WHEN you watch someone pick up a bit of food, you often know whether they intend to pop it in their mouths or put it in the fridge. Now researchers in Italy have identified the brain activity that might underlie this ability to recognise differing intents.
“Mirror neurons” are so called because they fire both when an animal makes a movement and when it watches another animal make the same movement. These neurons may hold the key to understanding the minds of others. Leonardo Fogassi of the University of Parma, where mirror neurons were discovered about a decade ago, wanted to find out whether they respond not only to movement, but also…
