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Brief Communication

Nature Neuroscience 9, 28–30 (1 January 2006) | doi:10.1038/nn1611

Understanding emotions in others: mirror neuron dysfunction in children with autism spectrum disorders

Mirella Dapretto , Mari S Davies , Jennifer H Pfeifer , Ashley A Scott , Marian Sigman , Susan Y Bookheimer & Marco Iacoboni

To examine mirror neuron abnormalities in autism, high-functioning children with autism and matched controls underwent fMRI while imitating and observing emotional expressions. Although both groups performed the tasks equally well, children with autism showed no mirror neuron activity in the inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis).