Mirror Neurons

Michael Rutter has often reminded autism researchers of the importance of comparing autism to other conditions. It seems that every few months there is a new unifying theory that attempts to explain all of autism, the latest being the mirror neuron theory. Disruption of the mirror neuron system has been invoked to explain everything from autism to schizophrenia.

Has scientific research become so overly specialized that researchers interpret every grand theory through the prism of their own specialty?

Search PubMed (the medical lit database) at www.pubmed.gov to see an example. ("An intersubjective perspective on negative symptoms of schizophrenia: implications of simulation theory," appearing in Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 2007, 12(2), pgs. 144-164, by Salvatore and colleagues.)

(Sorry, RAJ, I removed your direct link because most links from PubMed stretch the forums beyond the screen -- they're too long. --Connie)

RAJ, I just wanted to mention that one way IAN hopes to help researchers break out of their "silos" --meaning their narrowly focused specialties-- is to create a virtual space where they can interact as they might at an international conference, only all the time. This space will be called IAN Exchange.

Cross-pollination of ideas from widely different disciplines is something that can spark breakthroughs, and is definitely something we hope to encourage!

(If you search on "IAN Exchange" here in the Community, you will find a link to our 2007 Conference Report, and that contains a powerpoint document about IAN Exchange. Sorry not to provide a link, but I have learned that long links stretch the forum screen. From now on my policy will be to make short link names when setting up web pages!)