Guía_Nuestros marcos teóricos + Neuronas espejo + Neurogénesis
-
Upload
jorge-ramirez-sanchez -
Category
Documents
-
view
37 -
download
1
Transcript of Guía_Nuestros marcos teóricos + Neuronas espejo + Neurogénesis
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
1/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
1
CENTRO ERICKSONIANODE MXICO.Un lugar de encuentro
NUESTROS MARCOS
TEORICOS
GUA DEL MAESTRO
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
2/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
2
MATERIAL:
Power Point Aportaciones tericas de Teresa Robles
Power Point Introduccin a Milton H. Erickson y a las tcnicasericksonianas
DVD con la entrevista de Iris Corzo a Teresa Robles
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
3/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
3
INDICE
INTRODUCCIN.
I. MILTON H. ERICKSON.
II. TERESA ROBLES.
III. NUEVOS PARADIGMAS DE LA CIENCIA.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
4/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
4
OBJETIVO.
El alumno conocer los tres marcos de referencia tericos que sustentan el trabajo
teraputico del Centro Ericksoniano de Mxico (CEM): la propuesta de Milton H.
Erikson, la propuesta de Teresa Robles y los Nuevos Paradigmas de la Ciencia.
INTRODUCCIN.
Los marcos de referencia con los que realizamos nuestro trabajo en el Centro
Ericksoniano de Mxico A.C. (CEM) tienen su fundamento en la visin del ser
humano que tuvo Milton H. Erickson y las propias aportaciones de Teresa Robles,
fundadora y directora general del CEM.
Adems, incluimos en nuestros marcos de referencia las aportaciones de los
nuevos paradigmas de la ciencia, los cuales nos abren perspectivas sumamente
ricas, tanto para nuestro trabajo teraputico como para nuestra vida personal.
I. MILTON H. ERICKSON.
(Preguntar: qu saben de Milton Erickson? Qu es lo ericksoniano?
Ir integrando las respuestas.)
Qu es lo ericksoniano?
Milton H. Erickson nunca expuso una teora estructurada como tal. Y slo
hasta finales de los aos cincuenta ense en forma lineal y estructurada qu era
la hipnosis y cmo utilizarla (ver los Seminarios de Erickson en California 1957).
Ms tarde, cuando enseaba, en realidad estaba trabajando con sus alumnos
para producir en ellos cambios internos que los abrieran a nuevas maneras de ver
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
5/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
5
el mundo, realizaba con ellos un trance hipntico de principio a fin del Seminario,
como veremos en los videos que vamos a observar, utilizando lenguaje hipntico
todo el tiempo. En ese tiempo, sus alumnos llegaban a ver al gran maestro
hipnotizador a quien crean nadie se poda resistir y, por lo tanto, estabanabiertos a vivir experiencias diferentes. Estaban y se mantenan en un estado
amplificado de conciencia de principio a fin de su clase.
El estado amplificado de conciencia (antes llamado estado alterado o
alternativo de conciencia) es el trmino acadmico utilizado para denominar el
trance natural, un estado muy similar al que se alcanza cuando uno est
embelezado contemplando un paisaje hermoso, escuchando una bella pieza
musical o cuando se medita profundamente.
Durante el trance natural, la atencin de la persona est ms enfocada hacia
el interior que hacia el exterior, facilitando la activacin de las funciones del
hemisferio derecho del cerebro. En este estado, la persona est sintiendo ms que
pensando, imaginando ms que razonando, y se agudiza la percepcin.
(Explicar qu es un estado amplificado de conciencia: es el trmino
acadmico para el trance natural. Pas de ser llamado estado alterado aestado alternativo y de all a estado amplificado.
Amplificado porque al mismo tiempo que la persona tiene orientada su
atencin al interior, sigue en cada medida consciente de lo que sucede
afuera.)
Aqu en el CEM nos parece que lo esencial del trabajo del Dr. Erickson es,
tanto su epistemologa, como el trabajo con estados amplificados de conciencia
(que en ese tiempo se llamaba trance hipntico natural o ericksoniano), as como
las tcnicas para inducir esos estados y sugerir cambios a travs de una
conversacin que induce al trance. Milton H. Erickson deca que la hipnosis era
slo una forma de comunicacin ms eficiente.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
6/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
6
Nosotros, ms que hablar de hipnosis, preferimos hablar de psicoterapia
ericksoniana, la cual utiliza la hipnosis dentro de un contexto teraputico
integrado por la epistemologa que vamos a ver ms adelante, pero que podemos
resumir afirmando que:
Todos los seres humanos tendemos al crecimiento y al bienestar, pero sin
quererlo, tambin aprendemos a estar mal; as que del mismo modo,
podemos aprender a estar bien.
La vida nos presenta dificultades: si las resolvemos, crecemos, si no, las
dificultades se transforman en problemas.
Tenemos todos los aprendizajes que necesitamos para resolver la situacin
que la vida nos presente. Estos aprendizajes son nuestras experiencias de
vida, en especial las de nuestros primeros aos de vida. Estn grabadas en
nuestra mente inconsciente.
Nuestra mente inconsciente es, por esta razn, como una Parte Sabia.
Cada persona es nica, por eso Erickson recomendaba nunca poner
etiquetas o usar teoras que etiquetan al paciente y siempre cortar la terapia
a la medida de cada persona.
Utilizaba temas universales, cortados teraputicamente a la medida decada quien.
(Hasta hace poco, todo el mundo sealaba el cortar a la medida, pero
los temas universales son importantsimos, y por eso l resolva de un
golpe tantas cosas. Teresa Robles tom de Erickson el trabajo con temas
universales.)
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
7/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
7
Tres etapas de Milton Erickson.
En el trabajo clnico realizado por Milton Erickson a lo largo de su vida se
pueden reconocer tres etapas:
1. 1927 1940: hace un trabajo muy minucioso, prepara mucho la intervencin,
cortando con detalle a la medida de la persona. De all surge la PNL. Este perodo
corresponde a la publicacin del Hombre de febrero.
2. 1949 1965: tiene ya sistematizado lo que ensea. Una parte del paciente
recuerda y otra no. Llevaba al pasado protegidamente para que no fuera doloroso.
Buscaba que el cuerpo expresara lo que suceda dentro de la persona.
Corresponde a la poca de los Seminarios de Erickson en California.
3. poca final, hasta su muerte (1980): deja lo racional aparte y deja ir solo al
inconsciente. Corresponde a la poca en que Erickson imparta seminarios
didcticos en su casa (en silla de ruedas).
Desarrollos posteriores a Erickson.
En una historia hind se cuenta que pidieron a tres ciegos que describieran a
un elefante. Cada uno toc una parte de su cuerpo y en funcin de eso, hizo su
descripcin. El que toc la oreja dijo que era como una sbana enorme. El que
toc la pata, lo describi como el tronco de un rbol y el que toc la cola, como
una cuerda.
As sucede con el trabajo de Milton H. Ericsson, pero para bien. Por su gran
riqueza, cada estudioso ha tomado de l una parte que le interesa particularmentey a partir de ah, se ha dicho que es ericksoniano o ha desarrollado una nueva
Escuela de Psicoterapia. As surgieron entre otras la PNL, la Terapia Estratgica,
la Terapia Breve, la Terapia Orientada a las Soluciones. Entre sus discpulos ms
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
8/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
8
cercanos, Ernst Rossi, mdico, adems de convertirse en editor de la obra de su
maestro, se dedic a estudiar la relacin mente-cuerpo. Stephen Gilligan,
junguiano, incorpor al trabajo ericksoniano el trabajo con arquetipos. Fue el
primero en integrar un elemento espiritual a su trabajo. Lo sigui Rossi, veinteaos despus. Una propuesta de la Social and Medical Network, asociacin
europea que integra profesionales de la salud que trabajan tambin con
espiritualidad, es que cuando se trabaja con estados amplificados de conciencia,
se llega siempre a un desarrollo espiritual entendido en el ms amplio sentido de
la palabra, ya que la persona entra en contacto con la totalidad.
Jeffrey K. Zeigha dedicado su vida a crear y mantener la infraestructura que
ha hecho posible la difusin del trabajo del Dr. Erickson, sobre todo, a travs de la
creacin de la Fundacin Milton H. Erickson que promueve tanto la formacin de
institutos y centros en todo el mundo como organiza congresos varias veces al
ao. La propuesta terica tcnica de Jeff es establecer criterios diagnsticos para
cortar la terapia a la medida (como vamos a ver y a practicar) y proponer lo que
llama El diamante de la terapia (ver Terapia cortada a la medida).
Algunos otros autores ms incluyen a William OHanlon, creador de la
Terapia Orientada a Soluciones, y a Stephen Lankton y su esposa, quienes han
trabajado mucho con metforas.
El trabajo ericksoniano aqu en Mxico comenz a ser difundido por la Dra.
Teresa Robles a partir de 1988 a travs del Instituto Milton H. Erickson de la
Ciudad de Mxico y posteriormente por el Centro Ericksoniano de Mxico A.C.
(CEM). La propuesta del CEM est estrechamente relacionada con la historia
personal de Teresa Robles.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
9/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
9
II. TERESA ROBLES.
Las aportaciones de Teresa Robles a la psicoterapia ericksoniana tienen sus
races en su primera formacin como antroploga social.
