’s brains and even have anecdotal report from parents about improvements in the children’s behavior.

Here’s the abstract for the report by Professor Oberman and colleagues:

Title: Mirror neuron activity modulated by actor familiarity in children with autism spectrum disorders: an eeg study

2007 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. San Diego, CA: Society for Neuroscience, 2007. Online.

Authors: *L. M. OBERMAN(1), V. S. RAMACHANDRAN(1,2), J. A. PINEDA(3);
(1:Psychology, UCSD, Lajolla, CA; 2:Neurosciences, 3:Cognitive Sci., UCSD, La Jolla, CA)

In an early description of the mu rhythm, Gastaut and Bert (1954) noted that it was blocked or suppressed when an individual identified himself with an active person on the screen, suggesting that it may be modulated by the degree to which the individual can relate to the observed action. Additionally, multiple recent studies suggest that the mirror neurons system (MNS) is impaired in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), which may affect their ability to relate to others. The current study investigated in ASD and neurotypical children the degree to which the MNS is sensitive to two manipulations aimed at varying the degree to which the observer is able to identify with the action on the screen: social versus nonsocial actions, and the familiarity of the individual performing the action. Data were collected while participants viewed six 80 second videos: (1) Bouncing Ball: baseline, (2) Non-interacting: three individuals tossed a ball up in the air to themselves, (3) Social Action: three individuals tossed a ball to each other and occasionally off the screen toward the viewer, (4) Stranger: an unfamiliar hand performing a grasping action, (5) Familiar: the child’s guardian or sibling’s hand performing the same action, (6) Own: the participant’s own hand performing the same action.

Mu suppression was not sensitive to social action as compared to nonsocial action. Neurotypical children showed suppression to both stimuli, whereas children with ASD showed no suppression during either condition. Mu suppression did, however, appear to be sensitive to familiarity of the individual performing the action. Both neurotypical participants and those with ASD showed greater suppression to familiar individuals compared to the stranger. This finding suggests that the MNS may respond to observed actions in individuals with ASD under specific conditions.

Link to Mr. Hamilton’s story where you can rehear it. You can also read the Society for Neuroscience press release about these and other studies of mirror neurons in Autism. Also, take a tour of the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab of University of California San Diego, where these professors describe their research.