951
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Engel A, Burke M, Fiehler K, Bien S, Rösler F. Motor learning affects visual movement perception. Eur J Neurosci 2008; 27:2294-302. [PMID: 18445220 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2008.06200.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
In the present study we investigated whether imitation of artificial movement trajectories of meaningless objects has an effect on how these trajectories are later perceptually processed within the human brain. During observation of a sequence of artificial object movements 10 participants (experimental group) actively imitated the trajectories during motor training and 10 participants (control group) solved a working memory task without motor training. The haemodynamic responses were recorded before and after the intervention while participants observed the movements and either had to detect colour changes of one of the objects (colour task, motor-irrelevant) or had to judge whether the movement pattern could be imitated with the hands (simulation judgement task, motor-relevant). The between-group comparison of the post-intervention haemodynamic responses revealed stronger activity for the motor training than for the control group during the simulation judgement task. This activity appeared in motor-related areas (supplementary motor area and inferior parietal lobe) and in the occipito-temporal area. During the colour task, the motor training group showed stronger activity in the occipital lobe. The control group did not reveal any stronger activity than the motor training group for either task. The results suggest that motor training has task-specific effects on neural processes that are involved in perception of movements. Furthermore, they indicate that motor-related areas are triggered by observed artificial object movements, but only if a motor-relevant task is pursued.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annerose Engel
- Experimental and Biological Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, Gutenbergstrasse 18, D-35032 Marburg, Germany.
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952
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The neural substrate of gesture recognition. Neuropsychologia 2008; 46:2371-82. [PMID: 18433807 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2007] [Revised: 03/10/2008] [Accepted: 03/11/2008] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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953
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DOWNEY GREG. Scaffolding Imitation in Capoeira: Physical Education and Enculturation in an Afro-Brazilian Art. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2008. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1548-1433.2008.00026.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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954
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Observation of Meaningful Activities: A Case Study of a Personalized Intervention on Poststroke Functional State. J Neurol Phys Ther 2008; 32:97-102. [DOI: 10.1097/npt.0b013e31817323dc] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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955
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Keestra M. The Diverging Force of Imitation: Integrating Cognitive Science and Hermeneutics. REVIEW OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 2008. [DOI: 10.1037/1089-2680.12.2.127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Recent research on infant and animal imitation and on mirror neuron systems has brought imitation back in focus in psychology and cognitive science. This topic has always been important for philosophical hermeneutics as well, focusing on theory and method of understanding. Unfortunately, relations between the scientific and the hermeneutic approaches to imitation and understanding have scarcely been investigated, to the loss of both disciplines. In contrast to the cognitive scientific emphasis on sharing and convergence of representations, the hermeneutic analysis emphasizes the indeterminacy and openness of action understanding due to preunderstanding, action configuration, and the processual nature of understanding. This article discusses empirical evidence in support of these aspects and concludes that hermeneutics can contribute to the scientific investigation of imitation and understanding. Since, conversely, some grounding—and constraining—aspects of hermeneutics may be derived from cognitive science, both should be integrated in a multilevel explanation of imitation and understanding. This holds also for explanations that are largely based on mirror neuron systems, since these appear to be sensitive to developmental and experiential factors, too.
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Affiliation(s)
- Machiel Keestra
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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956
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Dijkstra K, MacMahon C, Misirlisoy M. The effects of golf expertise and presentation modality on memory for golf and everyday items. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2008; 128:298-303. [PMID: 18439984 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2007] [Revised: 02/28/2008] [Accepted: 03/04/2008] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study assessed whether golf expertise, presentation modality, and domain relevance affected memory for golf-related and everyday items. Forty-eight experienced golfers and 48 non-golfers were compared in their memory for golf-related ("putt to the hole") and everyday ("turn on the lamp") items. To-be-remembered items were presented verbally, visually, or were enacted. Enacted information was recalled best, followed by visually presented information. Combined effects of modality and golf expertise on recall of golf items were demonstrated on immediate but not on delayed recall. The findings suggest that recall of domain-relevant information is optimal when one has relevant background knowledge, and under conditions of visual encoding. The data support research on facilitation of domain-relevant knowledge on recall [Weber, N., & Brewer, N. (2003). Expert memory: The interaction of stimulus structure, attention, and expertise. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 295-308]. Interpersonal body representation may have played a role in recall processes among experts [Thomas, R., Press, C., & Haggard, P. (2006). Shared representations in body perception. Acta Psychologica, 121, 317-330].