Muy cercana a la antropologa social se encuentra la etologa humana, es
decir, el estudio de la conducta instintiva, nuestra parte animal que es importante
volver a valorar.
Como parte de esta propuesta est el ofrecer diferentes marcos de referencia
para entender tanto la epistemologa de Milton H. Erickson como lo que sucede
cuando trabajamos con estados amplificados de conciencia.
La doctora Robles retoma la afirmacin de Milton H. Erickson de que
aprendimos a estar mal y podemos aprender a estar bien, y se pregunta: Cmo
aprendimos a estar mal?
A lo largo de su historia se dan varias respuestas. Una de ellas aparece en su
libro Concierto para cuatro cerebrosdonde propone que aprendimos a estar mal
debido a tres nudos fundamentales que obstaculizan nuestro crecimiento:
1. El nudo de la dualidad: el separar en pares opuestos y excluyentes, el
fragmentar nuestra vida, en lugar de aceptar los pares como dos partes
necesarias y complementarias. Lnea de trabajo: integrar opuestos.
2. El nudo del sufrimiento: lo que culturalmente se nos ha enseado es a
considerar el crecimiento como fuente de sufrimiento, en lugar de
considerarlo como desafo, como experiencia interesante y satisfactoria.
Lnea de trabajo: aprender a disfrutar.
3. El nudo de la rigidez: emplear el estereotipo que nos lleva a seguirutilizando soluciones viejas que ya no son adecuadas. Lnea de trabajo:
flexibilidad, generar alternativas, abrir nuevos caminos, aprender de las
dificultades, elegir caminos con corazn.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
10/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
10
1. La Antropologa Social.
La propuesta es que: La patologa es slo cuestin de grado y
Se aprende de manera inconsciente, es decir, sin que nos demos cuenta
cmo.
Entre la persona psictica que no reconoce hasta dnde llega l y dnde
empieza el mundo de afuera, (lmites entre Yo y No-Yo) y est alucinando y el
muchacho que estudia la misma carrera del padre para heredar la empresafamiliar o el despacho sin atreverse a reconocer que tal vez le gustara hacer otra
cosa, slo hay una diferencia de grado.
Estas propuestas, as como las conceptualizaciones y esquemas de trabajo
forman parte del nuevo enfoque y nuevo estilo de psicoterapia que estamos
desarrollando en el Centro Ericksoniano de Mxico.
Segn Jean Piaget, antes de que nuestro sistema neurolgico est maduro (y
en su poca eso ocurra alrededor de los diez aos de edad) no somos capaces
de analizar, criticar, discutir y, en su caso refutar, la informacin que recibimos, por
lo que la absorbemos como esponjitas. Gran parte de esa informacin se
transforma en creencias limitantes(concepto de Robert Dilts). Y como el proceso
ocurre sin que tengamos consciencia de l, no podemos reconocerlo, al menos
usando nuestra mente racional.
Esto trae como consecuencia patologas en la comunicacin:
Descalificacin. Desconfirmacin. Rechazo.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
11/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
11
No definicin. Doble vnculo.
Estas situaciones nos conducen a:
Los nudos mencionados anteriormente que nos impiden nuestrocrecimiento.
Dejar de escuchar a nuestro cuerpo. Creer que la vida es sufrimiento y que crecer implica sufrir. Que solamente hay un primer lugar. Sealar culpables. Confundir los ideales con las realidades y el deber ser con el ser. Ganarnos el amor de los dems. Descalificarnos nosotros mismos. Ver lo negativo. Renunciar a nuestros sueos.
2. Etologa humana.
La etologa es el estudio de la conducta instintiva animal incluyendo a la
especie humana. La etologa humanaestudia, por lo tanto, la conducta instintiva
humana. Cuando aprendimos que la mente tiene que controlar al cuerpo, porque
se le considera como algo de tercera categora y que es sucio, malo, dejamos deescuchar las seales de nuestro cuerpo y olvidamos nuestros mecanismos de
sobrevivencia. Entonces empezamos a comer cuando tenamos tiempo y no
hambre, a dejar de preguntarnos qu quiere nuestro cuerpo y a no escuchar la
sed. Ni qu se diga lo que pasa con las emociones. Aprendimos que deberamos
controlarlas en nombre de la buena educacin, que nunca deberamos sentir las
emociones malas y siempre las buenas, aunque tampoco sas se podan
expresar abiertamente y menos con intensidad.
Del mismo modo que el hambre y la sed nos dicen qu est necesitando
nuestro cuerpo, las emociones nos avisan sobre lo que est sucediendo con
nosotros en relacin con el mundo de afuera y preparan a nuestro cuerpo para
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
12/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
12
actuar en esa situacin. Son tambin parte de nuestros mecanismos de
sobrevivencia, igual que el hambre, la sed y el deseo sexual.
(Mencionar que de estos temas hablaremos ms en el Grupo de
Crecimiento y luego cuando tratemos el tema de Trabajo con las
Emociones.)
Otro concepto que est surgiendo a partir de la etologa humana es el de la
resiliencia.
Resiliencia.
(Extracto de la Introduccin del libro Estrategias psicoteraputicas de Milton
H. Erickson de Dan Short. La autora del texto sobre resiliencia es Consuelo
Casula).
Esperanza, virtud antigua bien conocida de los griegos, y resiliencia trmino
moderno para otra virtud antigua, la fortaleza, han sido las principales pasiones de
Erickson. Ambas son instrumentos teraputicos indispensables para cada
terapeuta que entre en resonancia con el sufrimiento del paciente para restituirle
energa protectora y estimularlo a continuar viviendo una vida plena.
En la Fsica, la resiliencia es la capacidad de un material de resistir un choque
sin destrozarse, es la resistencia que un material ofrece a la accin dinmica y
mide la elasticidad. Del latn resiliens, resilire, rebotar, re-salire, saltar atrs.
En sociologa y en psicologa, la resiliencia indica la fuerza humana, ms bien
la fortaleza, de reaccionar al evento traumtico. Digo fortaleza, trmino anticuado,
porque anticuado no es aquella virtud cardinal que hace encontrar la fuerza de
voluntad y la capacidad de aceptar con sabidura protectora y preactiva, eso que
no podemos modificar. Fortaleza es la voluntad determinada de remover los
obstculos y de superar las dificultades contingentes para seguir adelante con
optimismo consciente.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
13/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
13
Resilientees quien sabe soportar el dolor sin lamentarse, quien sabe soportar
las dificultades sin desesperarse, quien tiene el coraje de tomar un camino que
sabe que es tortuoso. Y para esto consigue completar cuanto emprende.
Resilientees quien ama la vida y cultiva una virtud que modera los temores de lamuerte. La resiliencia defiende de la autocompasin y permite arriesgarse,
recuerda que estamos expuestos al peligro en cuanto mortales y al mismo tiempo
nos hace enfrentar lo que nos impide vencer con audacia sabia. La resiliencia
hace comprender el significado del dicho aristotlico quien no conoce su propio
lmite, teme el destino.
La resiliencia es tanto hacer cuentas con la propia impotencia como vencer
los temores de maana. Slo quien es capaz de soportar es ms fuerte que la
cadena que lo constrie. Los sobrevivientes de los campos de concentracin o los
prfugos de largos aos de prisin injusta, como Nelson Mandela, han demostrado
que la libertad es una fuerza interna que ningn alambre de pas puede
encarcelar. stos han dado pruebas de coraje y han desenfundado, cuando ha
sido necesario, la agresividad y han mostrado la capacidad de resistir, sin
violencia o deseo de poder, en las condiciones de mxima impotencia. Es sta
una manifestacin de mxima fortaleza.
Como tambin demuestran los pacientes que salen del tnel de la leucemia o
los seropositivos que luchan no slo con la enfermedad sino tambin con la
hostilidad y los prejuicios sociales. Como demuestran tantas personas que han
superado las dramticas pruebas de la vida porque han tejido con paciencia,
esperanza y resiliencia el hilo del tiempo. La resiliencia pone en orden las perlas
de las experiencias de alegra y de dolor con un hilo de correlacin de significados
que hace plausibles las interpretaciones positivas y reestructura las experienciasnegativas.
Slo quien ha aprendido a soportar no fracasa nunca, como la pintora Frida
Kahlo, el violinista Itzhak Perlman (polio), el ciclista estadounidense Lance
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
14/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
14
Armstrong (cncer), el corredor de autos italiano Alessandro Alex Zanardi (perdi
ambas piernas), por nombrar algunos. Personas que han reconocido la
imposibilidad inmediata de cambiar el curso de los acontecimientos, pero que no
han sufrido con resignacin. Han credo, en cambio, en su capacidad de generarnuevas potencialidades. Una ejemplar demostracin de resiliencia la ofrece Frida
Kahlo que, despus de la amputacin del pie, escribe en su diario: Pies para
qu los quiero, si tengo alas para volar?.
(Perlman contrajo polio a los cuatro aos y aprendi a movilizarse con
muletas, mismas que usa hasta la fecha. Toca el violn sentado.)
(Armstrong sufri de cncer testicular con metstasis pulmonar ycerebral. Se recuper sorprendentemente y gan siete Tours de Francia
consecutivos, cosa que nadie haba logrado antes.)
