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Vitali H, Campus C, De Giorgis V, Signorini S, Morelli F, Fasce M, Gori M. Sensorimotor Oscillations in Human Infants during an Innate Rhythmic Movement. Brain Sci 2024; 14:402. [PMID: 38672051 PMCID: PMC11047852 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14040402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2024] [Revised: 04/13/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The relationship between cerebral rhythms and early sensorimotor development is not clear. In recent decades, evidence revealed a rhythmic modulation involving sensorimotor processing. A widely corroborated functional role of oscillatory activity is to coordinate the information flow across sensorimotor networks. Their activity is coordinated by event-related synchronisation and desynchronisation in different sensorimotor rhythms, which indicate parallel processes may be occurring in the neuronal network during movement. To date, the dynamics of these brain oscillations and early sensorimotor development are unexplored. Our study investigates the relationship between the cerebral rhythms using EEG and a typical rhythmic movement of infants, the non-nutritive sucking (NNS) behaviour. NNS is an endogenous behaviour that originates from the suck central pattern generator in the brainstem. We find, in 17 infants, that sucking frequency correlates with beta synchronisation within the sensorimotor area in two phases: one strongly anticipating (~3 s) and the other encompassing the start of the motion. These findings suggest that a beta synchronisation of the sensorimotor cortex may influence the sensorimotor dynamics of NNS activity. Our results reveal the importance of rapid brain oscillations in infants and the role of beta synchronisation and their possible role in the communication between cortical and deep generators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helene Vitali
- Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 16152 Genoa, Italy; (H.V.)
- Dipartimento di Informatica, Bioingegneria, Robotica e Ingegneria dei Sistemi (DIBRIS), University of Genova, 16145 Genoa, Italy
| | - Claudio Campus
- Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 16152 Genoa, Italy; (H.V.)
| | - Valentina De Giorgis
- Department of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (V.D.G.)
- Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Sabrina Signorini
- Developmental Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy (F.M.)
| | - Federica Morelli
- Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
- Developmental Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy (F.M.)
| | - Marco Fasce
- Department of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; (V.D.G.)
| | - Monica Gori
- Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 16152 Genoa, Italy; (H.V.)
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2
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Michel C, Matthes D, Hoehl S. Theta power relates to infant object encoding in naturalistic mother-infant interactions. Child Dev 2024; 95:530-543. [PMID: 37715460 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.14011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2022] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
This study investigates infants' neural and behavioral responses to maternal ostensive signals during naturalistic mother-infant interactions and their effects on object encoding. Mothers familiarized their 9- to 10-month-olds (N = 35, 17 females, mainly White, data collection: 2018-2019) with objects with or without mutual gaze, infant-directed speech, and calling the infant's name. Ostensive signals focused infants' attention on objects and their mothers. Infant theta activity synchronized and alpha activity desynchronized during interactions compared to a nonsocial resting phase (Cohen' d: 0.49-0.75). Yet, their amplitudes were unrelated to maternal ostensive signals. Ostensive signals did not facilitate object encoding. However, higher infant theta power during encoding predicted better subsequent object recognition. Results strengthen the role of theta-band power for early learning processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Michel
- SRH University of Applied Health Sciences, Gera, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Faculty of Education, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Daniel Matthes
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Laboratory for Biosignal Processing, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Stefanie Hoehl
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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3
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Rayson H, Szul MJ, El-Khoueiry P, Debnath R, Gautier-Martins M, Ferrari PF, Fox N, Bonaiuto JJ. Bursting with Potential: How Sensorimotor Beta Bursts Develop from Infancy to Adulthood. J Neurosci 2023; 43:8487-8503. [PMID: 37833066 PMCID: PMC10711718 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0886-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 07/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Beta activity is thought to play a critical role in sensorimotor processes. However, little is known about how activity in this frequency band develops. Here, we investigated the developmental trajectory of sensorimotor beta activity from infancy to adulthood. We recorded EEG from 9-month-old, 12-month-old, and adult humans (male and female) while they observed and executed grasping movements. We analyzed "beta burst" activity using a novel method that combines time-frequency decomposition and principal component analysis. We then examined the changes in burst rate and waveform motifs along the selected principal components. Our results reveal systematic changes in beta activity during action execution across development. We found a decrease in beta burst rate during movement execution in all age groups, with the greatest decrease observed in adults. Additionally, we identified three principal components that defined waveform motifs that systematically changed throughout the trial. We found that bursts with waveform shapes closer to the median waveform were not rate-modulated, whereas those with waveform shapes further from the median were differentially rate-modulated. Interestingly, the decrease in the rate of certain burst motifs occurred earlier during movement and was more lateralized in adults than in infants, suggesting that the rate modulation of specific types of beta bursts becomes increasingly refined with age.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We demonstrate that, like in adults, sensorimotor beta activity in infants during reaching and grasping movements occurs in bursts, not oscillations like thought traditionally. Furthermore, different beta waveform shapes were differentially modulated with age, including more lateralization in adults. Aberrant beta activity characterizes various developmental disorders and motor difficulties linked to early brain injury, so looking at burst waveform shape could provide more sensitivity for early identification and treatment of affected individuals before any behavioral symptoms emerge. More generally, comparison of beta burst activity in typical versus atypical motor development will also be instrumental in teasing apart the mechanistic functional roles of different types of beta bursts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Rayson
- Institut des Sciences, Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche 5229, Bron, 69500, France
- Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, 69100, France
- Inovarion, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Maciej J Szul
- Institut des Sciences, Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche 5229, Bron, 69500, France
- Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, 69100, France
| | - Perla El-Khoueiry
- Institut des Sciences, Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche 5229, Bron, 69500, France
- Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, 69100, France
| | - Ranjan Debnath
- Center for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, 35394, Germany
| | - Marine Gautier-Martins
- Institut des Sciences, Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche 5229, Bron, 69500, France
- Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, 69100, France
| | - Pier F Ferrari
- Institut des Sciences, Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche 5229, Bron, 69500, France
- Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, 69100, France
| | - Nathan Fox
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742
| | - James J Bonaiuto
- Institut des Sciences, Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche 5229, Bron, 69500, France
- Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, 69100, France
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4
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Cogoni C, Monachesi B, Mazza V, Grecucci A, Vaes J. Neural dynamics of vicarious physical pain processing reflect impaired empathy toward sexually objectified versus non-sexually objectified women. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14400. [PMID: 37578333 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Revised: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Sexually objectified women are perceived as dehumanized. This may affect the behavioral and neural responses underlying the observer's empathic reactions for their physical pain, although this hypothesis still lacks empirical support. In the present study, we measured the electrophysiological activity of 30 participants (14 females and 16 males), in an empathy for physical pain paradigm in which pictures of sexualized and non-sexualized women were presented in painful and non-painful situations. The behavioral results revealed that sexualized women were evaluated as experiencing less pain than non-sexualized women. Neural evidence corroborated this finding showing that the perception of vicarious physical pain is lacking for sexualized women in both event-related potentials (ERPs) and brain oscillation domains. Specifically, the P2 component and the event-related synchronization/desynchronization (ERS/ERD) on the mu frequency band differed between painful and non-painful stimulation exclusively when women were not sexualized. Our results provide the first evidence that the neurophysiological responses to the vicarious experience of physical pain are dampened or even absent for sexualized women. These findings expand our understanding of the neurophysiological signatures of empathic processes and highlight the detrimental effect of a sexual-objectification bias in everyday contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlotta Cogoni
- Instituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Bianca Monachesi
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Veronica Mazza
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Alessandro Grecucci
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Jeroen Vaes
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
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Köster M, Meyer M. Down and up! Does the mu rhythm index a gating mechanism in the developing motor system? Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 60:101239. [PMID: 37030147 PMCID: PMC10113759 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/03/2023] [Indexed: 04/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Developmental research on action processing in the motor cortex relies on a key neural marker - a decrease in 6-12 Hz activity (coined mu suppression). However, recent evidence points towards an increase in mu power, specific for the observation of others' actions. Complementing the findings on mu suppression, this raises the critical question for the functional role of the mu rhythm in the developing motor system. We here discuss a potential solution to this seeming controversy by suggesting a gating function of the mu rhythm: A decrease in mu power may index the facilitation, while an increase may index the inhibition of motor processes, which are critical during action observation. This account may advance our conception of action understanding in early brain development and points towards critical directions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moritz Köster
- University of Regensburg, Institute of Psychology, Sedanstraße 1, 93055 Regensburg, Germany.
| | - Marlene Meyer
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, USA.
