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The Mirror System of the Brain on Observation, Performance, and Imagination of Motor Tasks – Neurophysiological Reflection of the Perception of Another Person’s Consciousness

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This report addresses the question of the neurophysiological mechanisms of the perception of social behavior. The concept of the mirror system of the brain is laid out, along with its links with the μ rhythm in social adaptation. An original three-block method for presentation of stimulus material for electroencephalographic studies of the mirror system of the brain in simple, purposive, and emotionally colored motor acts was developed and tested. Performance of these actions was shown to be accompanied by desynchronization of the μ rhythm and activation of the mirror system of the brain. Brodmann areas corresponding to the zones of maximal intensity and activation of the mirror system of the brain were identified.

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Correspondence to N. N. Lebedeva.

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Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel’nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 68, No. 2, pp. 204–215, March–April, 2018.

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Lebedeva, N.N., Karimova, E.D., Karpichev, V.V. et al. The Mirror System of the Brain on Observation, Performance, and Imagination of Motor Tasks – Neurophysiological Reflection of the Perception of Another Person’s Consciousness. Neurosci Behav Physi 49, 714–722 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-019-00791-3

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