(Zanardi perdi ambas piernas en un choque en 2001 y contina
compitiendo -2007 en la World Touring Car Championship.)
La resiliencia es tambin determinacin, perseverancia y paciencia que como
habamos visto, son tambin componentes de la esperanza. Quien es resiliente
soporta porque reconoce en el mbito de la propia iniciativa eso que est obligado
a sufrir: malformaciones genticas, salud inestable, amores perdidos, blancos
fallidos, la muerte de la persona querida. Para aceptar el propio lmite se necesita
de una fuerza generativa de recursos, de un sentido de justicia que proteja la
realizacin del bien y despeje el camino hacia algo perseguible, de una virtud que
lleva a perseverar, a persistir en las dificultades, a tener paciencia, a manifestar
coraje en la vida de todos los das.
Todo esto es resiliencia, un antdoto a cualquier tentacin de resignado
abandono al destino, a la tragedia o a la fatalidad de la superioridad de los
acontecimientos en la persona. Es la capacidad de aceptar las heridas en la lucha
por la realizacin de llegar a ser mismo, lo que requiere discernimiento y sabidura
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
15/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
15
para no ser confundido con el impulso ciego o la irresponsabilidad e inconsciencia.
Es la capacidad que por ejemplo nos hace comprender el sentido de cuanto dice
Hemingway enAdis a las armas: Cunto nos divide el mundo a todos, pero slo
algunos se volvern ms fuertes donde han estado divididos.
Y el deber de nosotros los terapeutas es precisamente ayudar a los pacientes
que sufren y se conciben dbiles y desesperados para cultivar estas dos pasiones
afortunadas, esperanza y resiliencia, para llegar a ser proactivos y cambiar su
destino.
(Despus de explicar la resiliencia pedir a los alumnos que comenten
brevemente alguna ancdota propia de resiliencia, o de alguien conocido, obien de la literatura o de la historia. Escuchar mximo tres ancdotas).
3. NUEVOSPARADIGMASDELACIENCIA.
Como sabemos, la palabra paradigma, del griego que significa modelo, se refiere a
las teoras, las prcticas cientficas y valores comnmente aceptados en alguna
disciplina en particular.
Con el tiempo, los paradigmas cambian debido a la presencia de anomalas,
observaciones que no pueden explicarse a partir de la concepcin del mundo en
vigencia.
En el CEM consideramos que las teoras son creencias o lentes para ver el mundo,
que utilizamos para tratar de entender y prever los fenmenos que observamos.
Proponemos tambin que los conceptos son metforas que tienen un poder explicativo,
que los utilizamos mientras nos son tiles, y cuando dejan de serlo, damos un salto
epistemolgico y construimos nuevos conceptos y nuevas teoras.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
16/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
16
El paradigma de la fsica clsica que consideraba al mundo funcionando como un
reloj gigantesco, funcionando con gran precisin, en cuyo interior se poda conocer y
predecir hasta el ms mnimo detalle de funcionamiento, o el considerar al universo
formado como una construccin a base de ladrillos dej de ser creble a principios delsiglo XX con los hallazgos de Max Planck, dando lugar a la nueva fsica llamada fsica
cuntica.
Se le llama Fsica cuntica debido al concepto de cuanto o quantum, es decir, la
cantidad ms pequea de algo que es posible tener. La cuntica desafa el sentido
comn. Entre ms se trata de describir al micromundo y sus caractersticas, ms
anomalas encontramos. La fsica cuntica, es decir, la fsica de las dimensiones ms
pequeas inimaginables ha desafiado y sigue desafiando a los cientficos ms eruditos.
La fsica terica en el siglo XX estuvo basada sobre dos teoras: la general de la
relatividad (gravedad y universo macro) y la mecnica cuntica (micromundo). A partir
de estas teoras se ha tratado de encontrar una teora que unifique ambas, abarcando
el todo. sta es una tarea en la que siguen trabajando muchos hombres y mujeres de
ciencia. Es as como se han generado varias teoras cuyo elemento esencial es que el
cosmos en su nivel macro y en su nivel micro conforma un todo unido, conectado, sin
hilvanes.
El nuevo paradigma cientfico en lugar de ver al mundo como una coleccin de
objetos separados, lo est considerando como un nico y subyacente campo de
fuerzas, como una red interconectada de energa.
Estos conceptos son importantes para el trabajo ericksoniano, ya que consideramos
que a travs de los estados amplificados de conciencia se puede acceder a ese campo
subyacente, a esa red que interconecta todo. Como veremos a continuacin, a estecampo se le puede llamar de varias formas segn las diversas propuestas: campo
subcuntico, orden implicado, campo morfognico, etctera.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
17/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
17
Esta intuicin del todo unificado es el factor comn que en la actualidad est
impulsando a cientficos, artistas, filsofos, psiclogos (sobre todo los que tienen un
enfoque transpersonal), y que desde tiempo inmemorial han tenido los grandes sabios
de todas las culturas.
De especial inters para la psicoterapia ericksoniana se encuentran las
siguientes teoras:
Fsica cuntica.
Albert Einsteincon su teora de la relatividad, en donde demuestra que la materia
es una forma de energa: la masa es energa ultracondensada y la energa es masa
ultradiluida. Adems, propone que presente, pasado y futuro estn ocurriendo al mismo
tiempo y forman una unidad. Entonces, cambiando el presente transformamos nuestro
pasado y nuestro futuro probable!.
Alain Aspect con su experimento, en donde comprob que los electrones pueden
comunicarse instantneamente como si cooperaran telepticamente, pero lo que
realmente est sucediendo es que no es que se comuniquen a distancia, sino que tal
distancia NO existe, pues no hay separacin entre ellos.
Stephen Hawking con su argumento del tiempo imaginario, es decir una direccin
hacia arriba y hacia abajo, adems de la lnea de izquierda a derecha del tiempo
ordinario, lo cual implica una unin de las tres direcciones espaciales y la direccin del
tiempo imaginario constituyendo una especie de superficie cerrada, es decir, un
universo sin fronteras.
David Peatmenciona que nuestra naturaleza es dual, como la de la luz, es decir, es
a la vez onda y partcula. Propone que funcionamos como partcula cuando usamos larazn y como onda cuando usamos nuestra intuicin. Esto es importante cuando
trabajamos con estados amplificados de conciencia, pues solemos sentirnos como una
onda.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
18/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
18
Erwin Laszlo propone la existencia del vaco cuntico que explicara muchas de las
anomalas que se han encontrado en los campos fsico, biolgico y mental, incluidos los
fenmenos inusuales (antes llamados paranormales). Dice que los seres humanos
somos como canales del proceso creativo del Universo entero.
Orden implicado.
David Bohm con sus teoras del Orden implicado y Orden explicado,
presentando al Universo como una totalidad en movimiento (holomovimiento). Propone
que el Universo tiene como fuente o matriz generadora un ocano de energa, no
manifiesto o implicado, mientras que el orden explicado sera lo que vemos, lo evidente.
El Universo y el cerebro como un holograma.
Karl Pribram, neurofisilogo, que propone que el Universo es un gran holograma y
el cerebro humano funciona hologrficamente, es decir el cerebro es una entidad
hologrfica que interpreta a un universo hologrfico. La caracterstica sorprendente del
holograma es que la parte est en el todo y cada parte contiene al todo. Por lo tanto, si
la parte tiene acceso al todo, podemos afirmar que la informacin del universo est
dentro de nosotros. La fuerza creadora del universo en m, la sabidura universal
dentro de m!. O como dice Ervin Laszlo: tenemos un cerebro que es inseparable
del Universo.
Entonces, podemos concluir que la informacin de nuestros pacientes est adentro
de nosotros, por eso la podemos percibir.
La sntesis de los puntos de vista de Bohm y Pribram es lo que se conoce como el
paradigma hologrfico.
Campos morfognicos.
Rupert Sheldrakepropone la existencia de campos morfognicos, como una especie
de memoria colectiva en donde se encuentra todo lo vivido por toda la humanidad de
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
19/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
19
todos los tiempos, y de todas las especies vivientes. Funciona a travs de la resonancia
mrfica.
Tal parece que cuando entramos en un estado amplificado de conciencia tenemos
acceso a las grabaciones del campo morfognico y las podemos modificar, por lo tanto
con la psicoterapia ericksoniana podemos influir en las grabaciones de toda la
humanidad, de todos los tiempos.
Construccin de nuestra realidad. Sincronicidad.
Nuestra conciencia construye nuestra realidad material. Entendemos esa
conciencia como la combinacin del deseo de que algo suceda, la certeza de que as
ser, la creacin de una imagen mental de su realizacin y la incertidumbre acerca de
cundo y como suceder. Al esperar salud creamos salud, al esperar bienestar
creamos bienestar.
Esto est relacionado con el tema de la sincronicidad (trmino utilizado por Carl
Jung), es decir, dos eventos que se dan de manera simultnea, uno en el plano
material y el otro en el plano mental, sin que ninguno sea causa del otro.
(Si el tiempo lo permite, pasar el DVD de la entrevista de Iris Corzo a TeresaRobles 40 min).