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6
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Gilbreath D, Hagood D, Alatorre-Cruz GC, Andres A, Downs H, Larson-Prior LJ. Effects of Early Nutrition Factors on Baseline Neurodevelopment during the First 6 Months of Life: An EEG Study. Nutrients 2023; 15:1535. [PMID: 36986265 PMCID: PMC10055905 DOI: 10.3390/nu15061535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Throughout infancy, the brain undergoes rapid changes in structure and function that are sensitive to environmental influences, such as diet. Breastfed (BF) infants score higher on cognitive tests throughout infancy and into adolescence than formula fed (FF) infants, and these differences in neurocognitive development are reflected in higher concentrations of white and grey matter as measured by MRI. To further explore the effect diet has on cognitive development, electroencephalography (EEG) is used as a direct measure of neuronal activity and to assess specific frequency bands associated with cognitive processes. Task-free baseline EEGs were collected from infants fed with human milk (BF), dairy-based formula (MF), or soy-based formula (SF) at 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 months of age to explore differences in frequency bands in both sensor and source space. Significant global differences in sensor space were seen in beta and gamma bands between BF and SF groups at ages 2 and 6 months, and these differences were further observed through volumetric modeling in source space. We conclude that BF infants exhibit earlier brain maturation reflected in greater power spectral density in these frequency bands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dylan Gilbreath
- Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC), Little Rock, AR 72202, USA
- Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Little Rock, AR 72207, USA
| | - Darcy Hagood
- Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC), Little Rock, AR 72202, USA
| | - Graciela Catalina Alatorre-Cruz
- Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC), Little Rock, AR 72202, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Little Rock, AR 72207, USA
| | - Aline Andres
- Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC), Little Rock, AR 72202, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Little Rock, AR 72207, USA
| | - Heather Downs
- Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC), Little Rock, AR 72202, USA
| | - Linda J. Larson-Prior
- Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC), Little Rock, AR 72202, USA
- Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Little Rock, AR 72207, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Little Rock, AR 72207, USA
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7
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Paolini S, Bazzini MC, Rossini M, De Marco D, Nuara A, Presti P, Scalona E, Avanzini P, Fabbri-Destro M. Kicking in or kicking out? The role of the individual motor expertise in predicting the outcome of rugby actions. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1122236. [PMID: 36935992 PMCID: PMC10020490 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1122236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
In sports, understanding others' actions represents a fundamental skill that allows players to predict the outcome of teammates' and opponents' actions and counteract them properly. While it is well known that motor expertise sets better premises for predicting the result of an observed sports action, it remains untested whether this principle applies to a team where players cover different positions that imply different motor repertoires. To test this hypothesis, we selected rugby as a paradigmatic example in which only one or two players out of 22 train and perform placed kicks. We administered a placed kick outcome prediction task to three groups of participants, namely, rugby kickers, rugby non-kickers, and controls, thus spanning over different combinations of motor expertise and visual experience. Kickers outperformed both their non-kicking teammates and controls in overall prediction accuracy. We documented how the viewpoint of observation, the expertise of the observed kicker, and the position of the kick on the court influenced the prediction performance across the three groups. Finally, we revealed that within rugby players, the degree of motor expertise (but not the visual experience) causally affects accuracy, and such a result stands even after accounting for the level of visual experience. These findings extend the role of motor expertise in decoding and predicting others' behaviors to sports teammates, among which every member is equipped with a position-specific motor repertoire, advocating for new motor training procedures combining the gestures to-be-performed with those to-be-faced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Paolini
- Department of Surgery and Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Parma, Italy
| | - Maria Chiara Bazzini
- Department of Surgery and Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Parma, Italy
| | | | - Doriana De Marco
- Department of Surgery and Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Arturo Nuara
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Parma, Italy
| | - Paolo Presti
- Department of Surgery and Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Parma, Italy
| | - Emilia Scalona
- Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences and Public Health (DSMC), University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Pietro Avanzini
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Parma, Italy
- Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Milan, Italy
| | - Maddalena Fabbri-Destro
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Parma, Italy
- *Correspondence: Maddalena Fabbri-Destro,
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8
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Sacheli LM, Verga C, Zapparoli L, Seghezzi S, Tomasetig G, Banfi G, Paulesu E. When action prediction grows old: An fMRI study. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 44:373-387. [PMID: 35997233 PMCID: PMC9842895 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Predicting the unfolding of others' actions (action prediction) is crucial for successfully navigating the social world and interacting efficiently. Age-related changes in this domain have remained largely unexplored, especially for predictions regarding simple gestures and independent of contextual information or motor expertise. Here, we evaluated whether healthy aging impacts the neurophysiological processes recruited to anticipate, from the observation of implied-motion postures, the correct conclusion of simple grasping and pointing actions. A color-discrimination task served as a control condition to assess the specificity of the age-related effects. Older adults showed reduced efficiency in performance that was yet not specific to the action prediction task. Nevertheless, fMRI results revealed task-specific age-related differences: while both groups showed stronger recruitment of the lateral occipito-temporal cortex bilaterally during the action prediction than the control task, the younger participants additionally showed a higher bilateral engagement of parietal regions. Importantly, in both groups, the recruitment of visuo-motor processes in the right posterior parietal cortex was a predictor of good performance. These results support the hypothesis of decreased involvement of sensorimotor processes in cognitive tasks when processing action- and body-related stimuli in healthy aging. These results have implications for social interaction, which requires the fast reading of others' gestures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Maria Sacheli
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly
| | - Chiara Verga
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly,Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and PsychologySapienza University of RomeRomeItaly
| | - Laura Zapparoli
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly,IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico GaleazziMilanItaly
| | - Silvia Seghezzi
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly
| | - Giulia Tomasetig
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly
| | - Giuseppe Banfi
- IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico GaleazziMilanItaly,San Raffaele Vita e Salute UniversityMilanItaly
| | - Eraldo Paulesu
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly,IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico GaleazziMilanItaly
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9
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Chung H, Meyer M, Debnath R, Fox NA, Woodward A. Neural correlates of familiar and unfamiliar action in infancy. J Exp Child Psychol 2022; 220:105415. [PMID: 35339810 PMCID: PMC9086142 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Revised: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral evidence shows that experience with an action shapes action perception. Neural mirroring has been suggested as a mechanism underlying this behavioral phenomenon. Suppression of electroencephalogram (EEG) power in the mu frequency band, an index of motor activation, typically reflects neural mirroring. However, contradictory findings exist regarding the association between mu suppression and motor familiarity in infant EEG studies. In this study, we investigated the neural underpinnings reflecting the role of familiarity in action perception. We measured neural processing of familiar (grasp) and novel (tool-use) actions in 9- and 12-month-old infants. Specifically, we measured infants' distinct motor/visual activity and explored functional connectivity associated with these processes. Mu suppression was stronger for grasping than for tool use, whereas significant mu and occipital alpha (indexing visual activity) suppression were evident for both actions. Interestingly, selective motor-visual functional connectivity was found during observation of familiar action, a pattern not observed for novel action. Thus, the neural correlates of perception of familiar actions may be best understood in terms of a functional neural network rather than isolated regional activity. Our findings provide novel insights on analytic approaches for identifying motor-specific neural activity while also considering neural networks involved in observing motorically familiar versus unfamiliar actions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marlene Meyer
- University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Donders Institute, Radboud University, 6525 GD Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Ranjan Debnath
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, 39118 Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Nathan A Fox
- University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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10
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Karthik S, Parise E, Liszkowski U. Mirroring Communicative Actions: Contextual Modulation of Mu Rhythm Desynchronization in Response to the 'Back-Of-Hand' Action in 9-Month-Old Infants. Dev Neuropsychol 2022; 47:158-174. [PMID: 35321593 DOI: 10.1080/87565641.2022.2055033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
