A new study shows that reward and punishment can influence the mirror neuron related activity in the brain. Therefore the degree to which we simulate others' actions could be driven by the reward values we associate with the actions, which is likely to be different depending upon the context. This provides neural evidence that our ability to learn social skills during development through observing others' behaviour is also affected by how much we value others' behaviour.…

http://www.frontiersin.org/Human_Neuroscience/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00147/abstract

Research has shown that the brain is constantly making predictions about future events. Theories of prediction in perception, action and learning suggest that the brain serves to reduce the discrepancies between expectation and actual experience, i.e., by reducing the prediction error.…