Frieder Schillinger

In my diploma theses research I investigated under the supervision of Stephan de la Rosa and Kamil Uludag the neural underpinnings of action perception and execution using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and its correlation to behavioral performance. This project feeds into the recent debate about the existence of the mirror neurons (MNs) in humans and especially their relevance to psychological theories on action understanding, simulation and imitation (cf. Dinstein et al., 2008). Using a long term fMRI-adaptation protocol we compared the BOLD (Blood-oxygen-level dependent) time courses of repeatedly carried out motor and visual tasks, which closely resemble those used in the first electrophysiological studies describing MNs (cf. Rizzolatti et al., 2004). The aim thereby is to reveal brain areas which exhibit an adaptation transfer from the motor task to the visual task and can therefore be considered a human homologue of the mirror neuron system.

I am also interested in social psychology, in particular stereotyping, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science.

Literature
Dinstein, I., Thomas, C., Behrmann, M., & Heeger, D. J. (2008). A mirror up to nature. Curr Biol, 18(1), R13-18.
Rizzolatti, G., & Craighero, L. (2004). The mirror-neuron system. Annu Rev Neurosci, 27, 169-192.