This study measured mu rhythm desynchronization (MRD), while nine-month-old infants observed an agent extend her arm and hand, palm up ('back-of-hand action') either in social (object and recipient present), individual (object present, recipient absent), or social object-absent (recipient present, object absent) situations across two experiments. In addition, infants' MRD was measured as they reached for objects. Results revealed significant mu desynchronization in the right centro-parietal region selectively for the social group, indicating that infants processed the back-of-hand action as an object-directed request. Findings suggest to extend the action reconstruction account to object-directed communicative actions as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sriranjani Karthik
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Eugenio Parise
- CIMeC - Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy.,Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Ulf Liszkowski
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
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11
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Norton ES, Manning BL, Harriott EM, Nikolaeva JI, Nyabingi OS, Fredian KM, Page JM, McWeeny S, Krogh-Jespersen S, MacNeill LA, Roberts MY, Wakschlag LS. Social EEG: A novel neurodevelopmental approach to studying brain-behavior links and brain-to-brain synchrony during naturalistic toddler-parent interactions. Dev Psychobiol 2022; 64:e22240. [PMID: 35312062 PMCID: PMC9867891 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Despite increasing emphasis on emergent brain-behavior patterns supporting language, cognitive, and socioemotional development in toddlerhood, methodologic challenges impede their characterization. Toddlers are notoriously difficult to engage in brain research, leaving a developmental window in which neural processes are understudied. Further, electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potential paradigms at this age typically employ structured, experimental tasks that rarely reflect formative naturalistic interactions with caregivers. Here, we introduce and provide proof of concept for a new "Social EEG" paradigm, in which parent-toddler dyads interact naturally during EEG recording. Parents and toddlers sit at a table together and engage in different activities, such as book sharing or watching a movie. EEG is time locked to the video recording of their interaction. Offline, behavioral data are microcoded with mutually exclusive engagement state codes. From 216 sessions to date with 2- and 3-year-old toddlers and their parents, 72% of dyads successfully completed the full Social EEG paradigm, suggesting that it is possible to collect dual EEG from parents and toddlers during naturalistic interactions. In addition to providing naturalistic information about child neural development within the caregiving context, this paradigm holds promise for examination of emerging constructs such as brain-to-brain synchrony in parents and children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth S. Norton
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
- Department of Medical Social Sciences and Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Brittany L. Manning
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Emily M. Harriott
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Julia I. Nikolaeva
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Olufemi S. Nyabingi
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Kaitlyn M. Fredian
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Jessica M. Page
- Department of Medical Social Sciences and Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Sean McWeeny
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Sheila Krogh-Jespersen
- Department of Medical Social Sciences and Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Leigha A. MacNeill
- Department of Medical Social Sciences and Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Megan Y. Roberts
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
- Department of Medical Social Sciences and Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Lauren S. Wakschlag
- Department of Medical Social Sciences and Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
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12
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Rayson H, Debnath R, Alavizadeh S, Fox N, Ferrari PF, Bonaiuto JJ. Detection and Analysis of Cortical Beta Bursts in Developmental EEG Data. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2022; 54:101069. [PMID: 35114447 PMCID: PMC8816670 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Revised: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Developmental EEG research often involves analyzing signals within various frequency bands, based on the assumption that these signals represent oscillatory neural activity. However, growing evidence suggests that certain frequency bands are dominated by transient burst events in single trials rather than sustained oscillations. This is especially true for the beta band, with adult ‘beta burst’ timing a better predictor of motor behavior than slow changes in average beta amplitude. No developmental research thus far has looked at beta bursts, with techniques used to investigate frequency-specific activity structure rarely even applied to such data. Therefore, we aimed to: i) provide a tutorial for developmental EEG researchers on the application of methods for evaluating the rhythmic versus transient nature of frequency-specific activity; and ii) use these techniques to investigate the existence of sensorimotor beta bursts in infants. We found that beta activity in 12-month-olds did occur in bursts, however differences were also revealed in terms of duration, amplitude, and rate during grasping compared to adults. Application of the techniques illustrated here will be critical for clarifying the functional roles of frequency-specific activity across early development, including the role of beta activity in motor processing and its contribution to differing developmental motor trajectories. Transient bursts rather than oscillations dominate sensorimotor beta activity Lagged coherence indicates the rhythmicity of a signal The p-episode method can be used to identify beta bursts in developmental EEG data Infant sensorimotor beta has a lower peak frequency than adults and consists of longer duration, higher amplitude bursts
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Rayson
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR5229, Bron, France; Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, France.
| | | | - Sanaz Alavizadeh
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR5229, Bron, France; Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, France
| | - Nathan Fox
- University of Maryland College Park, MD, USA
| | - Pier F Ferrari
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR5229, Bron, France; Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, France
| | - James J Bonaiuto
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR5229, Bron, France; Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, France
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13
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Vacaru SV, Ma S, van Schie HT, Hunnius S. Eating in Synch: An investigation of parent-infant behaviour coordination during feeding interactions. Infant Behav Dev 2021; 66:101669. [PMID: 34871829 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Revised: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
During feeding, parents have been described to move their mouth as if they were eating themselves. Such matching of behaviours between parents and their infants during face-to-face interactions represents an example of behavioural synchrony. To date, however, the function of these synchronous eating-like mouth movements by the caregiver remains unexplored. To address this question, two competing hypotheses were tested: 1) the instructional hypothesis proposing that parents make eating-like mouth movements, such as opening and closing their mouth, to demonstrate to their infants what they need to do; 2) the mimicry hypothesis suggesting that parents imitate their infant's mouth actions to enhance affiliation. To test these hypotheses, we examined the temporal dependencies between parents' and infants' mouth movements. We reasoned that parents' mouth movements would occur before their infants' if they serve an instructional purpose, but that they would happen after, if parents mimic their infants. Additionally, we expected that parents' matching mouth movements would be more likely when their infants looked at them in both cases. To examine these hypotheses, fifteen caregivers were observed as they were feeding their six-month-old infants. Time-window sequential analysis was conducted to quantify how likely parents were to display mouth opening and closing before or after their infants did. The results revealed that parents' mouth movements were more likely to follow infants' movements and are thus in line with the mimicry hypothesis. Interestingly, these mouth movements of parents were independent of infant's gaze.
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Affiliation(s)
- S V Vacaru
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - S Ma
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Behavioural Sciences Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - H T van Schie
- Behavioural Sciences Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - S Hunnius
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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14
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Zarka D, Cebolla AM, Cheron G. [Mirror neurons, neural substrate of action understanding?]. Encephale 2021; 48:83-91. [PMID: 34625217 DOI: 10.1016/j.encep.2021.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/12/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
In 1992, the Laboratory of Human Physiology at the University of Parma (Italy) publish a study describing "mirror" neurons in the macaque that activate both when the monkey performs an action and when it observes an experimenter performing the same action. The research team behind this discovery postulates that the mirror neurons system is the neural basis of our ability to understand the actions of others, through the motor mapping of the observed action on the observer's motor repertory (direct-matching hypothesis). Nevertheless, this conception met serious criticism. These critics attempt to relativize their function by placing them within a network of neurocognitive and sensory interdependencies. In short, the essential characteristic of these neurons is to combine the processing of sensory information, especially visual, with that of motor information. Their elementary function would be to provide a motor simulation of the observed action, based on visual information from it. They can contribute, with other non-mirror areas, to the identification/prediction of the action goal and to the interpretation of the intention of the actor performing it. Studying the connectivity and high frequency synchronizations of the different brain areas involved in action observation would likely provide important information about the dynamic contribution of mirror neurons to "action understanding". The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date analysis of the scientific evidence related to mirror neurons and their elementary functions, as well as to shed light on the contribution of these neurons to our ability to interpret and understand others' actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Zarka
- Faculté des Sciences de la Motricité, laboratoire de neurophysiologie et de biomécanique du mouvement, université Libre de Bruxelles, CP640, 808, route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgique; Unité de Recherche en Sciences de l'Ostéopathie, faculté des Sciences de la Motricité, université Libre de Bruxelles, CP640, 808, route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgique.
