VOLUME LXXIII | JAN 2023

Exploring the Connection Between Social Affordances and Mirror Neurons

Just like how a playground offers various opportunities for play, Gibson’s concept of affordances in the environment refers to the different possibilities for action that an individual can take. Similarly, mirror neurons (MNs) in monkeys revealed that motor sequences, such as grasping, are best understood as intentional actions driven by higher-level goals, like eating. This aligns with the idea that movements can be seen as ensembles defined by an individual’s intention rather than solely by physical properties. By studying social affordances and mirror neurons, researchers hope to gain a deeper understanding of how our social brain operates in perceiving and responding to the actions and intentions of others. Further exploration in this field may reveal the underlying mechanisms of social cognition and shed light on conditions such as autism spectrum disorders where challenges in social interaction exist.

Li Wei Chen

Li Wei is a Chinese-Canadian neuroscientist in Vancouver, studying brain plasticity and lifelong learning. He contributes articles on harnessing neurotechnology to expand human capabilities, drawing from his experiences in cross-cultural innovation hubs.

Gibson’s notion of affordances refers to the opportunities for action that the environment offers, and that the organism can act upon. A good decade later, the discovery of mirror neurons (MNs) in rhesus macaques demonstrated that motor sequences are best viewed as actions (grasping) because they are organized by high-level goals (e.g., eating food) rather than by the physics of the effectors. The notion of affordance may resonate with MN researchers because it fits the idea that movements are organized as ensembles best defined by the agents’ intention rather than by agent-independent physical properties.
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