Aggression: The dark side of mirror neurons sheds light on their functions

Pier Francesco Ferrari; Carlos Andrés Méndez; Gino Coudé

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.028

Aggression: The dark side of mirror neurons sheds light on their functions

Curr Biol. 2023 Apr 24;33(8):R313-R316. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.028.

Authors

Pier Francesco Ferrari¹, Carlos Andrés Méndez², Gino Coudé³

Affiliations

¹ Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Bron, France; Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France; Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy. Electronic address: pierfrancesco.ferrari@isc.cnrs.fr.
² Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Bron, France; Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France.
³ Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Bron, France; Inovarion, Paris, France.

PMID: 37098336
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.028

Abstract

Mirror neurons have been found mainly in neocortical structures of primates and rodents; however, their functions are still debated. A new study has discovered mirror neurons for aggressive behaviors in the ventromedial hypothalamus of mice, an evolutionarily ancient structure, highlighting a new function key for survival.

MeSH terms

Aggression / physiology
Animals
Hypothalamus / physiology
Mice
Mirror Neurons*