Access

Brief Communication

Nature Neuroscience 10, 817–818 (1 July 2007) | doi:10.1038/nn1911

The mirror neuron system is more active during complementary compared with imitative action

Roger D Newman-Norlund , Hein T van Schie , Alexander M J van Zuijlen & Harold Bekkering

We assessed the role of the human mirror neuron system (MNS) in complementary actions using functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants prepared to execute imitative or complementary actions. The BOLD signal in the right inferior frontal gyrus and bilateral inferior parietal lobes was greater during preparation of complementary than during imitative actions, suggesting that the MNS may be essential in dynamically coupling action observation to action execution.