Evolution of mirror systems: a simple mechanism for complex cognitive functions. 
Luca Bonini and Pier Francesco Ferrari. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2011 April ; 1225(1): 166–175. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06002.x.

Mirror neurons (MNs) were first discovered in monkeys and subsequently in humans and birds. While MNs are deemed to play a number of high level cognitive functions, here we propose that they serve a unitary form of sensorimotor recognition of others’ behavior. We caution that this basic function should not be confounded with the higher-order functions that stem from the wider cortical systems in which MNs are embedded. Depending on the species, MNs function at different levels of motor event recognition, from motor goals to fine grained movements, thus contributing to social learning and imitative phenomena. Recent studies show that MN coding has a prospective nature, suggesting that MNs also play a role in anticipating and predicting the behavior of others during social interactions. The presence of mirroring mechanisms in subcortical structures related to visceromotor reactions and the large diffusion of imitative phenomena among animals suggest that MN systems may be more ancient and widespread than previously thought.
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Bastiaansen, J. a C. J., Thioux, M., & Keysers, C. (2009). Evidence for mirror systems in emotions. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 364(1528), 2391–404. doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0058
Why do we feel tears well up when we see a loved one cry? Why do we wince when we see other people hurt themselves? This review addresses these questions from the perspective of embodied simulation: observing the actions and tactile sensations of others activates premotor, posterior parietal and somatosensory regions in the brain of the observer which are also active when performing similar movements and feeling similar sensations. We will show that seeing the emotions of others also recruits regions involved in experiencing similar emotions, although there does not seem to be a reliable mapping of particular emotions onto particular brain regions. Instead, emotion simulation seems to involve a mosaic of affective, motor and somatosensory components. The relative contributions of these components to a particular emotion and their interrelationship are largely unknown, although recent experimental evidence suggests that motor simulation may be a trigger for the simulation of associated feeling states. This mosaic of simulations may be necessary for generating the compelling insights we have into the feelings of others. Through their integration with, and modulation by, higher cognitive functions, they could be at the core of important social functions, including empathy, mind reading and social learning.
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