Predictive Eye Movements Are Driven by Goals, Not by the Mirror Neuron System

The importance of a mirror neuron system (MNS) as a mecha-nism for understanding the actions of others has been estab-lished (e.g., Rizzolatti, Fadiga, Gallese, & Fogassi, 1996). Neurons in the primate premotor cortex fire both when a monkey performs an action (e.g., grasping) and when the monkey ob-serves someone else performing the same action. It has also been proposed that theMNS is the starting point for understanding the intentions and goal-directed behavior of others (Fogassi et al., 2005; Gallese & Goldman, 1998). Consistent with this view, Falck-Ytter, Gredebäck, and von Hofsten (2006) argued that the MNS is implicated in proactive goal-directed (predictive) eye movements. In a series of eye-tracking studies, participants observed a toy object moving along a trajectory toward a con-tainer. Adults and 1-year-old infants looked ahead of the toy and toward the goal container only when a hand was observed