Vol. 24 No. 3 (2025): Mapana Journal of Sciences
Research Articles

Mirror Neuron Function within the Action Observation Network: A Review

  • Chhavi Bhalothia,
  • Girima Nagda
Chhavi Bhalothia
Toxicology Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University College of Science, M.L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur 313 001, India
Bio
Girima Nagda
Toxicology Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University College of Science, M.L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur 313 001, India

Published 2025-09-29

Keywords

  • Action observable network (AON),
  • Mirror Neurons,
  • Visual pathways,
  • social cognition,
  • Neurorehabilitation,
  • Dorsal Pathway,
  • Ventral Pathway
    • ...More
    Less

Copyright (c) 2025

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Typically, when an observer witnesses an action being performed by an agent, their Mirror Neuron System initiates a motor simulation of that action. It has been argued that mirror neurons and the cortical areas of the action observation network (AON) enable our capacity to comprehend activities at these levels. The empirical evidence for this suggested role is scant but according to existing theories, the visual brain of primates is split into two functionally separate networks. The dorsal route calculates an object's position and any activities associated with it, while the ventral pathway computes an object's identity. In this two-route paradigm, mirror neurons encode this concrete representation of the event, which serves as a precedent to forecast the sensory effects of this activity via the AON pathway of dorsal route. Although still popular, the two visual pathways concept needs to be updated. This review gives an idea about mirror neurons and discusses their role in AON.

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