According to some scholars, sensorimotor associations between the experience of self-generated behaviour and the observation of similar behaviour in others provide the foundation or contribute to the development of the mirror properties of the MNS via Hebbian learning i. The co-occurrence of observed and executed behaviour is particularly frequent in the context of early dyadic interactions, in which parent and child engage in temporally coordinated and mutually reinforcing matching of actions, emotions and vocalizations i.
Participation in such social exchanges is limited in children with ASD, possibly as a consequence of early lack of social orienting and attention towards others' behaviour [ 58 , 74 ]. One possibility is that the positive effects of the ESDM reflect changes at the MNS level resulting from associative learning mechanisms.
As the emphasis in the ESDM is on play and care joint routines in which the adult and the child are engaged in the same activity in a coordinated way, involving reciprocal body movements and vocal imitation, sharing of affect and turn taking, one active ingredient of this therapy might be the formation of the sensorimotor associations that contribute to the emergence or the refinement of mirror properties in the developing brain. This model can provide some insights into the interplay between treatment-related changes in implicit learning, reward processing and flexible use of learning.
At the neural level, this process might provide the foundation for the mirroring mechanisms that are critical for advanced social learning processes imitation, empathy, action understanding. The model outlined here could be tested empirically by examining whether treatment-related changes following the ESDM therapy are modulated by changes in MNS activity.
Unfortunately, however, research in this area is in its infancy. In a recent study by Dawson et al. Following 2 years of intervention, greater brain responses to faces over objects were found in the ESDM group compared with the children with ASD in the community group who showed the opposite pattern greater brain activity when viewing objects than faces.
The brain activity pattern in the ESDM group was the same as found in an age matched typically developing TD group of children. Unfortunately, however, the evoked response potential ERP methodology used in the study does not allow inference on which brain regions were involved.
Another recent study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain activity in response to social stimuli in two children with ASD receiving an early intensive intervention program called Pivotal Response Training, which shares many principles and strategies with the ESDM [ 77 ].
Their results showed increased brain activity compared with baseline in areas associated with social processing during biological motion tasks in the same areas that are activated by these tasks in children with typical development: including the fusiform gyrus, the prefrontal cortex and the posterior superior temporal sulcus, a region that provides input to the MNS.
However, existing data are insufficient to support or reject the notion that treatment-related changes reflect changes specifically in the MNS activity. Future research should address this issue, developing fine-grained experimental tasks that capture the social learning processes that are disrupted in ASD, targeted by therapy and implemented by the MNS, as well as ASD-friendly brain imaging techniques, so that younger, and more affected children in the spectrum can be involved.
These designs should also include the use of eye-tracking techniques to gain further insight on whether differences in MNS activities are modulated by differences in attention towards relevant social stimuli. According to Vygotsky, adults are able to do so many things by themselves because they grow up doing things with others. Autism affects the ability to live an adult independent life, perhaps more than any other neurodevelopmental condition. Three elements that are crucial for successful social learning all appear to be disrupted in ASD: the ability for implicit, non-inferential understanding of others' actions, the rewarding value of social participation and learning, and the strategic use of learning.
The notion of disrupted mirror mechanisms in ASD provides a plausible account for the first of the three elements. Other brain networks and processes outside of the MNS are likely to be involved in other aspects of the social learning impairment in ASD. Future research should focus on the interplay of these different processes and the implications for typical and atypical mechanisms of social learning.
Consideration of these three key issues is also crucial in developing targeted education strategies. Investigation of brain changes that are induced by these types of educational treatments can be used to illuminate the mechanisms of typical and atypical social learning.
Finally, the analysis of how children with ASD learn from others, and under what circumstances they learn from others, should continue to focus also on the behavioural level, as current knowledge in this area is still meagre. For example, a number of studies have documented normative processes of social behaviour, social understanding and social learning in ASD under particular circumstances e. Recent studies also suggest that social reward is not diminished in ASD under all circumstances [ 80 ].
Consideration of the multifaceted nature of social learning, and the interplay of mirror mechanisms, reward processes and top-down strategic use of knowledge is crucial for advancing understanding of the neuropsychology of typical and atypical social learning, and for the development of a science of autism pedagogy.
National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Giacomo Vivanti 1, 2 and Sally J. Rogers 3. Sally J. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. All rights reserved. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Individuals with autism have difficulties in social learning domains which typically involve mirror neuron system MNS activation. Keywords: autism, mirror neuron system, social learning, imitation.
Introduction Several decades after Vygotsky first suggested that participation in cultural practices is the foundation of human psychological development [ 1 ], this notion is receiving increasing empirical support. Three critical aspects of social learning: the how, why and when of social learning Social learning, i. Autism spectrum disorder as a social learning impairment Autism spectrum disorders ASDs are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental conditions that manifest in infancy and early childhood and are characterized by impairments in social communication and behavioural flexibility [ 24 ].
Early Start Denver Model and mirror neuron system According to some scholars, sensorimotor associations between the experience of self-generated behaviour and the observation of similar behaviour in others provide the foundation or contribute to the development of the mirror properties of the MNS via Hebbian learning i.
Conclusion According to Vygotsky, adults are able to do so many things by themselves because they grow up doing things with others. References 1. Vygotsky L. Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. Kuhl PK.
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The heterogeneity of the autistic condition neurone activity in Asperger's syndrome [89]. Magnetoen- may argue against a single cause, yet the commonalities of cephalography was used to detect a decrease in the 20 Hz the clinical syndrome nevertheless permit the possibility of activity that occurred in the MN region during median nerve a core dysfunctional mechanism.
If this mechanism is stimulation whilst subjects viewed an action. Our analysis predicts that variable clinical picture.
Our proposal offers such a mechan- more extensive testing of people with autism will reveal ism, together with some preliminary evidence for its exis- such a difference.
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