| | - A M Cebolla
- Faculté des Sciences de la Motricité, laboratoire de neurophysiologie et de biomécanique du mouvement, université Libre de Bruxelles, CP640, 808, route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgique
| | - G Cheron
- Faculté des Sciences de la Motricité, laboratoire de neurophysiologie et de biomécanique du mouvement, université Libre de Bruxelles, CP640, 808, route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgique; Laboratoire d'électrophysiologie, université de Mons, 7000 Mons, Belgique
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15
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Meyer M, Chung H, Debnath R, Fox N, Woodward AL. Social context shapes neural processing of others' actions in 9-month-old infants. J Exp Child Psychol 2021; 213:105260. [PMID: 34390926 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
From infancy, neural processes for perceiving others' actions and producing one's own actions overlap (neural mirroring). Adults and children show enhanced mirroring in social interactions. Yet, whether social context affects mirroring in infancy, a time when processing others' actions is crucial for action learning, remains unclear. We examined whether turn-taking, an early form of social interaction, enhanced 9-month-olds' neural mirroring. We recorded electroencephalography while 9-month-olds were grasping (execution) and observing live grasps (observation). In this design, half of the infants observed and acted in alternation (turn-taking condition), whereas the other half observed several times in a row before acting (blocked condition). Replicating previous findings, infants showed significant 6- to 9-Hz mu suppression (indicating motor activation) during execution and observation (n = 24). In addition, a condition (turn-taking or blocked) by time (action start or end) interaction indicated that infants engaged in turn-taking (n = 9), but not in the blocked context (n = 15), showed more mirroring when observing the action start compared with the action end. Exploratory analyses further suggest that (a) there is higher visual-motor functional connectivity in turn-taking toward the action's end, (b) mirroring relates to later visual-motor connectivity, and (c) visual attention as indexed by occipital alpha is enhanced in turn-taking compared with the blocked context. Together, this suggests that the neural processing of others' actions is modulated by the social context in infancy and that turn-taking may be particularly effective in engaging infants' action perception system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlene Meyer
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Donders Institute, Radboud University, 6525 GD Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
| | - Haerin Chung
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Ranjan Debnath
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, 39118 Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Nathan Fox
- Child Development Lab, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Amanda L Woodward
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
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16
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Addabbo M, Colombo L, Picciolini O, Tagliabue P, Turati C. Newborns’ ability to match non-speech audio-visual information in the absence of temporal synchrony. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/17405629.2021.1931105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Margaret Addabbo
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Colombo
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Italy
| | - Odoardo Picciolini
- Pediatric Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Italy
| | - Paolo Tagliabue
- Neonatology and Intensive Care Unit, MBBM Foundation, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy
| | - Chiara Turati
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
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17
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Ionta S. Visual Neuropsychology in Development: Anatomo-Functional Brain Mechanisms of Action/Perception Binding in Health and Disease. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:689912. [PMID: 34135745 PMCID: PMC8203289 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.689912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Vision is the main entrance for environmental input to the human brain. Even if vision is our most used sensory modality, its importance is not limited to environmental exploration. Rather it has strong links to motor competences, further extending to cognitive and social aspects of human life. These multifaceted relationships are particularly important in developmental age and become dramatically evident in presence of complex deficits originating from visual aberrancies. The present review summarizes the available neuropsychological evidence on the development of visual competences, with a particular focus on the associated visuo-motor integration skills in health and disease. With the aim of supporting future research and interventional settings, the goal of the present review is to constitute a solid base to help the translation of neuropsychological hypotheses into straightforward empirical investigations and rehabilitation/training protocols. This approach will further increase the impact, ameliorate the acceptance, and ease the use and implementation of lab-derived intervention protocols in real-life situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvio Ionta
- Sensory-Motor Lab (SeMoLa), Department of Ophthalmology-University of Lausanne, Jules Gonin Eye Hospital-Fondation Asile des Aveugles, Lausanne, Switzerland
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18
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The value of subsequent memory paradigms in uncovering neural mechanisms of early social learning. Neuroimage 2021; 234:117978. [PMID: 33819613 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2021] [Revised: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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Do infants represent human actions cross-modally? An ERP visual-auditory priming study. Biol Psychol 2021; 160:108047. [PMID: 33596461 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Revised: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Recent findings indicate that 7-months-old infants perceive and represent the sounds inherent to moving human bodies. However, it is not known whether infants integrate auditory and visual information in representations of specific human actions. To address this issue, we used ERPs to investigate infants' neural sensitivity to the correspondence between sounds and images of human actions. In a cross-modal priming paradigm, 7-months-olds were presented with the sounds generated by two types of human body movement, walking and handclapping, after watching the kinematics of those actions in either a congruent or incongruent manner. ERPs recorded from frontal, central and parietal electrodes in response to action sounds indicate that 7-months-old infants perceptually link the visual and auditory cues of human actions. However, at this age these percepts do not seem to be integrated in cognitive multimodal representations of human actions.
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20
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Nishiyori R, Xiao R, Vanderbilt D, Smith BA. Electroencephalography measures of relative power and coherence as reaching skill emerges in infants born preterm. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3609. [PMID: 33574372 PMCID: PMC7878512 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82329-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Electroencephalography (EEG) measures of relative power and coherence are associated with motor experience in infants with typical development, but these relationships have not been assessed in infants born preterm. The goal of our study was to investigate the changing patterns of relative power and coherence in the alpha band during resting state EEG in infants born preterm as they developed the skill of reaching. We collected monthly longitudinal data from fourteen infants born preterm between the adjusted ages of 56 and 295 days for a total of 37 sessions of EEG data. Alpha band power at motor cortices and cross-regional connectivity do not present consistent changing trends at the group level in infants born preterm. Individual level analysis reveals that infants born preterm are a heterogeneous group with subtypes of neural function development, some presenting similar changing trends as observed in the typically developing group while others present atypical patterns. This may be linked to the variability in developmental outcomes in infants born preterm. This study was a critical first step to support EEG as a potential tool for identifying and quantifying the developmental trajectories of neuromotor control in infants born preterm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryota Nishiyori
- Division of Research on Children, Youth, and Families, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.
| | - Ran Xiao
- School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, USA
| | - Douglas Vanderbilt
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of General Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Beth A Smith
- Division of Research on Children, Youth, and Families, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.,Developmental Neuroscience and Neurogenetics Program, The Saban Research Institute, Los Angeles, USA
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21
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Sen U, Gredebäck G. Making the World Behave: A New Embodied Account on Mobile Paradigm. Front Syst Neurosci 2021; 15:643526. [PMID: 33732116 PMCID: PMC7956955 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2021.643526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
In this review article, we describe the mobile paradigm, a method used for more than 50 years to assess how infants learn and remember sensorimotor contingencies. The literature on the mobile paradigm demonstrates that infants below 6 months of age can remember the learning environment weeks after when reminded periodically and integrate temporally distributed information across modalities. The latter ability is only possible if events occur within a temporal window of a few days, and the width of this required window changes as a function of age. A major critique of these conclusions is that the majority of this literature has neglected the embodied experience, such that motor behavior was considered an equivalent developmental substitute for verbal behavior. Over recent years, simulation and empirical work have highlighted the sensorimotor aspect and opened up a discussion for possible learning mechanisms and variability in motor preferences of young infants. In line with this recent direction, we present a new embodied account on the mobile paradigm which argues that learning sensorimotor contingencies is a core feature of development forming the basis for active exploration of the world and body. In addition to better explaining recent findings, this new framework aims to replace the dis-embodied approach to the mobile paradigm with a new understanding that focuses on variance and representations grounded in sensorimotor experience. Finally, we discuss a potential role for the dorsal stream which might be responsible for guiding action according to visual information, while infants learn sensorimotor contingencies in the mobile paradigm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Umay Sen
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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22
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Zhou Y, Han S. Neural dynamics of pain expression processing: Alpha-band synchronization to same-race pain but desynchronization to other-race pain. Neuroimage 2020; 224:117400. [PMID: 32979524 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2019] [Revised: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Both electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have revealed enhanced neural responses to perceived pain in same-race than other-race individuals. However, it remains unclear how neural responses in the sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective subsystems vary dynamically in the first few hundreds of milliseconds to generate racial ingroup favoritism in empathy for pain. We recorded magnetoencephalography signals to pain and neutral expressions of Asian and white faces from Chinese adults during judgments of racial identity of each face. We found that pain compared to neutral expressions of same-race faces induced early increased alpha oscillations in the precuneus/parietal cortices followed by increased alpha-band oscillations in the left anterior insula and temporoparietal junction. Pain compared to neutral expressions of other-race faces, however, induced early suppression of alpha-band oscillations in the bilateral sensorimotor cortices and left insular cortex. Moreover, decreased functional connectivity between the left sensorimotor cortex and left anterior insula predicted reduced subjective feelings of other-race suffering. Our results unraveled distinct patterns of modulations of neural dynamics of sensorimotor, affective, and cognitive components of empathy by interracial relationships between an observer and a target person, which provide possible brain mechanisms for understanding racial ingroup favoritism in social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuqing Zhou
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 52 Haidian Road, Beijing 100080, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 52 Haidian Road, Beijing 100080, China.