Neurociencias
Una de las disciplinas del mbito cientfico que est tomando mucho auge es la de las
neurociencias, sobre todo con el advenimiento de tecnologas cada vez ms avanzadas
para dar seguimiento a las mltiples interacciones entre la mente y el cuerpo, las cualesinciden hasta al nivel del ADN.
Por mucho tiempo se pens que el cerebro era esttico, que las neuronas no se
regeneraban. Ahora se sabe que el cerebro es plstico, es decir, que tiene la
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
20/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
20
capacidad de modificar su estructura y funcionalidad a travs de estmulos que
favorezcan la formacin de neuronas nuevas, que incrementen las conexiones
sinpticas, que modifiquen la orientacin dendrtica, etctera. Esto se conoce como
plasticidad cerebral.
A partir de los aos sesenta se encontraron evidencias de la formacin de neuronas
nuevas. Ahora se sabe que hay dos zonas del cerebro en donde se generan neuronas:
el bulbo olfatorio y el hipocampo. A este proceso se le conoce como neurognesis.
Lo que resulta sumamente interesante es que se ha encontrado que el cerebro
responde a varios factores, los cuales influyen sea de forma positiva o bien negativa en
la formacin de las nuevas neuronas.
La neurognesis es un proceso complejo que incluye varias etapas: proliferacin de
clulas pluripotenciales (clulas troncales o madre), la migracin, diferenciacin,
sobrevivencia de las neuronas nuevas, y la integracin de ellas en los circuitos
neuronales ya existentes.
Algunos de los factores que influyen en la neurognesis son: neurotransmisores,
diversas hormonas, factores de crecimiento y neurotrofinas.
Adems, se ha demostrado que hay factores sociales que pueden incidir sea
favorable o desfavorablemente en la neurognesis. Esto resulta relevante para el
trabajo en el mbito de la psicoterapia
La actividad fsica promueve la sobrevivencia de las neuronas nuevas. Otros factores
positivos incluyen el estar en un ambiente que favorezca la novedad, el aprendizaje.
Algunos de los factores negativos ms considerables son: el estrs psicolgico, la
depresin, la falta de sueo, y el consumo de drogas y alcohol.
Uno de los terapeutas ericksonianos que ha estudiado con mayor ahnco la relacin
entre las nuevas neurociencias y la psicoterapia con estados amplificados de
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
21/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
21
conciencia, es Ernest L. Rossi, uno de los seguidores ms connotados de Milton H.
Erickson.
Rossi ha investigado el proceso general de comunicacin mente-cuerpo, y cmo los
estados amplificados de conciencia, siguiendo el ciclo de actividad-descanso de
manera saludable pueden iniciar verdaderas cascadas de protenas gnicas
facilitando procesos de curacin, la diferenciacin de clulas troncales en tejido sano, la
memoria, el aprendizaje, la creatividad y comportamientos saludables.
Estos procesos se inician en la terapia, en donde se propician pensamientos
novedosos, capacitadores, as como experiencias emocionales que facilitan procesos
saludables que sern repetidos creativamente en dilogos entre la corteza cerebral yel hipocampo durante el sueo, los sueos despiertos y dems estados amplificados de
conciencia. Rossi llama a este dilogo: dilogo creativo con nuestros genes.
Para Rossi, las aplicaciones teraputicas de los estados amplificados de conciencia
incluyen la facilitacin de la neurognesis en el cerebro humano, as como la sanacin
mente-cuerpo a nivel celular-gentico-protenico en todo el cuerpo, propiciando la
sanacin de trastornos psicosomticos, el fortalecimiento del sistema inmunolgico y la
resolucin creativa de problemas que se nos van presentando en la vida.
Otro de los grandes descubrimientos recientes en el rea de las neurociencias, son las
llamadas neuronas espejo.
A principios de los aos noventa, el Dr. Giacomo Rizzolatti y su equipo de
investigadores de la Universidad de Parma en Italia, daba a conocer un mecanismo a
travs del cual, un tipo de neuronas se activaban en el cerebro de los monos, tanto
cuando stos realizaban una actividad motora (como tomar un objeto con las manos),
como cuando los monos observaban a otro individuo (mono o humano) realizar dicho
movimiento o parecido. A estas neuronas se les llam espejo.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
22/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
22
Este mismo tipo de neuronas se detectaron tambin en seres humanos. Las dos
regiones del sistema espejo se localizan en algunas zonas del lbulo parietal y del
lbulo frontal, conocida como la red espejo parieto-frontal.
Por decirlo de alguna manera, como menciona el Dr. Vittorio Gallese, uno de los
cientficos del equipo del Dr. Rizzolatti, es como si nuestro cerebro resonara junto con
el de la persona que estamos observando. Se trata de un mecanismo cerebral
fundamental, porque permite un tipo de comunicacin no verbal entre los cerebros de
los individuos involucrados.
Es sorprendente adems, que se ha encontrado que durante la observacin de actos
motores realizados por otras personas, hay una activacin (en el observador) delsustrato neural que controla los msculos involucrados en el acto motor, aun cuando el
observador no hubiera nunca realizado dicho movimiento con anterioridad en su vida.
Es tambin relevante para el mbito de la psicoterapia, el hecho de que las neuronas
espejo localizadas en centros emocionales intervengan en fenmenos como la
empata, la cual es tan importante en la interaccin entre el terapeuta y las personas
que lo consultan, incidiendo a todos los niveles, desde la mente hasta el gen.
Ernest Rossi propone que el fenmeno de las neuronas espejo construye puentes entre
las metforas culturales de los seres humanos, desde la mente hasta la expresin
gnica y la plasticidad cerebral. Esto abre grandes posibilidades a la disciplina llamada
genmica psicosocialde la que Rossi es un gran estudioso.
Rossi menciona que las experiencias positivas en el campo del arte, la belleza, la
verdad, la espiritualidad, los sueos novedosos generan la reconstruccin creativa de la
mente-cerebro a los niveles molecular-genmico, de plasticidad cerebral, y psicolgico.
Se ha llegado a decir que el estudio de los sistemas espejo del cerebro har por la
psicologa lo que el estudio del DNA ha hecho por la biologa.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
23/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
23
Y apenas nos estamos asomando a las grandes posibilidades que las nuevas
neurociencias nos estn presentando. Y dentro de ellas, los estados amplificados de
conciencia estn siendo protagonistas importantes, de all el inters de los tereapeutas
ericksonianos en estos mbitos, y muy particularmente del Centro Ericksoniano deMxico (CEM).
QUIZ
(Para preguntar al final de la clase. Se hace oralmente)
1. Menciona tres elementos que consideres esenciales de la epistemologa de
Milton H. Erickson.
2. Menciona lo que propone Teresa Robles para desenredar los tres nudos
que de acuerdo con su propuesta han llevado al ser humano a estar mal.
3. Qu propuesta terica sustenta la expresin todo el Universo dentro de
m? Explica.
4. Cul es la importancia del uso teraputico de los estados amplificados de
conciencia en el mbito de los nuevos paradigmas de la ciencia?
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
24/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
24
BIBLIOGRAFA.
BOHM, D., PEAT, F.D. , Ciencia, orden y creatividad. Las races creativas de la cienciay la vida. (Tercera edicin). Barcelona, Editorial Kairs, 2003.
BOHM, D., La totalidad y el orden implicado. (Octava edicin espaol). Barcelona,Editorial Kairs, 2005
CAPRA, F. BOHM, D., LOVELOCK, J, SHELDRAKE, R. y otros. (2000). El Espritu dela ciencia.(Primera edicin). Barcelona, Editorial Kairs, 2000.
CIMATTI, F. Neuronispecchio il riflesso sociale de la natura umana. Incontro conVittorio Gallese.Da Il manifesto: 22 giugno 2005.
EINSTEIN, HEISENBERG, SCHRDINGER, PLANCK y otros, Cuestiones cunticas.Escritos msticos de los fsicos ms famosos del mundo. (Octava edicin). Barcelona,Editorial Kairs, 2005.
KRAUZE, G., Tejiendo sueos y realidades. (Primera edicin). Mxico, Alom Editores,S.A. de C.V., 2005
LAZLO, E., El cosmos creativo. Hacia una ciencia unificada de la materia, la vida y lamente.(Primera edicin). Barcelona, Espaa, Editorial Kairs, 1997.
PEAT, D. Sincronicidad.Barcelona, Editorial Kairs.
PIAGET, Jean. (1975). El desarrollo mental del nio, en Seis Estudios de psicologa.Barcelona, Espaa: Seix Barral. 11-27., 1975.
ROBLES, Teresa. (2005). Concierto para cuatro cerebros en psicoterapia. Quince aosdespus. (Tercera edicin). Mxico: Alom Editores, 1995.
RAMREZ-RODRGUEZ, G. et al. (2007). Formacin de neuronas nuevas en elhipocampo adulto: neurognesis.Salud Mental 30 (3): 12-19.
RIZZOLATTI, G. (2010). Mirror neurons: from discovery to autism. Experimental BrainResearch 200: 223-237.
ROSSI, E.L., ROSSI, K.L. (2008). La nueva neurociencia de la psicoterapia, la hipnosisteraputica y la rehabilitacin: un dilogo creativo con nuestros genes. Instituto MiltonH. Erickson de la Costa Central de California. www.ernestrossi.com.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
25/49
Nuestros marcos tericos Gua del Maestro
25
ROSSI, E.L. (2001). In search of a deep psychobiology of hypnosis:Visionaryhypotheses for a new millennium. Presented by the Society for Clinical andExperimental Hypnosis.
