Imitation and Theory of Mind in Autism: A Review of Mirror Neuron System
- DOI
- 10.2991/assehr.k.211020.146How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- autism, mirror neuron, imitation, theory of mind
- Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder usually suffer a combination of social interaction impairments, imitation deficits, theory of mind difficulties, sensory hyperreactivity, and repetitive behaviours. Researchers strive to identify the etiology or risk factors of this disability by developing a variety of theories, while the broken mirror theory, the broken mentalizing theory, and the intense world theory are three main candidates for explaining these symptoms. Specifically, the broken mirror theory regards the dysfunction of the mirror neuron system as a cause of imitation and theory of mind impairments in autistic individuals, whereas the broken mentalizing theory claims that the symptoms of autism result from the patients’ mentalizing disability. Besides, the intense world theory blames the symptoms demonstrated above on the hyperreactivity and hyperplasticity of neural circuits in people with autism. In this paper, eighteen relevant articles or books were reviewed, indicating that current data regarding these three theories are very mixed. Overall, each of them can only provide partial explanations for these symptoms. However, although the causes of autism spectrum disorder still remain debated, the evaluation of these explanatory theories can effectively assist in advancing more successful methods to diagnose and treat this disability.
- Copyright
- © 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Yupeng Yuan AU - Chenxi Zhu PY - 2021 DA - 2021/10/21 TI - Imitation and Theory of Mind in Autism: A Review of Mirror Neuron System BT - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Public Relations and Social Sciences (ICPRSS 2021) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 154 EP - 158 SN - 2352-5398 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211020.146 DO - 10.2991/assehr.k.211020.146 ID - Yuan2021 ER -