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Gregory Hickok

The Myth of Mirror Neurons: The Real Neuroscience of Communication and Cognition Hardcover – August 18, 2014

by Gregory Hickok (Author)

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An essential reconsideration of one of the most far-reaching theories in modern neuroscience and psychology.

In 1992, a group of neuroscientists from Parma, Italy, reported a new class of brain cells discovered in the motor cortex of the macaque monkey. These cells, later dubbed mirror neurons, responded equally well during the monkey’s own motor actions, such as grabbing an object, and while the monkey watched someone else perform similar motor actions. Researchers speculated that the neurons allowed the monkey to understand others by simulating their actions in its own brain.

Mirror neurons soon jumped species and took human neuroscience and psychology by storm. In the late 1990s theorists showed how the cells provided an elegantly simple new way to explain the evolution of language, the development of human empathy, and the neural foundation of autism. In the years that followed, a stream of scientific studies implicated mirror neurons in everything from schizophrenia and drug abuse to sexual orientation and contagious yawning.

In The Myth of Mirror Neurons, neuroscientist Gregory Hickok reexamines the mirror neuron story and finds that it is built on a tenuous foundation―a pair of codependent assumptions about mirror neuron activity and human understanding. Drawing on a broad range of observations from work on animal behavior, modern neuroimaging, neurological disorders, and more, Hickok argues that the foundational assumptions fall flat in light of the facts. He then explores alternative explanations of mirror neuron function while illuminating crucial questions about human cognition and brain function: Why do humans imitate so prodigiously? How different are the left and right hemispheres of the brain? Why do we have two visual systems? Do we need to be able to talk to understand speech? What’s going wrong in autism? Can humans read minds?

The Myth of Mirror Neurons not only delivers an instructive tale about the course of scientific progress―from discovery to theory to revision―but also provides deep insights into the organization and function of the human brain and the nature of communication and cognition.

7 illustrations

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

August 18, 2014
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches
ISBN-10

0393089614
ISBN-13

978-0393089615
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Every now and again an idea from science escapes from the lab and takes on a life of its own as an explanation for all mysteries, a validation of our deepest yearnings, and irresistible bait for journalists and humanities scholars. Examples include relativity, uncertainty, incompleteness, punctuated equilibrium, plasticity, complexity, epigenetics, and, for much of the twenty-first century, mirror neurons. In this lively, accessible, and eminently sensible analysis, the distinguished cognitive neuroscientist Greg Hickok puts an end to this monkey business by showing that mirror neurons do not, in fact, explain language, empathy, society, and world peace. But this is not a negative exposé―the reader of this book will learn a great deal of the contemporary sciences of language, mind, and brain, and will find that the reality is more exciting than the mythology."
― Steven Pinker, author of How the Mind Works and The Blank Slate

"A devastating critique of one of the most oversold ideas in psychology."
― Gary Marcus, cognitive psychologist and author of the New York Times bestseller Guitar Zero

"This book is the scientific analog of a courtroom thriller: against long odds, the brilliant underdog logically, methodically, and with disarming grace and hard facts takes down his fashionable opponent―the ‘Mirror Neuron’ colossus, long the darling of the don’t-look-too-closely crew. Hickok does not leave us empty-handed, however, but outlines what an alternative to mirror theory might look like."
― Patricia Churchland, professor of philosophy emerita at the University of California, San Diego

"[Hickock’s] impressive handling of basic neuroscience makes a complex topic understandable to the general reader as he delves into cutting-edge science."
― Publishers Weekly

"A bold look at one of the most exciting theories in neuroscience [and] an inspiring example of experimental science at work: The initial theory of mirror neurons may have had a false start, but it inspired an even more complex and interesting story that is just beginning to unfold."
― Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Gregory Hickok is a professor of cognitive science at University of California, Irvine, where he directs the Center for Language Science and the Auditory and Language Neuroscience Lab.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (August 18, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393089614
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393089615
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.39 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #413,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #220 in Scientific Research
- #249 in Cognitive Neuroscience & Neuropsychology
- #1,822 in Biology (Books)

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57 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

57 global ratings

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4 star		12%
3 star		3%
2 star		5%
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Top reviews from the United States

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Peter McCluskey

Mildly valuable response to hype

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 13, 2015

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This book criticizes hype from scientists and the media about embodied cognition, mirror neurons, and the differences between the left and right brain hemispheres. Popular accounts of these ideas contain a little bit of truth, but most versions either explain very little or provide misleading explanations.

A good deal of our cognition is embodied in the sense that it's heavily dependent on sensory and motor activity. But we have many high-level thoughts that don't fit this model well, such as those we generate when we don't have sensory or motor interactions that are worth our attention (often misleading called a "resting state").

Humans probably have mirror neurons. They have some value in helping us imitate others. But that doesn't mean they have much affect on our ability to understand what we're imitating. Our ability to understand a dog wagging its tail isn't impaired by our inability to wag our tails. Parrots' ability to imitate our speech isn't very effective at helping them understand it.

Mirror neurons have also been used to promote the "broken mirror theory" of autism (with the suggestion that a malfunction related to mirror neurons impairs empathy). Hickok shows that the intense world hypothesis is more consistent with the available evidence.

The book clarified my understanding of the brain a bit. But most of it seems unimportant. I had sort of accepted mild versions of the mirror neuron and left-brain, right brain hype, but doing so didn't have any obvious effects on my other beliefs or my actions. It was only at the book's end (discussing autism) that I could see how the hype might matter.