GILLIGAN, Stephen, La valenta del amar, Espaa Edit. Rinden Institut Gestalt, 2008.SHORT, D. Estrategias psicoteraputicas de Milton H. Erickson. (Primera edicin).Mxico: Alom Editores, 2006
WILBER, K., BOHM, D., PRIBRAM, K y otros, El paradigma hologrfico. Unaexploracin en las fronteras de la ciencia. (Quinta edicin). Barcelona, Editorial Kairs,2001.
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
26/49
Exp Brain Res (2010) 200:223237
DOI 10.1007/s00221-009-2002-3
1 3
REVIEW
Mirror neurons: from discovery to autism
Giacomo Rizzolatti Maddalena Fabbri-Destro
Received: 12 June 2009 / Accepted: 27 August 2009 / Published online: 18 September 2009
Springer-Verlag 2009
How the things started
In the winter of 1991 I (GR) sent to Naturea report on a
surprising set of neurons that we (Giuseppe Di Pellegrino,
Luciano Fadiga, Leonardo Fogassi, Vittorio Gallese) had
found in the ventral premotor cortex of the monkey. The
fundamental characteristic of these neurons was that they
discharged both when the monkey performed a certain
motor act (e.g., grasping an object) and when it observed
another individual (monkey or human) performing that or a
similar motor act (Di Pellegrino et al. 1992). These neurons
are now known as mirror neurons (Fig. 1).
Naturerejected our paper for its lack of general inter-
est and suggested publication in a specialized journal. At
this point I called Prof. Otto Creutzfeld, the then Coordinat-
ing Editor of Experimental Brain Research. I told him that I
thought we found something really interesting and asked
him to read our manuscript before sending it to the referees.
After a few days he called me back saying that indeed our
Wndings were, according to him, of extraordinary interest.
Our article appeared in Experimental Brain Research a few
months later.
The idea of sending our report on mirror neurons to
Experimental Brain Research, rather than to another neuro-
science journal, was motivated by a previous positive expe-
rience with that journal. A few years earlier,Experimental
Brain Researchaccepted an article in which we presented
(Rizzolatti et al. 1988) a new view (something that typi-
cally referees did not like) on the organization of the ventral
premotor cortex of the monkey and reported the Wndings
that paved the way for the discovery of mirror neurons. In
that article we described how, in the ventral premotor cor-
tex (area F5) of the monkey, there are neurons that respond
both when the monkey performs a motor act (e.g., grasping
or holding) and when it observes an object whose physical
features Wt the type of grip coded by that neuron (e.g., pre-
cision grip/small objects; whole hand/large objects). These
neurons (now known as canonical neurons, Murata et al.
1997) and neurons with similar properties, described by
Sakata et al. (1995) in the parietal cortex are now univer-
sally considered the neural substrate of the mechanism
through which object aVordances are translated into motor
acts (see Jeannerod et al. 1995).
We performed the experiments on the motor properties
of F5 in 1988 using an approach that should almost neces-sarily lead to the discovery of mirror neurons if these neu-
rons existed in area F5. In order to test the F5 neurons with
objects that may interest the monkeys, we used pieces of
food of diVerent size and shape. To give the monkey some
food, we had, of course, to grasp it. To our surprise we
found that some F5 neurons discharged not when the mon-
key looked at the food, but when the experimenter grasped
it. The mirror mechanism was discovered.
The next important role ofExperimental Brain Research
in the discovery of mirror neurons was its acceptance in
G. Rizzolatti (&) M. Fabbri-Destro
Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione Fisiologia,
Universit di Parma, via Volturno, 39,
43100 Parma, Italy
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Fabbri-Destro
e-mail: [email protected]
G. Rizzolatti
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) Unit di Parma,
Parma, Italy
M. Fabbri-Destro
Dipartimento SBTA, Sezione di Fisiologia Umana,
Universit di Ferrara, via Fossato di Mortara,
17-19, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
27/49
224 Exp Brain Res (2010) 200:223237
1 3
1996 of two articles which Wrst reported the existence of the
mirror areas in humans (Rizzolatti et al. 1996; Grafton et al.
1996). The rational of the experiment was as follows: If
mirror mechanism exists in humans the observation of
actions done by another individual should activate, besides
visual areas, also areas that have motor properties. We ran
two PET experiments and showed that indeed the areas
where the mirror neurons are located in the monkey
become also active in humans. This Wnding was subse-
quently replicated by dozens of experiments (see Rizzolatti
and Craighero 2004; Rizzolatti et al. 2009; Cattaneo andRizzolatti 2009).
At present there is an enormous literature on mirror
neurons. A set of it concerns experiments in monkeys (see
Rizzolatti and Craighero 2004; Rizzolatti et al. 2009) and
more recently in birds (Prather et al. 2008); another set,
much larger, concerns experiments in humans. In the pres-
ent article we (GR and MF-D) will review mirror data in
humans, examining, however, (by necessity) only part of
the enormous mirror neuron studies triggered by our initial
PET studies published in Experimental Brain Research.
The organization of the human parieto-frontal mirror
system
In humans the observation of goal-directed motor-acts acti-
vates, besides visual areas, the inferior parietal lobule (IPL)
and the premotor cortex, mostly its ventral part, plus the
caudal part of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) roughly cor-
responding to the pars opercularisof Brocas area. These
two regions form the core of the human parieto-frontal mir-
ror system (Rizzolatti and Craighero 2004; Fabbri-Destro
and Rizzolatti 2008) (Fig. 2).
Both the premotor and parietal nodes of the human mir-
ror system present a somatotopic organization, albeit rather
rough (Buccino et al. 2001; Wheaton et al. 2004; Sakreida
et al. 2005; Etzel et al. 2008). Observation of motor acts
done by others with the leg, hand, and mouth activates the
precentral gyrus and the pars opercularis of IFG in a
medial to lateral direction, as in the classical homunculus of
PenWeld and Rasmussen (1950)and Woolsey et al. (1952).
In IPL, mouth motor acts appear to be represented rostrally,
hand/arm motor acts caudally and leg motor acts even more
caudally, and dorsally extending into the superior parietal
lobule. A similar somatotopic organization based on the
motor properties of the recorded neurons has been recently
reported in monkey IPL by Rozzi et al. (2008) (see also
Hyvarinen 1982).
It is open question whether the activations found during
the observation of reaching to grasp movements around the
superior frontal sulcus (e.g., Grzes et al. 2003; Buccino
et al. 2004a; Gazzola and Keysers 2009) are due to repre-
sentation of proximal movements or to motor preparation.
This uncertainty depends of the fact that there is no clear
boundary between the ventral (PMv) and dorsal (PMd) pre-
motor cortices in humans. According to the Wrst, somato-
topic, interpretation, the dorsal premotor activation is
Fig. 1 Example of an F5 mirror neuron selectively discharging during
monkey grasping movements and during observation of a grasping
movement done by the experimenter. aLateral view of the brain with
indicated the location of F5. bGrasping observation. cGrasping exe-
cution. aarcuate sulcus, ccentral sulcus, ipintraparietal sulcus (from
di Pellegrino et al. 1992)
Fig. 2 Later view of human brain. The colored areasform the pari-
eto-frontal mirror network. Red parietal mirror node, yellow frontal
mirror node
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
28/49
Exp Brain Res (2010) 200:223237 225
1 3
located in a speciWc sector of PMv where proximal move-
ments are represented. According to the motor preparation
interpretation, the dorsal premotor activations are located in
PMd, an area that according to monkey single neuron data
is mostly involved in covert motor preparation (Kalaska
and Crammond 1995; Crammond and Kalaska 2000).
The parietal region active during the observation of
object-directed motor acts is mostly located in the sector of
the IPL close to and inside the intraparietal sulcus. This
restricted localization raises an interesting question: Are
other types of motor act also represented in other parts of
IPL and, in that case, what kinds of act? An answer to these
questions has been recently obtained by two fMRI studies.
The Wrst investigated the localization of intransitive move-
ments (Lui et al. 2008), the other that of actions performed
with tools (Peeters et al. 2009).
In the Wrst study, volunteers were scanned while they
observed mimed, symbolic, and meaningless motor acts. As
during the observation of object-directed actions, fMRI sig-
nal increase was found in the premotor cortex and in IPL.
However, while the premotor cortex activation overlapped
that previously found during the observation of object-
directed actions, in the parietal lobe the signal increase was
not restricted to the intraparietal sulcus region, but extended
into the posterior part of the supramarginal gyrus and the
angular gyrus. Most interestingly, while the mimed actions
were located dorsally close to the intraparietal sulcus, that
is in a location similar to that activated by the observation
of actual object-directed movements, symbolic motor acts
were located ventrally, mostly in the angular gyrus. (Lui
et al. 2008).
In the second study, volunteers observed a variety of
motor acts performed by another individual either by hand
or using tools. The results showed that the observation of
motor acts performed with tools activates the parieto-fron-
tal circuit mediating hand grasping and, in addition, a spe-
ciWc sector of the anterior part of the left supramarginal
gyrus (aSMG). In a parallel experiment carried out in the
same study on nave as well as on monkeys proWcient in
using tools (rake and pliers), no evidence was found for a
parietal sector activated during tool action observation. It
was concluded that aSMG is a new evolutionary acquisition
of homo sapiensthat mediates the human capacity to under-stand the causal relationship between tools and the goal of
the action achieved by using tools.
