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Science 2 August 2002:
Vol. 297. no. 5582, pp. 846 - 848
DOI: 10.1126/science.1070311
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Reports

Hearing Sounds, Understanding Actions: Action Representation in Mirror Neurons

Evelyne Kohler,1 Christian Keysers,1 M. Alessandra Umiltà,1 Leonardo Fogassi,2 Vittorio Gallese,1 Giacomo Rizzolatti1*

Many object-related actions can be recognized by their sound. We found neurons in monkey premotor cortex that discharge when the animal performs a specific action and when it hears the related sound. Most of the neurons also discharge when the monkey observes the same action. These audiovisual mirror neurons code actions independently of whether these actions are performed, heard, or seen. This discovery in the monkey homolog of Broca's area might shed light on the origin of language: audiovisual mirror neurons code abstract contents--the meaning of actions--and have the auditory access typical of human language to these contents.

1 Istituto di Fisiologia Umana, Università di Parma, Italy.
2 Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Parma, Italy.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: giacomo.rizzolatti{at}unipr.it

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