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23
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Motor cortex activity during action observation predicts subsequent action imitation in human infants. Neuroimage 2020; 218:116958. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2020] [Revised: 04/18/2020] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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24
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Getting a grip on early intention understanding: The role of motor, cognitive, and social factors. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2020. [PMID: 32859284 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2020.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register]
Abstract
This chapter considers various factors that facilitate infants' understanding of other people's intentions. As adults, we view the actions people perform around us as intentional, to achieve a goal, rather than idle movements. For example, when observing another person perform a simple grasping action, such as picking up a slice of pizza, we perceive this action as goal-directed. Due to our understanding of the person's intention, we focus more so on the relation between the person and their goal, rather than the motion involved in the action. Infants develop an understanding of intentional agents and their goals within the first year of life. This chapter reviews multiple factors that are at play in facilitating infants' learning about the intentions of others' actions. We consider this from various perspectives, including the role of active experience, sensitivity to behavioral cues, cognitive factors, and social factors. We first review evidence concerning infants' learning of intentional actions from active experience. We then go on to evaluate how this learning could also come about via comparison processes, statistical learning, and use of behavioral cues such as object labeling and action effects. We also review social factors such as infant-directed actions and triadic engagement within social interactions that emerging evidence suggests are helpful in facilitating infants' understanding of other people's actions. Finally, we consider the extent to which these factors interact with one another in different contexts, as well as implications and future directions.
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Rauchbauer B, Grosbras MH. Developmental trajectory of interpersonal motor alignment: Positive social effects and link to social cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 118:411-425. [PMID: 32783968 PMCID: PMC7415214 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.07.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2020] [Revised: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Interpersonal motor alignment (IMA) has positive effects on healthy social life. IMA - mimicry, synchrony, automatic imitation - is studied throughout development. It relies on motor resonance brain mechanisms identified throughout development. It is modulated by contextual and personal factors. IMA is underinvestigated in adolescence, yet it may aid to enhance resilience.
Interpersonal motor alignment is a ubiquitous behavior in daily social life. It is a building block for higher social cognition, including empathy and mentalizing and promotes positive social effects. It can be observed as mimicry, synchrony and automatic imitation, to name a few. These phenomena rely on motor resonance processes, i.e., a direct link between the perception of an action and its execution. While a considerable literature debates its underlying mechanisms and measurement methods, the question of how motor alignment comes about and changes in ontogeny all the way until adulthood, is rarely discussed specifically. In this review we will focus on the link between interpersonal motor alignment, positive social effects and social cognition in infants, children, and adolescents, demonstrating that this link is present early on in development. Yet, in reviewing the existing literature pertaining to social psychology and developmental social cognitive neuroscience, we identify a knowledge gap regarding the healthy developmental changes in interpersonal motor alignment especially in adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birgit Rauchbauer
- Laboratoire de Neuroscience Cognitives, UMR 7291, Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, 3 Place Victor-Hugo, 13331 Marseille Cedex 3, France; Laboratoire Parole et Langage, Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, 5 Avenue Pasteur, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France; Institut de Neuroscience de la Timone, Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, Faculté de Médecine, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France.
| | - Marie-Hélène Grosbras
- Laboratoire de Neuroscience Cognitives, UMR 7291, Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, 3 Place Victor-Hugo, 13331 Marseille Cedex 3, France
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Motor Development Research: II. The First Two Decades of the 21st Century Shaping Our Future. JOURNAL OF MOTOR LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT 2020. [DOI: 10.1123/jmld.2020-0007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
In Part I of this series I, we looked back at the 20th century and re-examined the history of Motor Development research described in Clark & Whitall’s 1989 paper “What is Motor Development? The Lessons of History”. We now move to the 21st century, where the trajectories of developmental research have evolved in focus, branched in scope, and diverged into three new areas. These have progressed to be independent research areas, co-existing in time. We posit that the research focus on Dynamical Systems at the end of the 20th century has evolved into a Developmental Systems approach in the 21st century. Additionally, the focus on brain imaging and the neural basis of movement have resulted in a new approach, which we entitled Developmental Motor Neuroscience. Finally, as the world-wide obesity epidemic identified in the 1990s threatened to become a public health crisis, researchers in the field responded by examining the role of motor development in physical activity and health-related outcomes; we refer to this research area as the Developmental Health approach. The glue that holds these research areas together is their focus on movement behavior as it changes across the lifespan.
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27
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Ianì F, Limata T, Bucciarelli M, Mazzoni G. Children's kinematic false memories. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2020.1796686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Ianì
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Teresa Limata
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Monica Bucciarelli
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Torino, Turin, Italy
- Centro di Logica, Linguaggio, e Cognizione, Università di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Giuliana Mazzoni
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy
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28
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Meyer M, Hunnius S. Becoming better together: The early development of interpersonal coordination. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2020; 254:187-204. [PMID: 32859287 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2020.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Crucial for interacting successfully with other people is the ability to coordinate one's actions with those of others. Interpersonal coordination can be planned or emergent (spontaneous). Although typically easy for adults, coordinating successfully and smoothly with others may be far from trivial for infants and toddlers. What do we know about the developmental trajectory of interpersonal coordination in the first years of life? Which processes play a role in successfully coordinating with others? And how does the development of interpersonal coordination impact other aspects of children's development? In this chapter, we review when and how infants and young children develop successful interpersonal coordination skills (planned and emergent) in early childhood. We argue that insights from the field of cognitive (neuro-) science have significantly advanced our knowledge on which social-cognitive processes underlie interpersonal coordination and its development. In particular, we discuss four important social-cognitive processes; monitoring and predicting others' actions as well as planning and controlling one's own actions. We then present findings on the impact of interpersonal coordination on young children's social understanding, their prosocial behavior and affiliation. Together, we conclude that for future research on the development of interpersonal coordination interdisciplinary exchanges between fields like cognitive (neuro-) science and developmental science offer promising avenues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlene Meyer
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.
| | - Sabine Hunnius
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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29
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Georgieva S, Lester S, Noreika V, Yilmaz MN, Wass S, Leong V. Toward the Understanding of Topographical and Spectral Signatures of Infant Movement Artifacts in Naturalistic EEG. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:352. [PMID: 32410940 PMCID: PMC7199478 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2019] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Electroencephalography (EEG) is perhaps the most widely used brain-imaging technique for pediatric populations. However, EEG signals are prone to distortion by motion. Compared to adults, infants' motion is both more frequent and less stereotypical yet motion effects on the infant EEG signal are largely undocumented. Here, we present a systematic assessment of naturalistic motion effects on the infant EEG signal. EEG recordings were performed with 14 infants (12 analyzed) who passively watched movies whilst spontaneously producing periods of bodily movement and rest. Each infant produced an average of 38.3 s (SD = 14.7 s) of rest and 18.8 s (SD = 17.9 s) of single motion segments for the final analysis. Five types of infant motions were analyzed: Jaw movements, and Limb movements of the Hand, Arm, Foot, and Leg. Significant movement-related distortions of the EEG signal were detected using cluster-based permutation analysis. This analysis revealed that, relative to resting state, infants' Jaw and Arm movements produced significant increases in beta (∼15 Hz) power, particularly over peripheral sites. Jaw movements produced more anteriorly located effects than Arm movements, which were most pronounced over posterior parietal and occipital sites. The cluster analysis also revealed trends toward decreased power in the theta and alpha bands observed over central topographies for all motion types. However, given the very limited quantity of infant data in this study, caution is recommended in interpreting these findings before subsequent replications are conducted. Nonetheless, this work is an important first step to inform future development of methods for addressing EEG motion-related artifacts. This work also supports wider use of naturalistic paradigms in social and developmental neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stanimira Georgieva