Typically, an activation of SPL is absent or marginal in
those studies where the experimenters use as visual stimuli
distal motor acts or acts in which the distal component is
prominent. The possibility of a proximal mirror represen-
tation in SPL was recently tested in an fMRI study where
volunteers were asked to transport their hand to a partic-
ular location in space without grasping objects. The
reaching movements were executed, observed, or imagined.
An overlap between executed, observed, and imagined
reaching activation was found in SPL extending into IPS,
and in PMd. This study provides the Wrst demonstration of
a mirror mechanism for reaching movements (Filimon et al.
2007).
Evidence for the activation of human cortical motor
system during the observation of actions done by others
The brain imaging studies reviewed above show that human
cortical areas, active when individuals watch actions done
by others, strictly correspond to the cortical areas that are
endowed with mirror properties in the monkey (Rizzolatti
et al. 2009; for monkey fMRI data see Nelissen et al. 2005).
Because mirror neurons are motor neurons, the observation
of motor acts done by others should determine, if mirror
neurons are present in humans, an increase of motor cortex
excitability congruentwith the observed motor act.
Evidence that this is the case has been obtained using
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Fadiga et al.
(1995) recorded the motor-evoked potentials (MEPs)
induced by the stimulation of the left motor cortex in vari-
ous muscles of the right hands and arms of volunteers asked
to watch an experimenter while he grasped objects with his
hand or performed meaningless arm movements. As a con-
trol for attentional factors there was a third condition in
which volunteers detected the dimming of a small light.
During both the experimental conditions there was a clear
increase in the observers MEPs, relative to the control con-
dition. This increase was present in those muscles that were
recruited when the tested individuals were asked to execute
the observed movements. Several TMS experiments con-
Wrmed these Wndings (e.g., Strafella and Paus 2000; Gangitano
et al. 2001; Maeda et al. 2002; Borroni et al. 2005). Among
them particularly interesting is the study by Gangitano et al.
(2001). These authors showed not only that MEPs recorded
from the hand muscles increased during grasping observa-
tion, but also that the relative cortical facilitation closely
reXected the diVerent grasping phases (Fig. 3).
EEG and MEG studies provided further evidence of acti-
vation of the motor cortex during action observation.
Already, in the 1950s, Gastaut and Bert (1954) showed thatthe rhythm, a rhythm recorded in the correspondence of
the cortical motor areas and known to desynchronize during
movement execution, also desynchronizes during the obser-
vation of actions carried out by others. Following the dis-
covery of mirror neurons, several studies (e.g., Altschuler
et al. 1997; Cochin et al. 1999) repeated these experiments
conWrming the desynchronization of rhythm during
action observation.
Similar results were also obtained using magneto-
encephalography (MEG) (Hari et al. 1998), a technique that
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
29/49
226 Exp Brain Res (2010) 200:223237
1 3
analyses the brain electric activity on the basis of the mag-
netic Welds it generates. MEG data provided evidence of a
desynchronization of the cortical rhythms of observers
motor cortex (including those originating from the cortex
located inside the central sulcus) during object manipula-
tion and when the manipulation was observed.
Mirror activity is modulated by motor experience
There is evidence that only motor acts that are present in
the motor repertoire of the observer are eVective in activat-
ing the mirror neuron system. In an fMRI experiment nor-
mal volunteers observed video-clips showing mouth motor
acts made by humans, monkeys, and dogs. In one condi-tion, the observed motor act was biting, a motor act present
in the motor repertoire of all three species and in another
condition the stimuli were communicative gestures proper
to each species: reading silently a text, lip-smacking, and
barking. The data demonstrated that the left IPL and IFG
responded to actions made by human and nonhuman per-
formers, as long as the action was part of the human motor
repertoire (e.g., biting). In contrast, there was no activation
(barking) or almost no activation (lip-smacking) when the
action belonged to another species (Buccino et al. 2004b).
Mirror neuron activation is also related to the observers
motor experience of a given action. This has been nicely
demonstrated in experiments using dance steps as observed
stimuli. First it was shown that, in the observer, the amount
of mirror activation correlated with the degree of the
observers motor skill for that action (Calvo-Merino et al.
2005). A further experiment ruled out the possibility that
this eVect could be due to mere visual familiarity with the
stimuli. The observation of steps that are peculiar to male
dancers determined a stronger mirror activation in male
professional dancers than those performed by female danc-
ers and vice versa (Calvo-Merino et al. 2006). A further
prospective study showed that dancers initially nave to cer-
tain steps showed an increase in mirror activation over time
if they underwent a period of motor training in which theybecame skillful in performing the same steps (Cross et al.
2006).
Some clues to the mechanism responsible for these
eVects come from experiments that tested whether conver-
gence of observation and execution of motor acts facilitates
the building of motor memories. These experiments
showed that after a training period in which participants
simultaneously performed and observed congruent move-
ments there was a potentiation of the learning eVect, with
respect to motor training alone, as shown by the kinematics
Fig. 3 Modulation of the motor cortex excitability during grasping
observation. a Schematic sequence of events during a grasping
trial. bAveraged values of motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) of a hand
muscle (Wrst dorsal interosseus) collected at diVerent times during the
observation of grasping movements. 500 ms: hand at the starting
position (time value refers to the onset of the video clip showing the
action), 3,000 ms: hand maximum aperture (from Gangitano et al.
2001)
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
30/49
Exp Brain Res (2010) 200:223237 227
1 3
of the movement evoked by TMS (Stefan et al. 2005,
2008). Further evidence in favor of plasticity of the mirror
mechanism comes form experiments showing that the mir-
ror responses triggered by a corresponding movement
could be modiWed by repetitively coupling the performed
movement with the observation of diVerent movements
(Catmur et al. 2007, 2008).
The functional roles of mirror neurons
Mirror neurons, directly recorded or demonstrated by non-
invasive techniques, are present in various cortical areas of
primates (Rizzolatti and Craighero 2004) and in birds
(Prather et al. 2008). All of them are endowed with the
same mechanism: a mechanism that translates sensory
information describing motor acts done by others into a
motor format similar to that the observers themselves gen-
erate when they perform those acts.
While the mirror mechanism is the same regardless of
the location of neurons endowed with it, the result of the
sensory-motor transformation depends on the location of
mirror neurons. Those located in emotional centers like the
insula or the cingulate cortex intervene in phenomena like
empathy (see Gallese et al. 2004), while those located in
the parieto-frontal circuit provides the observer with motor
representations of others motor actions devoid of emo-
tional content (Rizzolatti and Craighero 2004).
From the discovery of mirror neurons in area F5 of the
monkey, two explanations, not mutually exclusive, have
been proposed for the functional role of the mirror neurons
in this area and in the IPL. The Wrst was that mirror neurons
underlie imitation. The second was that the correspondence
between the motor format generated by observing others
and that generated internally in order to act enables the
observer to understand others behavior, without the neces-
sity for complex cognitive elaborations.
The Wrst view has been thought of as unlikely because of
ethological data showing that monkeys, unlike humans and
apes, do not imitate (Visalberghi and Fragaszy 1990). As a
matter of fact imitation phenomena are also present in
lower primates (see Zentall 2006). For example, tongue
protrusion in response to the same motor act done byanother individual, described many years ago by MeltzoV
and Moore (1979) in newborn babies, has been recently
reported in macaque monkeys (Ferrari et al. 2006). Yet,
convincing evidence of true imitation, that is imitation in
which the learned behavior is performed with the same
movements (including hand movements) as shown by the
teacher is lacking. Thus, the presence of a well-developed
mirror mechanism concerning hand movements suggests that
understanding motor acts done by others, rather than imita-
tion, is the evolutionary older function of the parieto-frontal
mirror network in the monkey. Other cognitive functions
like imitation (see below) and, most likely, language
(Rizzolatti and Arbib 1998) evolved on the top of it.
In the present review we will discuss Wrst the relations
between mirror mechanism and imitation. We will deal
later with goal and intention understanding, because the
discussion of neurophysiological mechanisms underlying
these capacities leads directly to the issue of autism, whose
discussion will conclude this article.
Mirror mechanism and Imitation
The term imitation has many deWnitions in human litera-
ture. There are, however, two main senses in which it is
most commonly used (see Rizzolatti 2005). The Wrst deW-
nes imitation as the capacity of an individual to replicate an
observed motor act; the second deWnes imitation as the
capacity to acquire, by observation, a new motor behavior
and to repeat it using the same movements employed by the
teacher. In both cases imitation requires the capacity to
transform sensory information into a motor representation
of it.
There is convincing evidence that the mirror mechanism
is involved in imitation as an immediate replica of the
observed motor act. In an fMRI experiment, volunteers
were tested in two main conditions: observation and
observationexecution. In the observation condition,
participants were shown a moving Wnger, a cross on a sta-
tionary Wnger, or a cross on empty background. The
instruction was to observe the stimuli. In the observation
execution condition, the same stimuli were presented, but,
this time, the instruction was to lift the right Wnger, as fast
as possible, in response to them. The crucial contrast was
between the trials in which the volunteers made the move-
ment in response to an observed action (imitation) and
the trials in which the movement was triggered by the cross
(a non-imitative behavior). The results showed that the acti-
vation of the mirror system and in particular of the posterior
part of IFG was stronger during imitation than in other
conditions (Iacoboni et al. 1999).
