{"title":"Re-enchanting mirror neurons through lexical changes","authors":"Da Dong , Tongwei Liu , Wei Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.newideapsych.2025.101145","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent statistical data seem to indicate that mirror neurons have not maintained their early illustrious image in the scientific community. We start our discussion by looking back at the conceptual history of “mirror neuron,” paying special attention to the shifting meanings of highly related words in the current scientific landscape. These semantic changes demonstrate that, even if not entirely sufficient on their own, the study of mirror neurons remains central to the scientific revolution unfolding within cognitive sciences, as revealed through the analysis in this paper. Thus, in the later part of this paper, we find that the meanings of three fundamental words related to mirror neurons, “mirror,” “action,” and “understanding,” have begun to shift.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51556,"journal":{"name":"New Ideas in Psychology","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 101145"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"New Ideas in Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0732118X25000017","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Recent statistical data seem to indicate that mirror neurons have not maintained their early illustrious image in the scientific community. We start our discussion by looking back at the conceptual history of “mirror neuron,” paying special attention to the shifting meanings of highly related words in the current scientific landscape. These semantic changes demonstrate that, even if not entirely sufficient on their own, the study of mirror neurons remains central to the scientific revolution unfolding within cognitive sciences, as revealed through the analysis in this paper. Thus, in the later part of this paper, we find that the meanings of three fundamental words related to mirror neurons, “mirror,” “action,” and “understanding,” have begun to shift.
期刊介绍:
New Ideas in Psychology is a journal for theoretical psychology in its broadest sense. We are looking for new and seminal ideas, from within Psychology and from other fields that have something to bring to Psychology. We welcome presentations and criticisms of theory, of background metaphysics, and of fundamental issues of method, both empirical and conceptual. We put special emphasis on the need for informed discussion of psychological theories to be interdisciplinary. Empirical papers are accepted at New Ideas in Psychology, but only as long as they focus on conceptual issues and are theoretically creative. We are also open to comments or debate, interviews, and book reviews.