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Suzannah Lester
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Valdas Noreika
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Meryem Nazli Yilmaz
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Sam Wass
- Department of Psychology, University of East London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Victoria Leong
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Division of Psychology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
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30
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Filippa M, Cornara S, Monaci MG, Grandjean D, Nuti G, Nadel J. L’imitation sonore durant la période préverbale : enjeux théoriques et dispositifs. ENFANCE 2020. [DOI: 10.3917/enf2.201.0131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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31
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Filippi C, Choi YB, Fox N, Woodward A. Neural correlates of infant action processing relate to theory of mind in early childhood. Dev Sci 2020; 23:e12876. [PMID: 31162859 PMCID: PMC7227764 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2018] [Revised: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 05/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The mechanisms that support infant action processing are thought to be involved in the development of later social cognition. While a growing body of research demonstrates longitudinal links between action processing and explicit theory of mind (TOM), it remains unclear why this link emerges in some measures of action encoding and not others. In this paper, we recruit neural measures as a unique lens into which aspects of human infant action processing (i.e., action encoding and action execution; age 7 months) are related to preschool TOM (age 3 years; n = 31). We test whether individual differences in recruiting the sensorimotor system or attention processes during action encoding predict individual differences in TOM. Results indicate that reduced occipital alpha during action encoding predicts TOM at age 3. This finding converges with behavioral work and suggests that attentional processes involved in action encoding may support TOM. We also test whether neural processing during action execution draws on the proto-substrates of effortful control (EC). Results indicate that frontal alpha oscillatory activity during action execution predicted EC at age 3-providing strong novel evidence that infant brain activity is longitudinally linked to EC. Further, we demonstrate that EC mediates the link between the frontal alpha response and TOM. This indirect effect is specific in terms of direction, neural response, and behavior. Together, these findings converge with behavioral research and demonstrate that domain general processes show strong links to early infant action processing and TOM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney Filippi
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892
| | - Yeo Bi Choi
- Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY 10605
| | - Nathan Fox
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742
| | - Amanda Woodward
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637
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32
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Hilt PM, Cardellicchio P, Dolfini E, Pozzo T, Fadiga L, D'Ausilio A. Motor Recruitment during Action Observation: Effect of Interindividual Differences in Action Strategy. Cereb Cortex 2020; 30:3910-3920. [PMID: 32043124 PMCID: PMC7264692 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Revised: 11/04/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual processing of other’s actions is supported by sensorimotor brain activations. Access to sensorimotor representations may, in principle, provide the top-down signal required to bias search and selection of critical visual features. For this to happen, it is necessary that a stable one-to-one mapping exists between observed kinematics and underlying motor commands. However, due to the inherent redundancy of the human musculoskeletal system, this is hardly the case for multijoint actions where everyone has his own moving style (individual motor signature—IMS). Here, we investigated the influence of subject’s IMS on subjects’ motor excitability during the observation of an actor achieving the same goal by adopting two different IMSs. Despite a clear dissociation in kinematic and electromyographic patterns between the two actions, we found no group-level modulation of corticospinal excitability (CSE) in observers. Rather, we found a negative relationship between CSE and actor-observer IMS distance, already at the single-subject level. Thus, sensorimotor activity during action observation does not slavishly replicate the motor plan implemented by the actor, but rather reflects the distance between what is canonical according to one’s own motor template and the observed movements performed by other individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- P M Hilt
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
| | - P Cardellicchio
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
| | - E Dolfini
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
| | - T Pozzo
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy.,INSERMU1093, Universite de Bourgogne Franche-Comte, 21000, Dijon, France
| | - L Fadiga
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy.,Section of Human Physiology, Università di Ferrara, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
| | - A D'Ausilio
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy.,Section of Human Physiology, Università di Ferrara, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
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33
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Ito T, Tsubahara A, Shiraga Y, Yoshimura Y, Kimura D, Suzuki K, Hanayama K. Motor activation is modulated by visual experience during cyclic gait observation: A transcranial magnetic stimulation study. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0228389. [PMID: 31990939 PMCID: PMC6986743 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 01/15/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been widely utilized to noninvasively explore the motor system during the observation of human movement. However, few studies have characterized motor cortex activity during periodic gait observation. Thus, this study examined the effects of an observer's visual experience and/or intention to imitate on corticospinal excitability during the observation of another's gait. Twenty-six healthy volunteers were included in this study and allocated to two different groups. Participants in the visual experience group had formal experience with gait observation (physical therapist training), while those in the control group did not. Motor-evoked potentials induced by TMS in the tibialis anterior and soleus muscles were measured as surrogates of corticospinal excitability. Participants were seated and, while resting, they observed a demonstrator's gait or observed it with the intention to subsequently reproduce it. Compared with the resting state, cyclic gait observation led to significant corticospinal facilitation in the tibialis anterior and soleus muscles. However, this pattern of corticospinal facilitation in the measured muscles was not coupled to the pattern of crural muscle activity during actual gait and was independent of the step cycle. This motor cortex facilitation effect during gait observation was enhanced by the observer's visual experience in a manner that was not step cycle-dependent, while the observer's intent to imitate did not affect corticospinal excitatory input to either muscle. In addition, visual experience did not modulate corticospinal excitability in gait-related crural muscles. Our findings indicate that motor cortex activity during gait observation is not in line with the timing of muscle activity during gait execution and is modulated by an individual's gait observation experience. These results suggest that visual experience acquired from repetitive gait observation may facilitate the motor system's control on bipedal walking, but may not promote the learning of muscle activity patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomotaka Ito
- Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Science and Technology, Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan
- * E-mail:
| | - Akio Tsubahara
- Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Science and Technology, Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan
| | - Yoshiki Shiraga
- Rehabilitation Center, Kawasaki Medical School Hospital, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan
| | - Yosuke Yoshimura
- Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Science and Technology, Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan
| | - Daisuke Kimura
- Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Science and Technology, Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan
| | - Keita Suzuki
- Department of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
| | - Kozo Hanayama
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan
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34
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Eighteen-month-olds integrate verbal cues into their action processing: Evidence from ERPs and mu power. Infant Behav Dev 2020; 58:101414. [PMID: 31986314 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2019.101414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2019] [Revised: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral research has shown that infants use both behavioral cues and verbal cues when processing the goals of others' actions. For instance, 18-month-olds selectively imitate an observed goal-directed action depending on its (in)congruence with a model's previous verbal announcement of a desired action goal. This EEG-study analyzed the electrophysiological underpinnings of these behavioral findings on the two functional levels of conceptual action processing and motor activation. Mid-latency mean negative ERP amplitude and mu-frequency band power were analyzed while 18-month-olds (N = 38) watched videos of an adult who performed one out of two potential actions on a novel object. In a within-subjects design, the action demonstration was preceded by either a congruent or an incongruent verbally announced action goal (e.g., "up" or "down" and upward movement). Overall, ERP negativity did not differ between conditions, but a closer inspection revealed that in two subgroups, about half of the infants showed a broadly distributed increased mid-latency ERP negativity (indicating enhanced conceptual action processing) for either the congruent or the incongruent stimuli, respectively. As expected, mu power at sensorimotor sites was reduced (indicating enhanced motor activation) for congruent relative to incongruent stimuli in the entire sample. Both EEG correlates were related to infants' language skills. Hence, 18-month-olds integrate action-goal-related verbal cues into their processing of others' actions, at the functional levels of both conceptual processing and motor activation. Further, cue integration when inferring others' action goals is related to infants' language proficiency.
