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Mirror neurons and autism:

arguments for and against
Matt Jarvis

Hodder & Stoughton © 2017

Mirror neurons and autism

Arguments for…
• Mirror neurons appear to exist in monkeys in the sense that particular
cells in the motor cortex fire when the monkey sees an action performed
as well as when they perform the action.
• Babies are born with the ability to imitate. It is suggested that this is due
to the presence of mirror neurons.
• Autistic spectrum disorder is characterised by the kinds of problems we
might expect to see if the mirror neuron system were not functioning
correctly.
• This is the ‘broken mirror’ theory of autism.

Hodder & Stoughton © 2017

Mirror neurons and autism

Arguments against…
• Celia Heyes and colleagues found that it is straightforward to learn non-
mirror responses. This suggests that mirror neurons are not an innate
mechanism. Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) appears to be largely
innate.
• Children imitate to learn and to create social connections. It appears
that children with ASD still imitate to learn, using mirror neurons. The
difference lies in the fact that they imitate less for the sake of social
connection.
• It seems to be more likely that people with ASD have the same mirror
neuron system as anyone else. However they use it differently from
other people as a function of their ASD.

Hodder & Stoughton © 2017