Further evidence that the mirror system plays a crucial
role in this kind of imitation was provided by repetitiveTMS (rTMS), a technique that determines a transient
depression of the stimulated region. In a group of volun-
teers the caudal part of the left frontal gyrus (Brocas area)
was stimulated while they (a) pressed keys on a keyboard,
(b) pressed the keys in response to a point of red light indi-
cating which key to press, (c) imitated a key pressing
movement done by another individual. The data showed
that rTMS lowered the participants performance during
imitation, but not during the other two tasks (Heiser et al.
2003).
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
31/49
228 Exp Brain Res (2010) 200:223237
1 3
Evidence that mirror system is involved in imitation
learning comes both from EEG and fMRI studies. Marshall
et al. (2009) examined diVerences in EEG desynchroniza-
tion during observation of drawing of various characters
selected from the Cham alphabet, an alphabet used in
Southeast Asia, and with which none of the participants
was familiar. Compared to carrying out unrelated drawing
(Latin letters), brief imitative experience was speciWcally
associated with a signiWcantly larger desynchronization in
the 1113 Hz band at mid-frontal sites (F3 and F4) when a
previously imitated action was presented again. In addition,
higher Wdelity of imitation was signiWcantly correlated with
greater bilateral desynchronization of the rhythm at cen-
tral sites (C3 and C4) during subsequent observation of the
previously imitated action.
A more elaborate experimental design was used by
Buccino et al. (2004a). Using an event-related fMRI
paradigm these authors tested musically naive participants
during four events: (1) observation of guitar chords played
by a guitarist, (2) a pause following model observation, (3)
execution of the observed chords, and (4) rest. The results
showed that the basic circuit underlying imitation learning
consists of the IPL and the posterior part of IFG plus the
adjacent premotor cortex. This circuit starts to be active
during the Wrst event: observation. During pause, i.e.,
during the phase in which visual information is elaborated
for action production, activations are observed in the
middle frontal gyrus (area 46) and in structures involved in
motor preparation (dorsal premotor cortex, superior parietal
lobule, rostral mesial areas). The activation of these areas
plus the somatosensory and motor areas contralateral to the
hand used to execute chords dominates the subsequent
execution phase (Fig. 4).
On the basis of this experiment and a following one also
based on learning of playing guitar chords (Vogt et al.
2007), the authors proposed a model of imitation learning
(see Byrne 2002 for a similar model-based ethological
observations) consisting of two distinct processes: (a)
Fig. 4 Cortical activations dur-
ing imitation learning. Upper
partgraphic illustration of the
events forming the experimental
conditions imitation (IMI) and
non-imitation (NON IMI). Both
conditions consisted of four
events preceded by the presenta-
tion of a coloredcue (a square)
informing the participants on the
task they have to perform. IMI
condition: event 1observe the
teachers hand playing the chord
(IMI-1), event 2rehearse the
observed chord (IMI-2), event 3
replicate it.Event 4keep the
hand still. NON IMI condition:
event 1observe the teachers
hand playing the chord (Non
IMI-1), event 2do not rehearse
the observed chord (Non IMI-2),
event 3touch the neck of the
guitar, without playing a chord
(Non IMI-3).Event 4keep the
hand still.Lower partcortical
areas activated during events 1
and 2in IMI and Non IMI
conditions (modiW
ed fromBuccino et al. 2004a, b)
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
32/49
Exp Brain Res (2010) 200:223237 229
1 3
segmentation of the action to be imitated into its individual
elements and their transformation into the corresponding
potential movements of the observer; (b) organization of
these potential movements into a temporal and spatial pat-
tern that replicates that shown by the demonstrator. The
Wrst process is achieved through the mirror mechanism,
while the second one is mostly due to the activity of the
prefrontal lobe and in particular of area 46 that memorizes
and recombines the motor elements in the new pattern.
Action and intention understanding
Coding the goals of the motor acts
Social life is based on our capacity to understand the behav-
ior of others. Let us imagine this situation. John and Mary
are in a pub and Johns hand comes into contact with a mug
of beer; Mary immediately understands whether he is
grasping it or not. Moreover, according to how he grasped
it, she can also understand why he is doing it (e.g., for
drinking or for giving the mug to a friend). How does Mary
understand the goal of the Johns motor act and the inten-
tion behind it?
One possibility is that she is using an inferential reason-
ing elaborating the acquired visual information through
some cognitive mechanism (see Frith and Frith 1999;
Csibra and Gergely 2007). Another possibility is that this is
not necessary in this simple situation, and the understand-
ing of what John is doing and why he is doing it, is acquired
through a mechanism that directly transforms visual
information into a motor format. The proprieties of mirror
neurons support the existence of such a mechanism.
There is clear evidence from monkey experiments that
neurons in the parietal lobe, premotor cortex, and even in
the primary motor cortex, code the goal of a motor act
rather than, as traditionally thought, movements of body
parts (Rizzolatti et al. 1988; Kakei et al. 1999, 2001;
Fogassi et al. 2005; Umilt et al. 2008). Mirror neurons
located in F5 and in IPL have motor properties identical to
those of purely motor neurons. Thus, because the electrical
activity recorded in these experiments during voluntary
behavior and action observation always consists of actionpotentials (the neuron output) the messages conveyed dur-
ing voluntary movement and during mirror activation are
identical. In both cases the neurons send information on the
goal of the observed motor act.
Given these Wndings, it appears logical to assume that a
similar organization does exist also in humans. Evidence in
this sense came from fMRI studies. Gazzola et al. (2007a)
instructed volunteers to observe video-clips where either a
human or a robot arm grasped objects. In spite of diVer-
ences in shape and kinematics between the human and
robot arms, the parieto-frontal mirror system was activated
in both conditions. These data was recently conWrmed and
extended by Peeters et al. (2009).
Further evidence in favor of goal coding in the human
mirror network comes from an fMRI study in which indi-
viduals were tested both during motor execution and when
listening to the sound of an action made by the same eVec-
tor (Gazzola et al. 2006). The results showed, in both cases,
a similar activation of the left parieto-frontal circuit.
An experiment on aplasic individuals conWrmed that the
mirror network codes the goal of motor acts (Gazzola et al.
2007b. In this study the authors addressed the following
question: Can the goal of a hand movement be recognized
in the absence of any experience of hand movements? To
answer it two individuals born without arms and hands
were studied. While being scanned they were asked to
watch video-clips showing hand actions and their brain
activations were compared with those of control volunteers.
All participants also made actions with diVerent eVectors
(feet, mouth and, for normal volunteers, hands). The results
showed that the mirror system of aplasic individuals was
activated by the observation of hand motor acts. This dem-
onstrates that the brains of aplasics can mirror motor acts
that they have never executed. The goal is recognized
through the recruitment of areas involved in the execution
of motor acts having the same goal but using diVerent eVec-
tors.
The issue of goal coding was recently addressed by
Hamilton and Grafton (2006) using the adaptation tech-
nique, a technique based on the trial-by-trial reduction of a
physiological response to repeated stimuli. Participants
observed a series of video-clips showing goal-directed
motor acts with the sequence controlled so that some goals
were novel and others repeated relative to the previous
movements. Repeated presentation of the same goal caused
the suppression of the response in the left intraparietal sul-
cus (IPS) while this region was not sensitive to the trajec-
tory of the actors hand.
While the fMRI data support, in agreement with monkey
data, the notion that mirror neurons code motor acts, most
TMS data appear to indicate that during the observation of
motor acts performed by others, there is an activation of the
neural substrate controlling the muscles that are involved inthat motor act (see Rizzolatti and Craighero 2004). There is
an ingenious study, however, that was able to demonstrate,
using TMS, goal coding in human motor cortex (Gangitano
et al. 2001). In this study motor-cortex excitability was
tested during the observation of hand movements directed
to a speciWc goal (predictable movements) and in trials in
which the hand moved in a diVerent direction (unpredict-
able movements). The data showed that the observation of
unpredictable movements did not elicit the expected change
in the excitability of the motor cortex corresponding to the
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
33/49
230 Exp Brain Res (2010) 200:223237
1 3
observed movements. During the observation of the unpre-
dictable movements, the excitability pattern was the same
as that found during the observation of the predicted ones.
This indicates that the observed motor acts were coded,
from their very beginning, in terms of the Wnal goal of the
action and not in terms of the movements forming them.
Coding the intention behind the motor acts of others
Studies of the mirror mechanism have provided evidence
for its role in motor act understanding. What about inten-
tion understanding? Evidence that the mirror mechanism
play a role in this capacity has been Wrst provided by an
fMRI study. In this study there were three conditions. In the
Wrst one (context) the volunteers saw some objects (a tea-
pot, a mug, a plate with some food on it) arranged as if a
person was ready to drink the tea or as if a person had just
Wnished having his/her breakfast; in the second condition
(action) the volunteers were shown a hand that grasped a
mug without any context; in the third condition (inten-
tion) the volunteers saw the same hand action within the
previous two contexts. The context and the diVerent grip
shapes suggested the intention of the agent, i.e., grasping
the cup for drinking or grasping it for cleaning the table
(Iacoboni et al. 2005).
