Michael A. Arbib is the Fletcher Jones Professor of Computer Science, as well as a Professor of Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Southern California (USC), which he joined in 1986. He has been named as one of a small group of university professors at USC in recognition of his contributions across many disciplines.

• Preface; Part I. Two Perspectives: 1. The mirror system hypothesis on the linkage of action and languages Michael Arbib; 2. The origin and evolution of language: a plausible, strong-AI account Jerry Hobbs; Part II. Brain, Evolution and Comparative Analysis: 3. Cognition, imitation and culture in the great apes Craig Stanford; 4. The signer as an embodied mirror neuron: neural systems underlying sign language and action Karen Emmorey; 5. Neural homologies and the grounding of neurolinguistics Michael Arbib and Mihail Bota; Part III. Dynamical Systems in Action and Language: 6. Dynamical systems: brain, body and imitation Stefan Schaal; 7. The role of vocal tract gestural action units in understanding the evolution of phonology Louis Goldstein, Dani Byrd and Elliot Saltzman; 8. Lending a helping hand to hearing: a motor theory of speech perception Jeremy I. Skipper, Howard C. Nusbaum and Steven L. Small; Part IV. From Mirror System to Syntax and Theory of Mind: 9. Attention and the minimal subscene Laurent Itti and Michael Arbib; 10. Action verbs, argument structure constructions, and the mirror neuron system David Kemmerer; 11. Linguistic corpora and theory of mind Andrew Gordon; Part V. Development of Action and Language: 12. The development of grasping and the mirror system Erhan Oztop, Nina Bradley and Michael Arbib; 13. Development of goal-directed imitation, object manipulation and language in humans and robots Iona D. Goga and Aude Billard; 14. Affordances, effectivities and the mirror system in child development Patricia Zukow-Goldring; 15. Implications of mirror neurons for the ontogeny and phylogeny of cultural processes: the examples of tools and language Patricia Greenfield.

Michael A. Arbib is the Fletcher Jones Professor of Computer Science, as well as a Professor of Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Southern California (USC), which he joined in 1986. He has been named as one of a small group of university professors at USC in recognition of his contributions across many disciplines.

• Preface; Part I. Two Perspectives: 1. The mirror system hypothesis on the linkage of action and languages Michael Arbib; 2. The origin and evolution of language: a plausible, strong-AI account Jerry Hobbs; Part II. Brain, Evolution and Comparative Analysis: 3. Cognition, imitation and culture in the great apes Craig Stanford; 4. The signer as an embodied mirror neuron: neural systems underlying sign language and action Karen Emmorey; 5. Neural homologies and the grounding of neurolinguistics Michael Arbib and Mihail Bota; Part III. Dynamical Systems in Action and Language: 6. Dynamical systems: brain, body and imitation Stefan Schaal; 7. The role of vocal tract gestural action units in understanding the evolution of phonology Louis Goldstein, Dani Byrd and Elliot Saltzman; 8. Lending a helping hand to hearing: a motor theory of speech perception Jeremy I. Skipper, Howard C. Nusbaum and Steven L. Small; Part IV. From Mirror System to Syntax and Theory of Mind: 9. Attention and the minimal subscene Laurent Itti and Michael Arbib; 10. Action verbs, argument structure constructions, and the mirror neuron system David Kemmerer; 11. Linguistic corpora and theory of mind Andrew Gordon; Part V. Development of Action and Language: 12. The development of grasping and the mirror system Erhan Oztop, Nina Bradley and Michael Arbib; 13. Development of goal-directed imitation, object manipulation and language in humans and robots Iona D. Goga and Aude Billard; 14. Affordances, effectivities and the mirror system in child development Patricia Zukow-Goldring; 15. Implications of mirror neurons for the ontogeny and phylogeny of cultural processes: the examples of tools and language Patricia Greenfield.

Michael A. Arbib is the Fletcher Jones Professor of Computer Science, as well as a Professor of Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Southern California (USC), which he joined in 1986. He has been named as one of a small group of university professors at USC in recognition of his contributions across many disciplines.

• Preface; Part I. Two Perspectives: 1. The mirror system hypothesis on the linkage of action and languages Michael Arbib; 2. The origin and evolution of language: a plausible, strong-AI account Jerry Hobbs; Part II. Brain, Evolution and Comparative Analysis: 3. Cognition, imitation and culture in the great apes Craig Stanford; 4. The signer as an embodied mirror neuron: neural systems underlying sign language and action Karen Emmorey; 5. Neural homologies and the grounding of neurolinguistics Michael Arbib and Mihail Bota; Part III. Dynamical Systems in Action and Language: 6. Dynamical systems: brain, body and imitation Stefan Schaal; 7. The role of vocal tract gestural action units in understanding the evolution of phonology Louis Goldstein, Dani Byrd and Elliot Saltzman; 8. Lending a helping hand to hearing: a motor theory of speech perception Jeremy I. Skipper, Howard C. Nusbaum and Steven L. Small; Part IV. From Mirror System to Syntax and Theory of Mind: 9. Attention and the minimal subscene Laurent Itti and Michael Arbib; 10. Action verbs, argument structure constructions, and the mirror neuron system David Kemmerer; 11. Linguistic corpora and theory of mind Andrew Gordon; Part V. Development of Action and Language: 12. The development of grasping and the mirror system Erhan Oztop, Nina Bradley and Michael Arbib; 13. Development of goal-directed imitation, object manipulation and language in humans and robots Iona D. Goga and Aude Billard; 14. Affordances, effectivities and the mirror system in child development Patricia Zukow-Goldring; 15. Implications of mirror neurons for the ontogeny and phylogeny of cultural processes: the examples of tools and language Patricia Greenfield.