The straw man in the brain

Mirror neurons—brain cells that are activated when viewing the actions of another—have been implicated in everything from obesity to autism. While many of the claims made about these cells remain to be tested, they continue to persist in popular culture, much to the frustration of those working in the field. Christian Keysers considers an attempt to set the record straight in a review of The Myth of Mirror Neurons: The Real Neuroscience of Communication and Cognition.