# Project III: Functions of the Mirror Neuron System in Adult Monkeys

> **NIH NIH P01** · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · 2020 · $198,871

## Abstract

Project III: Abstract
Since their description at the single cell level, mirror neurons (MN) exhibited plasticity, which only in recent
years has been considered as a critical feature for understanding their development and their possible
contributions to several psychological/behavioral processes. Prior findings in this Program Project
demonstrated that the mirror neurons system (MNS) undergoes significant changes depending on social
environment and on motor experience. By using different methodologies (single cell recording, EEG and
behavioral/ethological assessment) we found that specific social/motor experiences (learning to use a tool,
or acting in coordination with social partners) have profound effects on MN activity and on individual’s
understanding of others’ actions, also when outside their motor repertoire. These findings suggest that: 1)
the social environment plays an important role in shaping and refining this system; 2) a larger brain network
is likely involved in modulating MN activity and in contributing to social perception; 3) key learning
mechanisms are involved in shaping and tuning the MNS. Despite these important achievements, the role of
social factors in MNS plasticity and their neurophysiological mechanisms (at the single cell level) have still
been largely unexplored and are not well understood. In the current project we propose to address these
core questions by investigating in adult macaques A) the activity of MN during learning the use of a tool, b)
the neural networks that, together with the parietal-premotor mirror circuit, are involved in action coding during
social interactions, and c) the causal role of MN regions to brain EEG signals. Within this context, the primary
aims of our research program are as follows: Aim 1. Investigate the effects of visual and sensorimotor
experience with tools on monkey premotor MN visual response to tool actions. This study will
chronically record for 5 weeks the activity of neurons in the monkey premotor cortex, while she is visually
exposed for several weeks to unfamiliar tool actions or trained to use a tool. Aim 2. Determine the role of
the social context in modulating activity of neurons in the monkey ventral premotor cortex and
ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. We will investigate, in F5 and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, the activity of
MN and other neurons during a visual task requiring a monkey to simply observe an action that, depending
on the social context, will be aimed at different goals (social or non-social). Aim 3. Investigate the relation
between mu-desynchronization in the alpha and beta frequency band and the activity of MN in the
ventral premotor cortex (F5) and the Inferior Parietal Lobule (IPL) of the monkey. Although EEG (mu
rhythm) is widely used as an indirect measurement of MN activity, there is yet no direct evidence of this link.
To address this issue we will use an innovative method (supported by Core B) of simultaneously recording
monkey F5 and IPL ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9997959
- **Project number:** 5P01HD064653-10
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
- **Principal Investigator:** Pier F Ferrari
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $198,871
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2010-09-10 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9997959

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9997959, Project III: Functions of the Mirror Neuron System in Adult Monkeys (5P01HD064653-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9997959. Licensed CC0.

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