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35
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Ciorciari J, Gountas J, Johnston P, Crewther D, Hughes M. A Neuroimaging Study of Personality Traits and Self-Reflection. Behav Sci (Basel) 2019; 9:bs9110112. [PMID: 31694206 PMCID: PMC6912258 DOI: 10.3390/bs9110112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
This study examines the blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activation of the brain associated with the four distinctive thinking styles associated with the four personality orientations of the Gountas Personality Orientations (GPO) survey: Emotion/Feeling-Action, Material/Pragmatic, Intuitive/Imaginative, and Thinking/Logical. The theoretical postulation is that each of the four personality orientations has a dominant (primary) thinking style and a shadow (secondary) thinking style/trait. The participants (N = 40) were initially surveyed to determine their dominant (primary) and secondary thinking styles. Based on participant responses, equal numbers of each dominant thinking style were selected for neuroimaging using a unique fMRI cognitive activation paradigm. The neuroimaging data support the general theoretical hypothesis of the existence of four different BOLD activation patterns, associated with each of the four thinking styles. The fMRI data analysis suggests that each thinking style may have its own cognitive activation system, involving the frontal ventromedial, posterior medial, parietal, motor, and orbitofrontal cortex. The data also suggest that there is a left hemisphere relationship for the Material/Pragmatic and Thinking/Logical styles and a right activation relationship for Emotional/Feeling and Intuitive/Imaginative styles. Additionally, the unique self-reflection paradigm demonstrated that perception of self or self-image, may be influenced by personality type; a finding of potentially far-reaching implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Ciorciari
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne 3122, Australia;
- Correspondence:
| | - John Gountas
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Adjunct, Swinburne University of Technology and Department of Marketing, Adjunct University of Notre Dame Western Australia, Fremantle 6959, Australia;
| | - Patrick Johnston
- Faculty of Health, School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, Australia;
| | - David Crewther
- Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne 3122, Australia;
| | - Matthew Hughes
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne 3122, Australia;
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36
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Krol MA, Schutter DJLG, Jellema T. Sensorimotor cortex activation during anticipation of upcoming predictable but not unpredictable actions. Soc Neurosci 2019; 15:214-226. [PMID: 31587597 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2019.1674688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The mirror neuron system (MNS) becomes active during action execution and action observation, which is presumably reflected by reductions in mu (8-13 Hz) activity in the electroencephalogram over the sensorimotor cortex. The function of the MNS is still fiercely debated. The current study aimed to investigate a role of the MNS in anticipating others' actions by examining whether the MNS was activated - indexed by mu power suppression - prior to the onset of observed actions when the onset and type of action could be predicted on the basis of environmental cues. Young adults performed and observed cued grasping and placing actions in a card game in a real-life setting, while the predictability of the observed actions was manipulated using rules. Significant mu suppression, relative to within-trial baseline activity, was found both prior to and during executed actions, but also during action observation, and, crucially, prior to observed actions provided they were predictable. No anticipatory mu reductions were found prior to unpredictable observed actions. These results suggest top-down modulation of MNS activity by conceptual knowledge. This is the first study to demonstrate mu suppression prior to action onset - possibly reflecting MNS anticipatory activity - by explicitly manipulating predictability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manon A Krol
- Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Hull, UK.,Center for Autism Research Excellence, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
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37
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Quadrelli E, Geangu E, Turati C. Human action sounds elicit sensorimotor activation early in life. Cortex 2019; 117:323-335. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2018] [Revised: 12/24/2018] [Accepted: 05/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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38
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Lust JM, van Schie HT, Wilson PH, van der Helden J, Pelzer B, Steenbergen B. Activation of Mirror Neuron Regions Is Altered in Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)-Neurophysiological Evidence Using an Action Observation Paradigm. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:232. [PMID: 31354451 PMCID: PMC6637752 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2019] [Accepted: 06/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have difficulty performing and learning motor skills. Automatic activation of the mirror neuron system (MNS) during action observation and its coupling to the motor output system are important neurophysiological processes that underpin observational motor learning. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that MNS function is disrupted in children with DCD by using sensitive electroencephalography (EEG)-based measures of MNS activation during action observation. Specifically, we predicted reduced mu-suppression and coherence in DCD compared with typically developing children. Neural activation of the motor network was measured by EEG, specifically event-related desynchronization (ERD) of mu rhythms and fronto-parietal coherence. Children (15 DCD/15 controls) were tested under two task conditions: observational learning (imitation of an observed action) and detection (report a deviant movement after observation). EEG-metrics were compared between groups using linear mixed-effects models. As predicted, children with DCD showed lower levels of mu suppression and reduced modulation of coherence during the observational learning task compared with their non-DCD peers. Notably, mu suppression was reduced in DCD over the entire imitation task (repetitions, and both observation and pause intervals). Action observation can be used for the acquisition of new motor skills. This form of learning entails the transposition of the observed action to the existing internal representations of the observer’s own motor system. The present neurophysiological results suggest that this process of learning is impaired in children with DCD. The results are discussed in relation to current hypotheses on mechanisms of DCD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica M Lust
- Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Hein T van Schie
- Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Peter H Wilson
- Centre for Disability and Development Research (CeDDR), School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Ben Pelzer
- Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Bert Steenbergen
- Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands.,Centre for Disability and Development Research (CeDDR), School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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39
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de Klerk CCJM, Bulgarelli C, Hamilton A, Southgate V. Selective facial mimicry of native over foreign speakers in preverbal infants. J Exp Child Psychol 2019; 183:33-47. [PMID: 30856416 PMCID: PMC6478146 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2018] [Revised: 01/17/2019] [Accepted: 01/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Mimicry, the spontaneous copying of others' behaviors, plays an important role in social affiliation, with adults selectively mimicking in-group members over out-group members. Despite infants' early documented sensitivity to cues to group membership, previous work suggests that it is not until 4 years of age that spontaneous mimicry is modulated by group status. Here we demonstrate that mimicry is sensitive to cues to group membership at a much earlier age if the cues presented are more relevant to infants. 11-month-old infants observed videos of facial actions (e.g., mouth opening, eyebrow raising) performed by models who either spoke the infants' native language or an unfamiliar foreign language while we measured activation of the infants' mouth and eyebrow muscle regions using electromyography to obtain an index of mimicry. We simultaneously used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying differential mimicry responses. We found that infants showed greater facial mimicry of the native speaker compared to the foreign speaker and that the left temporal parietal cortex was activated more strongly during the observation of facial actions performed by the native speaker compared to the foreign speaker. Although the exact mechanisms underlying this selective mimicry response will need to be investigated in future research, these findings provide the first demonstration of the modulation of facial mimicry by cues to group status in preverbal infants and suggest that the foundations for the role that mimicry plays in facilitating social bonds seem to be present during the first year of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina C J M de Klerk
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Essex CO4 3SQ, UK; Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London WC1E 7HX, UK.
| | - Chiara Bulgarelli
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London WC1E 7HX, UK; Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Antonia Hamilton
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Victoria Southgate
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, DK-1017 Copenhagen, Denmark
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40
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Addabbo M, Vacaru SV, Meyer M, Hunnius S. 'Something in the way you move': Infants are sensitive to emotions conveyed in action kinematics. Dev Sci 2019; 23:e12873. [PMID: 31144771 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2018] [Revised: 05/20/2019] [Accepted: 05/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Body movements, as well as faces, communicate emotions. Research in adults has shown that the perception of action kinematics has a crucial role in understanding others' emotional experiences. Still, little is known about infants' sensitivity to body emotional expressions, since most of the research in infancy focused on faces. While there is some first evidence that infants can recognize emotions conveyed in whole-body postures, it is still an open question whether they can extract emotional information from action kinematics. We measured electromyographic (EMG) activity over the muscles involved in happy (zygomaticus major, ZM), angry (corrugator supercilii, CS) and fearful (frontalis, F) facial expressions, while 11-month-old infants observed the same action performed with either happy or angry kinematics. Results demonstrate that infants responded to angry and happy kinematics with matching facial reactions. In particular, ZM activity increased while CS activity decreased in response to happy kinematics and vice versa for angry kinematics. Our results show for the first time that infants can rely on kinematic information to pick up on the emotional content of an action. Thus, from very early in life, action kinematics represent a fundamental and powerful source of information in revealing others' emotional state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret Addabbo
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - Stefania V Vacaru
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radbound University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Marlene Meyer
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Sabine Hunnius
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radbound University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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41
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Montirosso R, Piazza C, Giusti L, Provenzi L, Ferrari PF, Reni G, Borgatti R. Exploring the EEG mu rhythm associated with observation and execution of a goal-directed action in 14-month-old preterm infants. Sci Rep 2019; 9:8975. [PMID: 31222153 PMCID: PMC6586615 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-45495-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Electroencephalographic mu rhythm desynchronization is thought to reflect Mirror Neuron System (MNS) activity and represents an important neural correlate of the coupling between action execution and perception. It is still unclear if the MNS in human ontogeny is already available at the beginning of postnatal life and how early experience impacts its development. Premature birth provides a "natural condition" for investigating the effects of early, atypical extra-uterine experience on MNS. The main aim of the present study was to investigate whether the MNS activity is associated with prematurity. We compared the mu rhythm activity in preterm (PT) and full-term (FT) 14-month old infants during an action observation/execution (AO/AE) task. Mu rhythm desynchronization was computed over frontal, central, parietal and occipital regions. Both groups showed mu rhythm suppression in all the scalp regions during action execution. Different desynchronization patterns emerged during action observation. Specifically, FT infants showed mu suppression in the right frontal, bilateral parietal and occipital regions; whereas PT infants exhibited mu suppression only in the right parietal region. Overall, these preliminary findings indicate that an atypical extra uterine experience might have an impact on the MNS activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosario Montirosso
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS "E. Medea", 0-3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy.
