What Is Imitation? -- Unifying Social Cognition -- Reflections on the Mirror Neuron System: Their Evolutionary Functions Beyond Motor Representation -- Developmental Aspects -- The Neurophysiology of Early Motor Resonance -- The Rational Continuum of Human Imitation -- Neural Basis -- From Embodied Representation to Co-regulation -- The Problem of Other Minds Is Not a Problem: Mirror Neurons and Intersubjectivity -- Hierarchically Organized Mirroring Processes in Social Cognition: The Functional Neuroanatomy of Empathy -- Relationship to Cognitive Processes -- Mirror Neurons and the Neural Exploitation Hypothesis: From Embodied Simulation to Social Cognition -- From Imitation to Reciprocation and Mutual Recognition -- Automatic and Controlled Processing within the Mirror Neuron System -- Embodied Perspective on Emotion-Cognition Interactions -- Disorders of Mirroring -- The Role of Mirror Neuron Dysfunction in Autism -- Synaesthesia for Pain: Feeling Pain with Another -- Alternative Views -- Mirroring, Mindreading, and Simulation -- Does the Mirror Neuron System and Its Impairment Explain Human Imitation and Autism? -- Neural Simulation and Social Cognition.

The discovery of mirror neurons and of a mirror neuron system in the human brain raises the interesting possibility that "mirroring" may constitute novel instances of mental simulation. It also provides the basis for unique processes such as "mindreading," the ability to make inferences about the actions of others. That an elementary process in motor cognition may be foundational to mindreading goes a long way in providing a rational basis for the study of social cognition. Social cognition is a broad discipline that encompasses many issues not yet adequately addressed by neurobiologists. In Mirror Neuron Systems: The Role of Mirroring Processes in Social Cognition, leading thinkers in this nascent field craft chapters aimed at sparking a dialogue regarding the relevance of mirroring neural systems in cognition. Thought-provoking and cutting-edge, Mirror Neuron Systems: The Role of Mirroring Processes in Social Cognition provides the basis for extended discussion among interested readers and lays down the guidelines for future research in this fascinating and expanding field. It addresses issues common to different perspectives, raises contrary views, and creates the basis for an extended dialogue and discussion.