Understanding subjective agency through the mirror neuron system, does the immune system also play some role?

Center for Philosophy of Science Lunchtime Talk

Understanding subjective agency through the mirror neuron system, does the immune system also play some role?

Antonella Tramacere
Visiting Fellow
University of Göttingen
January 29, 2019 - 12:00pm
1117 Cathedral of Learning

Abstract:  At which level of sensorimotor complexity, performing intentional actions is associated with the subjective experience of agency? I answer this question by considering the mirror neurons system, a network of interconnected neural regions related to the execution and perception of own and others’ goal-directed actions. I propose a manipulative, neuroethological framework, which operationalizes organism behavior on a three-dimensional model of subjective agency. The first two axes consider respectively the level of multimodal stimulus generalization, and the flexibility of counterfactual behavioral responses, allowing to locate subjective agency on a spectrum that spans from reflexive behavior to a fully subjectively experienced distal action. The third axis represents the level of self-other sensitivity, possibly tested through the analysis of behavioral response to the modulation of motivational-based neuro-immunological processes. I will conclude by discussing the role of the immune – nervous systems interactions in subjective agency.