Talk:Mirror neuron

Proposed addition to Language section

I plan to make a small update to the "Language" section by (1) replacing outdated wording such as "recent study" for older references, (2) adding recent evidence on shared neural representations for language comprehension and production, and (3) briefly mentioning a recently proposed theoretical interpretation that places language-related mirror-neuron mechanisms within a predictive world model framework. The proposed addition will be supported by multiple independent references. Comments and suggestions are welcome. — Preceding unsigned comment added by NuruLex (talk • contribs) 13:18, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Edits required: Language, order, and content

The article (and Social Neuroscience) requires a lot of clean up. The tone is largely informal (using words like "we" etc), the order of sections needs to be addressed (critique should come at the end here), and a lot of the content is out of date/incorrect interpretations of the papers it cites.

I'll start with changing the order around, then move to content. Drthorgithecorgi (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 18:58, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

Anatomical or functional feature?

The article implies, by its presence in the neuroanatomy category and by identifying these cells as special by giving them a distinctive name, that mirror neurons are anatomically different from other neurons. However I am unable to find mention of the anatomic features that would distinguish these cells. That suggests these cells are like others except they happen to be networked as the output cell in the mirror system. If so, shouldn't this be in a neurological category rather than an anatomy category? And if there is no anatomical difference, that fact should be established early in the lead. If there are anatomical differences then I think they should be described early in the article. Jojalozzo (talk) 02:53, 19 August 2021 (UTC)

This is correct- there is no actual anatomical difference between mirror neurons and other neurons in the brain. It's mostly based on how they react/act (which can be jumbled togther). They're considered a class of neurons rather than a distinct type of neuron because in the brain, it's much hard to classify based on physiology. Spine and peripheral nervous system, yes, but not in the brain. A few links I'll be adding in:

Heyes et al, 2021

Bonini et al, 2022

Schmidt et al, 2021

I'm of the view that calling them mirror neurons is a bit of a misnomer. More recent research argues for the "mirror neuron system" rather than just mirror neurons themselves.

I'll modify the lead. Drthorgithecorgi (talk) 20:09, 6 July 2023 (UTC)

Christian Keysers

I have some concerns that Christian Keysers is included multiple times in this article. Although prominent, this user added their research in here multiple times.

User talk:C.m.keysers

I'm thinking we should just remove all of these references as there's a serious conflict of interest. Drthorgithecorgi (talk) 21:34, 14 July 2023 (UTC)

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