An introduction to the imitative mind and brain

This book provides insights into the imitative mind and brain, its evolution, development, and place in adult psychology, and addresses a longstanding puzzle about how “self” and “other” are coded within the authors' brains.

Abstract

Imitation guides the behavior of a range of species. Advances in the study of imitation, from brain to behavior, have profound implications for a variety of topics including consciousness, the neural underpinnings of perception-action coding, and the origins of theory of mind. Human beings are the most imitative creatures on the planet. We create but we also imitate, and this combination provides us with a special (though perhaps not unique) cognitive-social profile. This book provides insights into the imitative mind and brain, its evolution, development, and place in adult psychology. In so doing, it addresses a longstanding puzzle about how “self” and “other” are coded within our brains.