The human mirror neuron system in a population with deficient self-awareness: an fMRI study in alexithymia.

The mirror neuron system (MNS) is considered crucial for human imitation and language learning and provides the basis for the development of empathy and mentalizing. Alexithymia (ALEX), which refers to deficiencies in the self-awareness of emotional states, has been reported to be associated with poor ability in various aspects of social cognition such as mentalizing, cognitive empathy, and perspective-taking. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we measured the hemodynamic signal to examine whether there are functional differences in the MNS activity between participants with ALEX (n = 16) and without ALEX (n = 13), in response to a classic MNS task (i.

Neural correlates for learning to read Roman numerals.

This study examined the neuronal correlates of reading Roman numerals and the changes that occur with extensive practice. Subjects were scanned by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) three times the first day of the experiment and once following two to three months of practice. This allowed comparison of brain activations with varying levels of practice on the same day and across the two to three months of training.

Navigation ability dependent neural activation in the human brain: an fMRI study.

Visual-spatial navigation in familiar and unfamiliar environments is an essential requirement of daily life. Animal studies indicated the importance of the hippocampus for navigation. Neuroimaging studies demonstrated gender difference or strategies dependent difference of neural substrates for navigation.

Neural correlates for numerical processing in the manual mode.

This paper reports a study designed to examine the neuronal correlates for comprehending the signs of American Sign Language representing numerals in deaf signers who acquired Japanese Sign Language as their first language. The participants were scanned by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) twice on the day of the experiment. The results of the measurements revealed that upon learning that the signs actually have numeric meaning, a network of brain areas is activated immediately.

Specific brain activation in Japanese and Caucasian people to fearful faces.

Different regions of brain activation, as measured by fMRI, were evident in Japanese and Caucasian individuals observing facial expressions categorized as fearful according to Ekman criteria. Activation was evident in the posterior cingulate, supplementary motor cortex and the amygdala in Caucasians, while activation was evident in the right inferior frontal, premotor cortex and left insula and in Japanese individuals. The results suggest that Caucasians respond to fearful faces in a more direct, emotional way, whereas Japanese do not attach an emotional valence to the faces and therefore activate a template matching system to identify facial expressions.

The neural network for the mirror system and mentalizing in normally developed children: an fMRI study.

We performed fMRI measurements in normal children to clarify which cortical areas are commonly involved in the mirror system (MS) and mentalizing, which areas are specific for mentalizing, and whether children have the same neural networks for MS and mentalizing as adults. Normal children had the same neural networks for the MS and mentalizing as adults. Common activations were found in the superior temporal sulcus and the fusiform gyri, whereas mentalizing specific activation was found in the medial prefrontal, temporal pole and the inferior parietal cortices.