The results showed that in both action and intention con-
ditions there was an activation of the mirror mechanism.
Crucial was the comparison between intention and action
conditions. This comparison showed that the understanding
of the intention of the doer determined a marked increase in
the activity of the mirror mechanism.
The importance of the mirror system in understanding
intention has been recently conWrmed by an fMRI experi-
ment based on the adaptation paradigm. Participants were
asked to observe repeated movies showing either the same
movement or the same outcome independent of the exe-
cuted movement. The results showed activity suppression
in the right inferior parietal and in the right IFG when the
outcome was the same. Kinematic parameters do not appear
to inXuence the activity of these regions. These Wnding
indicate therefore that the right hemisphere mirror system
encodes the physical outcomes of human actions, an initial
step for inferring intentions underlying these actions(Hamilton and Grafton 2008).
Taken together, these data suggest that the intentions
behind the actions of others can be recognized by the mirror
neuron mechanism. These Wndings do not imply that other
more cognitive ways of reading minds do not exist.
Indeed, recent fMRI studies showed that, in speciWc condi-
tions, the understanding of motor acts performed by others
might require, beside the mirror mechanism, the activation
of areas outside those forming the mirror system. For
example, when tasks require a topdown inference either to
assess the meaning of a motor act in an implausible context
(Brass et al. 2007; Liepelt et al. 2008) or to judge whether
the intention of the observed action was ordinary or unusual
(de Lange et al. 2008), there is an increase of activity in the
posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS) region, posterior
cingulate cortex, and the medial prefrontal cortex.
Some studies suggested that a region of right temporo-
parietal junction, often referred to as right TPJ, plays a cru-
cial role in mentalizing (e.g., Saxe and Wexler 2005,
2006). This view, however, should be accepted with cau-
tion. In fact, as shown by Mitchell (2008) (see, however,
Scholz et al. 2009) the same right TPJ activated during
mentalizing is also active in task requiring attention. The
overlap between these two mental functions casts serious
doubts on the hypothesis that TPJ plays a crucial role in
intention understanding.
In accord with the interpretation of Mitchells view are
some data by Buccino et al. (2007). In an fMRI study these
authors investigated the neural basis of human capacity to
diVerentiate between actions reXecting the intention of the
agent (intended actions) and actions that did not reXect it
(non-intended actions). Volunteers were presented with
video-clips showing a large number of actions performed
with diVerent eVectors, each in a double version: one in
which the actor achieved the purpose of his or her action
(e.g., pour the wine), the other in which the actor performed
a similar action but failed to reach the goal of it because of
a motor slip or a clumsy movement (e.g., spill the wine).
The data showed the activation of the mirror system areas
in both conditions. The contrast, however, non-intended
versus intended actions showed an activation of the right
TPJ and the mesial prefrontal cortex. Because there is little
doubt that a person observing another person falling down
or spilling the wine because of a motor slip does notput
himself in the shoes of that individual, the activation
observed in the experiment by Buccino et al. (2007) is
hardly due to an attempt to understand the others intention,
but rather depends on an increase of the observers atten-
tion due to the surprising course of the event.
An impairment of the mirror mechanism explains some
deW
cits in children with autism
Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous syn-
drome characterized by impairment in social skills, verbal
and nonverbal communication, coupled with restricted, and
repetitive behaviors (DSM-IV-TR 2000). DeWcits in the
domains of aVective links and emotional behavior are other
aspects of ASD (Kanner 1943).
Autism aVects a variety of nervous structures, from the
cerebral cortex to the cerebellum and brainstem (see
Minshew and Williams 2007). However, in the context of a
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
34/49
Exp Brain Res (2010) 200:223237 231
1 3
broader neurodevelopmental deWcit, a set of ASD symp-
toms (impairment in communication, language, and the
capacity to understand others) appears to match functions
mediated by the mirror mechanism. The hypothesis that
this speciWc set of deWcits might depend on an impairment
of the mirror mechanism (Altschuler et al. 2000; Williams
et al. 2001) has therefore been advanced.
Evidence coming from EEG, TMS, and brain imaging
studies supports this hypothesis (e.g., Nishitani et al. 2004;
Oberman et al. 2005; Theoret et al. 2005; Dapretto et al.
2006). Oberman et al. (2005) studied the suppression of
rhythm during the execution and observation of motor acts
in typically developing (TD) and children with autism. The
results showed that, in contrast with TD children, ASD do
not present rhythm suppression during the observation of
motor acts done by others. The rhythm suppression is
present only during active movements (Fig. 5). Similar data
were obtained by Martineau et al. (2008).
Additional evidence for an impaired mirror mechanism
in autism came from behavioral and TMS studies. Avikainen
et al. (2003) showed that, unlike TD individuals, who,
when viewing persons face-to-face, tend to imitate them in
a mirror way, children with autism do not show this prefer-
ence. This imitation peculiarity is most likely due to a deW-
cit of mirror mechanism coding other persons movements
on ones own. Theoret et al. (2005) demonstrated an
impaired motor facilitation in children with autism during
action observation by using TMS.
Finally, strong evidence in favor of a deWcit of the mirror
mechanism in ASD came from an fMRI study. High
functioning children with autism and matched controls
were scanned while imitating and observing emotional
expressions. The results showed a signiWcantly weaker acti-
vation in IFG in children with autism than in typically
developing (TD) children. Most interestingly, the activation
was inversely related to symptom severity (Dapretto et al.
2006).
Taken together, these data indicate that children with
autism process the actions done by others in a manner
diVerent from that of TD children. The simplest way to
account for these diVerences is to postulate (see also above)
that children with ASD have an impairment of the mirror
mechanism. This hypothesis is also known as the broken
mirror hypothesis (Ramachandran and Oberman 2006).
There are some behavioral studies indicating, however,
that this hypothesis is not fully satisfactory and needs spec-
iWcations. These studies reported that children with ASD do
not present deWcits in understanding the goal of motor acts
done by others (Hamilton et al. 2007; Bird et al. 2007;
Leighton et al. 2008; Southgate and Hamilton 2008). It
was, therefore, claimed that the broken mirror hypothesis
of autism is wrong (e.g., Southgate and Hamilton 2008).
It must be noted, however, that these studies took into
account only one aspect of mirror organization, the one
related to the role of the mirror neurons in the recognition
of motor acts done by others. If only this aspect of the mir-
ror system is considered, the criticism against the broken
mirror hypothesis appears to be well taken.
Neurophysiological studies showed, however, that there
is a second aspect of the mirror neuron organization based
not on the activity of single neurons, but on the organiza-
tion of cortical motor system. The neural basis of this orga-
nization consists of chains of motor acts. These chains are
formed by populations of neurons, each coding speciWc,
Fig. 5 Absence of EEG desynchronization during the observation of
movements done by others. The charts show desynchronization of the
rhythm in controls (a) and patients with autism spectrum disorder
(b). Observation of movement of an inanimate object (pale green),
movements made with the hand (green), and active hand movements
(red). The bars represent the amount of activity in central scalp
locations; C3, Cz,and C4refer to scalp coordinates of the 10/20 EEG
system. SigniWcant activity, indicated by asterisks, is present for the
hand observation condition only in controls, showing that patients with
autism spectrum disorder fail to react to the observation of other
peoples actions in the standard way (modiWed from Oberman et al.
2005)
-
5/26/2018 Gua_Nuestros marcos tericos + Neuronas espejo + Neurognesis
35/49
232 Exp Brain Res (2010) 200:223237
1 3
serially connected motor acts (e.g., reach-grasp-bring to the
mouth; or reach-grasp-move away). During voluntary
movements the agent recruits one of these chains according
to his/her motor intention. These chains also contain
action constrained mirror neurons, that is neurons that
Wre only if the motor act they code is part of a motor chain
(e.g., grasping for placing, but not grasping for eating, or
viceversa). During the observation of actions done by oth-
ers, action constrained mirror neurons Wre when the
observed behavior matches the speciWc action coded by the
chain in which those neurons are embedded. Their Wring
activates an entire action chain providing the observer with
a motor representation of the action that the agent is ready
to do. In virtue of this mechanism the observer understands
the agents intention (Fogassi et al. 2005).
Recently, it has been shown that the chained motor act
organization is impaired in autism (Cattaneo et al. 2007).
TD children and children with autism were asked to per-
form the two actions: grasping an object to eat it or grasp-
ing to place it into a container (Fig. 6). The EMG activity of
the mylohyoid muscle (MH), a muscle involved in opening
of the mouth, was recorded. In TD children the muscle
became active as soon they moved the arm to reach the
food. In contrast, no MH muscle activation was observed
during food reaching and grasping in autistic children. MH
muscle activation appeared only when the children brought
the food to their mouth. These data indicate that ASD chil-
dren are unable to organize their motor acts into a unitary
action characterized by a speciWc intention.
In a further experiment TD children and children with
autism were tested while they observed an experimenter
either grasping a piece of food for eating or grasping a
piece of paper for placing it into a container (Fig. 6). The