concept

Mirror Neuron System

Also known as: MNS

Facts (17)

Sources

The Mechanisms of Psychedelic Visionary Experiences - Frontiers frontiersin.org Frontiers Sep 27, 2017 17 facts

claimEvidence supports the hypothesis that psychedelic experiences involve the emergence of innate cognitive processes from lower brain systems, with visionary experiences resulting from the activation of innate processes based in the mirror neuron system (MNS).

claimThe Mirror Neuron System (MNS) is a primary candidate for the images experienced under psychedelic and other influences because a basic function of the MNS is the active creation of internal representations of actions, affects, and motivations of others, as noted by Newlin (2009).

claimThe Mirror Neuron System (MNS) is hypothesized to be a mechanism of psychedelic visionary experiences, supported by evidence that psychedelics elicit innate brain functions known as entoptics and that the MNS integrates visual experience and behavior while providing a common basis for self and other perceptions.

claimVisual thought is based on image schemas representing the basic structures of sensorimotor experience, with behavioral manifestations directly implicating the Mirror Neuron System (MNS), according to Johnson (1987).

referenceThe hypothesis that innate operators explain features of psychedelic experiences is supported by evidence of innate modular functions in entoptic images (Siegel, 1977), the modular structure of the human brain (Gardner, 1983, 2000), cognitive science of religion explanations for supernatural experiences (Boyer, 2001, 2017; Clements, 2017), and the relationship of the MNS (Mirror Neuron System) to the DMN (Default Mode Network) and mimesis (Garrels, 2006, 2011).

referenceThe innate operation of human cognitive processes known as mimesis functions through the Mirror Neuron System (MNS), as reviewed by Garrels (2006, 2011).

claimThe imagination of self-produced or other-produced activities activates both midline and frontoparietal structures, suggesting that imagination is the common representational domain for both DMN areas (cortical midline structures) and the MNS, according to Uddin et al. (2007).

referenceThe anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) provides a locus for the interaction between the default mode network (DMN) and the mirror neuron system (MNS), as reported by Uddin et al. (2007).

claimPsychedelic-induced visionary experiences involve a dis-inhibition of regulatory mechanisms of the brain that releases innate modules, operators, or intelligences, specifically the mirror neuron system.

claimThe human capacity to infer the mental contents of another person's mind is based on an innate modular capacity expressed through the mirror neuron system (MNS).

referenceThe mirror neuron system (MNS) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) node of the default mode network (DMN) interact significantly during mentalizing and embodied simulation processes, according to Molnar-Szakacs and Uddin (2013).

claimThe Mirror Neuron System (MNS) provides a lower-level physical representational system that facilitates imagination in social behavior, enabling mental projection and simulation of events without direct participation.

claimThe keywords associated with the article 'The Mechanisms of Psychedelic Visionary Experiences: Hypotheses from Evolutionary Psychology' are psychedelic, cognition, mysticism, shaman, consciousness, neurophenomenology, and mirror neuron system.

claimThe Mirror Neuron System (MNS) facilitates the interpretation of complex social situations and the attribution of meaning to others by enabling the inference of their thoughts, intentions, and desires.

referenceErnandes (2013) illustrated the social functions of the Mirror Neuron System as an innate operator by utilizing MacLean's (1990) study of ritualized behaviors to identify innate cognitive and behavioral operators.

claimThe mirror neuron system was central in the evolution of human cognitive and symbolic capacities of imitation, mimesis, and symbolic representation.

claimThe Default Mode Network (DMN) connection with the Mirror Neuron System (MNS) is stimulated by increased activation of right fronto-parietal regions, which overlap with MNS areas involved in mapping the actions of others via simulation within one's own motor system, according to Molnar-Szakacs and Uddin (2013).