Making sense of mirror neurons

The discovery of mirror neurons has been hailed as one of the most 1 exciting developments in neuroscience in the past few decades. These neurons dis2 charge in response to the observation of others’ actions. But how are we to understand 3 the function of these neurons? In this paper I defend the idea that mirror neurons are 4 best conceived as components of a sensory system that has the function to perceive ac5 tion. In short, mirror neurons are part of a hitherto unrecognized “sixth sense”. In this 6 spirit, research should move toward developing a psychophysics of mirror neurons. 7