Discuss mirror neurons, including where they are located, how they were discovered, what their functions are in humans and primates, and how a particular childhood disorder may be caused by damages to these neurons

What will be an ideal response?

Answer will include that mirror neurons become active when we perform an action and when we merely observe someone else carrying out the same action. The motor cortex is one brain area that contains mirror neurons. Regarding the discovery of mirror neurons, Italian researchers had just recorded an increase in the activity of a single neuron in the motor cortex of a monkey as it reached for food. A few seconds later, one of the researchers happened to reach for a snack of his own. The same neuron again responded as if the monkey had reached for the food itself. Thus, the observation that a neuron involved in controlling a particular motor movement was also activated when the monkey merely observed that same motor movement in someone else led to the discovery of mirror neurons. Because they mirror actions performed by others, such neurons may explain how we can intuitively understand other people's behavior. They may also underlie our ability to learn new skills by imitation. Neuroscientists speculate that newborn humans (and monkeys) are able to imitate others because networks of mirror neurons are activated when an infant watches someone perform an action. Then, the same mirror network can be used to perform that action. Similarly, human empathy