Most of the ideas that he criticizes don't do much harm, because they wouldn't pay much rent if true. Identifying which neurons do what has negligible effect on how I model a person's mind unless I'm doing something unusual like brain surgery.

16 people found this helpful

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sully

Scientific method at its best

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 14, 2014

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When I first saw the title of this book, I was taken aback. I had read various books written by science writers and researchers on various topics from consciousness, the sense of self, autism and even psychopathy and all of them had treated mirror neurons as firm established scientific fact. These authors then used mirror neurons to explain aspects of their subjects. Then I see this book entitled; "The Myth of Mirror Neurons", and figured it was written by a type of anti-scientific crank and was curious.
Now that I have read the book, I know that the author is far from an anti-science crank dismissing a firm scientific fact. The author is a professor of cognitive science and has written a very scientific and understandable book. This book teaches you about the origins of the idea of mirror neurons at first. Then in a very coherent and well argued style the book reveals that mirror neurons have been taken up by many researchers as an explanation of brain functions for which there is little real evidence that the mirror neurons are the true basis. Indeed, the mirror neurons may not actually exist, but such functions may be parts of other areas in the brain. The book relentlessly undermines the claims of mirror neuron believers with well done experiments which always refer to the original findings of the first discoverers of mirror neurons. Essentially, you realize that mirror neurons have lost touch with reality and have been taken up as a magic bullet which explain things way beyond its explanatory basis.
This book is all good science and the way things should work. Science must always self correct and not run off in unfounded directions. This not the work of a crank at all but it is a great example of the scientific method at its best. Good science must always think about the foundations of its facts otherwise the facts become beliefs.

25 people found this helpful

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Interesting Take on Both Science and Mirror Neurons

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 16, 2014

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While the subject of the book is mirror neurons and you get an good explanation of claims being made for them as well as the evidence or lack thereof for such claims, you also get a nice example of how science works. I was interested in the book because I have heard so much about mirror neurons and I wanted to understand what they were really all about. However, I found myself drawn to the author's contrary view which is very well articulated and argued.

I think people interested in the brain and science in general will enjoy this book, but if the idea of a book about a very specific topic within neuroscience doesn't sound appealing, you probably aren't going to like it. Otherwise I easily recommend it.

17 people found this helpful

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Greg Wilkinson

It did feel like overkill at times

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 3, 2015

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He tackled a meaty subject and challenged convention in a thoughtful debunking of the primacy of mirror neurons in any attempt to explain how we learn and what makes us human. It did feel like overkill at times, but it would be hard not to beat a dead horse when challenging fundamental scientific assumptions. Stay tuned for more on the heels of this skeptical shot across the bow.

4 people found this helpful

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SveinN

For me its greatest value lies in that it is exceptionally as a ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 25, 2017

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The book is well written and thorough from where I stand: well outside the field of neuro-science.
For me its greatest value lies in that it is exceptionally as a critique. It points to mirror neurons strengths as well as weaknesses throughout the book, and the way to the conclusion underplays nothing as far as this lay-reader can see.

One person found this helpful

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Joyce M. Bernheim

Excellent, tightly argued

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 31, 2014

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Excellent, tightly argued, detailed discussion of evidence. My focus is ASD; didn't completely agree w/ his analysis of ASD, though he is right to emphasize that we interact socially using multiple brain systems organized hierarchically, that the role of sensory systems is vastly under appreciated, and that no single theory can yet match the extraordinary diversity of the ASD population.

9 people found this helpful

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Ron Porter

Excellent overview of the subject and solid arguments to support his view.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 12, 2014

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A very engaging overview of mirror neurons and their role. As made clear by the title, the author contends that mirror neurons are not the foundation of understanding the motivations of others or learning new skills. He makes a solid argument that seems to give fair consideration of the opposing view.

9 people found this helpful

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Paris traveler

Plain talk about complex ideas in neuroscience.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 11, 2014

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Refreshingly clear language about an otherwise complex topic. Hickok does a masterful job of 'cutting through the brush', and the hype. Can be usefully read in conjunction with Arbib's How the Brain got Language.

8 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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Yoyo

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 28, 2017

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A++

Rutger J. van der Gaag

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 15, 2015

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Very interesting and well written scientific essay on an intriguing and actual theme. Highly convincing

One person found this helpful

Hilda Hernández López

Un libro accesible para todos los lectores.

Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on September 30, 2017

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Un libro bastante accesible para especialistas en neurociencias, pero también para los legos que compartan el interés por las neuronas espejo. La obra de Hickok es la más completa en cuanto a carácter crítico y argumentativo en contra de la simplicidad de explicaciones basadas en neuronas espejo, popularizadas por Giacomo Rizzolatti y su equipo de la Universidad de Parma. Hickok va progresivamente adentrando al lector en cada uno de los capítulos a las capacidades asociadas con las neuronas espejo: el lenguaje, la empatía, la imitación, etcétera., esto permite al lector una mejor comprensión de las tesis y argumentos que propone, sin duda, esta es la mayor ventaja del libro. Es ampliamente recomendable para el que desee adentrarse en el estudio crítico de las neuronas espejo, pero también para quien desee elaborar argumentos más finos a favor o en contra de esta clase de teorías.

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neel fotedar

Hickok has some really good arguments against the mirror neuron theory

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on October 6, 2014

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This is a fascinating read. Hickok has some really good arguments against the mirror neuron theory. I am lovin it.

Miquel Alemany

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 16, 2015

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