We performed two electroencephalogram (EEG) experiments to examine how humanoid robot appearance and motion affect human subjects’ perception of the robots. Mu rhythm suppression of EEG, which is considered to reflect mirror neuron system (MNS) activation, was regarded as a neurological indicator of perceived human likeness. Video clips depicting upper-body actions performed by three agents (hu...

A fundamental issue in cognitive neuroscience is how the brain encodes others' actions and intentions. In recent years, a potential advance in our knowledge on this issue is the discovery of mirror neurons in the motor cortex of the nonhuman primate. These neurons fire to both execution and observation of specific types of actions. Researchers use this evidence to fuel investigations of a human...

Electroencephalographic oscillations at 10 Hz (alpha and mu rhythms) are the most prominent rhythms observed in awake, relaxed (eye-closed) subjects. These oscillations may be considered as a marker of cortical inactivity or an index of the active inhibition of the sensory information. Different cortical sources may participate in the 10-Hz oscillation and appear to be modulated by the sensory ...

[Purpose] Several action observation/imagery training studies have been conducted in patients with limited physical activity showing improvements in motor function. However, most studies compared effects of action observation and imagery, so little is known about the changes caused by subsequent observation of target objects. Moreover, few studies analyzed brain wave changes in the EEG mu rhyth...

Children with Asperger's syndrome show deficits in social functioning while their intellectual and language development is intact suggesting a specific dysfunction in mechanisms mediating social cognition. An action observation/execution matching system might be one such mechanism. Recent studies indeed showed that electrophysiological modulation of the "Mu-rhythm" in the 10-12Hz range is weake...

There has been debate over whether disruptions in the mirror neuron system (MNS) play a key role in the core social deficits observed in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). EEG mu suppression during the observation of biological actions is believed to reflect MNS functioning, but understanding of the developmental progression of the MNS and EEG mu rhythm in both typical and atypical development is...