**Author details**

have a role to play in self related processes. Mirror neurons may enable us to understand the actions of others by mapping the actions of other people to our own motor system and so allow a shared representation of actions. In addition to understanding the action of others this so-called 'mirroring' might also allow the automatic experience of the intention and

Research has demonstrated that mirror neuron activity correlates with empathy [164] and social competence in general [165]. It has been suggested that mirror neurons are a prerequi‐ site for the normal development of self-recognition, imitation, theory of mind, empathy, in‐ tersubjectivity and language [166, 167]. Furthermore, mirror neurons are likely to play a central role in self-awareness. To quote Ramachandran and Oberman [168] 'they may enable humans to see themselves as others see them, which may be an essential ability for selfawareness and introspection' (p.41). Developmental data suggest that there is higher imita‐ tive behaviour in children that can self-recognise, possibly facilitated by mirror neurons, in contrast to those who cannot [169]. Providing support for a RH hypothesis in self-related functions are recent imaging studies [170, 171] indicating that a frontoparietal 'mirror' net‐

Several recent functional brain-imaging studies have found evidence of mirror neuron dys‐ function in individuals with ASD in social mirroring tasks [172], motor facilitation [173], and imitation [174]. A fMRI study [175] revealed that individuals with autism showed a different pattern of brain activity during cognitive tasks relating to self-referential processing. The au‐ thors concluded that a core deficit in autism might be related to the construction of a sense of self in its relation with others. Echoing Hobson [176] Iacoboni [177] suggests that primary intersubjectivity is the basis for the development of the neural systems associated with inter‐ nal and external self-related processes. Failure or abnormal development of a fully function‐ ing mirror neuron system in the autistic infant is likely to result in a cascade of

The centrality of an impaired sense of self in autism has been the focus of research for many decades. The development of self-awareness is a complex process that involves integration of information from many sources and coordination across the brain systems involved in self-related concepts. A sense of self emerges from the activity of the brain in interaction with other selves. There is substantial evidence that early deficits in self-development in‐ cluding impaired relations with others result in a fragmented and atypical sense of self in ASD. In this review we have presented evidence that a great majority of self-related process‐ es that are mediated to a significant extent by the right hemisphere are impaired in individ‐ uals with ASD. Additional lines of investigation indicate that an unintegrated sense of self in autism is also potentially associated with abnormal functional connectivity and an im‐ paired mirror neuron system. Consequences of this atypical sense of self are the well-docu‐ mented impairments individuals with ASD experience in the social and communication

developmental impairments including dysfunctional self-related processes.

emotion of the other person as suggested by Kaplan and Iacoboni [163].

work is associated with self-recognition processes.

758 Recent Advances in Autism Spectrum Disorders - Volume I

**5. Conclusion**