| | - Caterina Piazza
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS "E. Medea", Bioengineering Laboratory, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Giusti
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS "E. Medea", 0-3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
| | - Livio Provenzi
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS "E. Medea", 0-3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
| | - Pier Francesco Ferrari
- CNRS/Université Claude Bernard, Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, Lyon, France
| | - Gianluigi Reni
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS "E. Medea", Bioengineering Laboratory, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
| | - Renato Borgatti
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS "E. Medea", Neuropsychiatry and Neurorehabilitation Unit, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
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42
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Morales S, Bowman LC, Velnoskey KR, Fox NA, Redcay E. An fMRI study of action observation and action execution in childhood. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2019; 37:100655. [PMID: 31102960 PMCID: PMC6570413 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2018] [Revised: 04/16/2019] [Accepted: 05/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Although many studies have examined the location and function of the mirror neuron system (MNS) in human adults, we know relatively little about its development. The current study fills this gap by using fMRI to examine for the first time the development of the brain regions implicated in action execution, action observation, and their overlap. We examined age-related differences in brain activation by contrasting a group of children (n = 21) and adults (n = 18). Surfaced-based analyses of action execution and action observation revealed that brain activity for action observation and execution in children is similar to adults, though adults displayed greater activity than children within the right superior parietal lobe during action execution and the occipital lobe during action observation compared to control. Further, within-individual measures of overlapping activation between action observation and execution revealed age-related differences, such that adults, compared to children, displayed more spatial overlap. Moreover, the extent of the overlap in activation across conditions was related to better motor skills and action representation abilities in children. These data indicate that the MNS changes between middle childhood and adulthood. The data also demonstrate the functional significance of the putative MNS to motor skills and action representation during development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lindsay C Bowman
- The University of Maryland, College Park, United States; The University of California, Davis, United States
| | | | - Nathan A Fox
- The University of Maryland, College Park, United States
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43
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Bryant LJ, Cuevas K. Effects of active and observational experience on EEG activity during early childhood. Psychophysiology 2019; 56:e13360. [PMID: 30835864 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2018] [Revised: 01/17/2019] [Accepted: 02/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
While it is accepted that action experience facilitates action understanding, it is debated whether first-hand motor and visual experience differentially influence this ability. Action understanding relies on relatively broad cortical activity, including that of the neural mirroring and visual attention systems. Infant and adult research has demonstrated that prior motor and visual experience have distinct effects on cortical activity during action perception, though this has yet to be investigated in young children. We used a within-subject design and an at-home training paradigm to manipulate 3- to 6-year-olds' experience with two relatively novel actions. On Days 1-4, children received brief active training with one tool (i.e., motor experience) and observational training with the other tool (i.e., visual experience: video of a demonstrator modeling the action). On Day 5, we measured children's EEG mu/alpha (8-10 Hz) and beta rhythm (16-20 Hz) activity during observation and execution of these actions in the laboratory. Although central-parietal mu and beta rhythm activity did not differ as a function of training condition, desynchronization of the occipital alpha rhythm was greater during perception of the active training task than of the observational training task. Our findings suggest that, during early childhood, action experience may modulate visual attention during subsequent action perception. Further, children exhibited neural mirroring-central-parietal desynchronization during both tool-use action observation and execution-within the mu rhythm, but not the beta rhythm. These findings have significant implications for our understanding of the broad cortical activity that supports action perception during this period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren J Bryant
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
| | - Kimberly Cuevas
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
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44
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Antognini K, Daum MM. Toddlers show sensorimotor activity during auditory verb processing. Neuropsychologia 2019; 126:82-91. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.07.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2017] [Revised: 07/18/2017] [Accepted: 07/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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45
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Ketenci S, Kayikcioglu T. Investigation of Theta Rhythm Effect in Detection of Finger Movement. J Exp Neurosci 2019; 13:1179069519828737. [PMID: 30814845 PMCID: PMC6381427 DOI: 10.1177/1179069519828737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2018] [Accepted: 01/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Movements cause changes in cortical rhythms emanating from the sensorimotor area. It is known that alpha and beta brainwaves take an important role of motor activity and motor imagery. Besides, theta rhythm is considered to carry substantial information about movement initiation and execution. In this study, effect of theta brainwave on movement detection was investigated in four-right handed participants who performed extensions with fingers of right hand using electroencephalography (EEG). Movement and rest epochs from continuous EEG record were extracted using muscle signals. Channels located over sensorimotor area were selected and referenced according to common average and Laplacian reference methods. Power spectral density function was used to display existence of theta band in frequency domain. To analyze theta, alpha and beta rhythms of the epochs individually and together, we filtered them to their interval range with Butterworth bandpass infinite filter before feature extraction and classification stages. Then, principal component analysis and Hjorth parameters were chosen to extract efficient features in the study aiming to investigate the effect of theta brainwaves on finger movement detection. According to classification accuracies using support vector machine classifier, alpha, beta, theta rhythms and also their different combinations were compared with each other. The performance of the epochs including alpha, beta and theta rhythms were the best and they were classified ~2% to 4% higher value in accuracy than the signals including only alpha and beta rhythms. According to this, it has proved that theta brainwave takes a role and makes contribution to motor activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seniha Ketenci
- Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey
| | - Temel Kayikcioglu
- Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey
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46
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Levine D, Buchsbaum D, Hirsh‐Pasek K, Golinkoff RM. Finding events in a continuous world: A developmental account. Dev Psychobiol 2018; 61:376-389. [DOI: 10.1002/dev.21804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2018] [Revised: 09/21/2018] [Accepted: 10/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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47
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Alsamour M, Gilliaux M, Renders A, Lejeune T, Stoquart G, Edwards MG. Does observation of a disabled child's action moderate action execution? Implication for the use of Action Observation Therapy for patient rehabilitation. Cortex 2018; 107:102-109. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2017] [Revised: 10/28/2017] [Accepted: 11/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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48
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Wermelinger S, Gampe A, Daum MM. The dynamics of the interrelation of perception and action across the life span. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2018; 83:116-131. [PMID: 30083839 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-018-1058-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2018] [Accepted: 07/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Successful social interaction relies on the interaction partners' perception, anticipation and understanding of their respective actions. The perception of a particular action and the capability to produce this action share a common representational ground. So far, no study has explored the interrelation between action perception and production across the life span using the same tasks and the same measurement techniques. This study was designed to fill this gap. Participants between 3 and 80 years (N = 214) observed two multistep actions of different familiarities and then reproduced the according actions. Using eye tracking, we measured participants' action perception via their prediction of action goals during observation. To capture subtler perceptual processes, we additionally analysed the dynamics and recurrent patterns within participants' gaze behaviour. Action production was assessed via the accuracy of the participants' reproduction of the observed actions. No age-related differences were found for the perception of the familiar action, where participants of all ages could rely on previous experience. In the unfamiliar action, where participants had less experience, action goals were predicted more frequently with increasing age. The recurrence in participants' gaze behaviour was related to both, age and action production: gaze behaviour was more recurrent (i.e. less flexible) in very young and very old participants, and lower levels of recurrence (i.e. greater flexibility) were related to higher scores in action production across participants. Incorporating a life-span perspective, this study illustrates the dynamic nature of developmental differences in the associations of action production with action perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Wermelinger
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Binzmuehlestrasse 14, Box 21, 8050, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Anja Gampe
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Binzmuehlestrasse 14, Box 21, 8050, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Moritz M Daum
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Binzmuehlestrasse 14, Box 21, 8050, Zurich, Switzerland.,Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Aziz-Zadeh L, Kilroy E, Corcelli G. Understanding Activation Patterns in Shared Circuits: Toward a Value Driven Model. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:180. [PMID: 29867409 PMCID: PMC5949354 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2017] [Accepted: 04/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the past decade many studies indicate that we utilize our own motor system to understand the actions of other people. This mirror neuron system (MNS) has been proposed to be involved in social cognition and motor learning. However, conflicting findings regarding the underlying mechanisms that drive these shared circuits make it difficult to decipher a common model of their function. Here we propose adapting a “value-driven” model to explain discrepancies in the human mirror system literature and to incorporate this model with existing models. We will use this model to explain discrepant activation patterns in multiple shared circuits in the human data, such that a unified model may explain reported activation patterns from previous studies as a function of value.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
- Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.,Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Emily Kilroy
- Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.,Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Giorgio Corcelli
- Department of Economics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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50
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Jamone L, Ugur E, Cangelosi A, Fadiga L, Bernardino A, Piater J, Santos-Victor J. Affordances in Psychology, Neuroscience, and Robotics: A Survey. IEEE Trans Cogn Dev Syst 2018. [DOI: 10.1109/tcds.2016.2594134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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