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Mirror neurons: Tests and testability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2014

Caroline Catmur ,
Clare Press ,
Richard Cook ,
Geoffrey Bird  and
Cecilia Heyes
Caroline Catmur
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, United Kingdom. c.catmur@surrey.ac.uk http://www.surrey.ac.uk/psychology/people/dr_caroline_catmur/ http://sites.google.com/site/carolinecatmur/
Clare Press
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London WC1E 7HX, United Kingdom. c.press@bbk.ac.uk http://www.bbk.ac.uk/psychology/our-staff/academic/dr-clare-press; http://www.bbk.ac.uk/psychology/actionlab/
Richard Cook
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, City University London, London EC1R 0JD, United Kingdom. Richard.Cook.1@city.ac.uk http://www.city.ac.uk/people/academics/richard-cook
Geoffrey Bird
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre (MRC), Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom. Geoff.Bird@kcl.ac.uk https://sites.google.com/site/geoffbirdlab/ http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/staff/profile/default.aspx?go=13152
Cecilia Heyes
Affiliation:
All Souls College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 4AL, United Kingdom. Cecilia.heyes@all-souls.ox.ac.uk http://www.all-souls.ox.ac.uk/users/heyesc/ Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UD, United Kingdom.
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Abstract

Commentators have tended to focus on the conceptual framework of our article, the contrast between genetic and associative accounts of mirror neurons, and to challenge it with additional possibilities rather than empirical data. This makes the empirically focused comments especially valuable. The mirror neuron debate is replete with ideas; what it needs now are system-level theories and careful experiments – tests and testability.

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Authors' Response
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Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , April 2014 , pp. 221 - 241
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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