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Behavioural neuroscience

Neurons of imitation

In songbirds, a class of neurons shows a striking similarity in activity when the bird sings and when it hears a similar song. This mirroring neuronal activity could contribute to imitation.

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Figure 1: A singing–listening neuronal connection.

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Tchernichovski, O., Wallman, J. Neurons of imitation. Nature 451, 249–250 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/451249a

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