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957
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Orgs G, Dombrowski JH, Heil M, Jansen-Osmann P. Expertise in dance modulates alphabeta event-related desynchronization during action observation. Eur J Neurosci 2008; 27:3380-4. [PMID: 18598273 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2008.06271.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 183] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Guido Orgs
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
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958
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Press C, Bird G, Walsh E, Heyes C. Automatic imitation of intransitive actions. Brain Cogn 2008; 67:44-50. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2007.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2007] [Revised: 10/26/2007] [Accepted: 11/03/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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959
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Cross ES, Kraemer DJM, Hamilton AFDC, Kelley WM, Grafton ST. Sensitivity of the action observation network to physical and observational learning. Cereb Cortex 2008; 19:315-26. [PMID: 18515297 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhn083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 309] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Human motor skills can be acquired by observation without the benefit of immediate physical practice. The current study tested if physical rehearsal and observational learning share common neural substrates within an action observation network (AON) including premotor and inferior parietal regions, that is, areas activated both for execution and observation of similar actions. Participants trained for 5 days on dance sequences set to music videos. Each day they physically rehearsed one set of dance sequences ("danced"), and passively watched a different set of sequences ("watched"). Functional magnetic resonance imaging was obtained prior to and immediately following the 5 days of training. After training, a subset of the AON showed a degree of common activity for observational and physical learning. Activity in these premotor and parietal regions was sustained during observation of sequences that were danced or watched, but declined for unfamiliar sequences relative to the pretraining scan session. These imaging data demonstrate the emergence of action resonance processes in the human brain based on observational learning without physical practice and identify commonalities in the neural substrates for physical and observational learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily S Cross
- Department of Psychology, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
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960
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Abstract
Grounded cognition rejects traditional views that cognition is computation on amodal symbols in a modular system, independent of the brain's modal systems for perception, action, and introspection. Instead, grounded cognition proposes that modal simulations, bodily states, and situated action underlie cognition. Accumulating behavioral and neural evidence supporting this view is reviewed from research on perception, memory, knowledge, language, thought, social cognition, and development. Theories of grounded cognition are also reviewed, as are origins of the area and common misperceptions of it. Theoretical, empirical, and methodological issues are raised whose future treatment is likely to affect the growth and impact of grounded cognition.
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961
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Gillmeister H, Catmur C, Liepelt R, Brass M, Heyes C. Experience-based priming of body parts: a study of action imitation. Brain Res 2008; 1217:157-70. [PMID: 18502404 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2007.12.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2007] [Revised: 11/28/2007] [Accepted: 12/15/2007] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Two important dimensions of action are the movement and the body part with which the movement is effected. Experiment 1 tested whether automatic imitation is sensitive to the body part dimension of action. We found that hand and foot movements were selectively primed by observation of a corresponding, task-irrelevant effector in motion. Experiment 2 used this body part priming effect to investigate the role of sensorimotor learning in the development of imitation. The results showed that incompatible training, in which observation of hand movements was paired with execution of foot movements and vice versa, led to a greater reduction in body part priming than compatible training, in which subjects experienced typical contingencies between observation and execution of hand and foot movements. These findings are consistent with the assumption that overt behavioral imitation is mediated by the mirror neuron system, which is somatotopically organized. Our results also support the hypothesis that the development of imitation and the mirror neuron system are driven by correlated sensorimotor learning.
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962
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Erjavec M, Horne PJ. Determinants of imitation of hand-to-body gestures in 2- and 3-year-old children. J Exp Anal Behav 2008; 89:183-207. [PMID: 18422018 PMCID: PMC2251323 DOI: 10.1901/jeab.2008.89-183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2007] [Accepted: 11/29/2007] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Twenty children, ten 2-year-olds and ten 3-year-olds, participated in an AB procedure. In the baseline phase, each child was trained the same four matching relations to criterion under intermittent reinforcement. During the subsequent imitation test, the experimenter modeled a total of 20 target gestures (six trials each) interspersed with intermittently reinforced baseline trials. In each session, target gestures were selected in a pre-randomized sequence from: Set 1--ear touches; Set 2--shoulder touches; Set 3--midarm touches; and Set 4--wrist touches; subjects' responses to targets were not reinforced. In each target set, half the gestures featured in nursery matching games and were termed common targets whereas the remainder, which were topographically similar but did not feature in the games, served as uncommon targets. The children produced significantly more matching responses to common target models than to uncommon ones. Common responses were also produced as mismatches to uncommon target models more often than vice versa. Response accuracy did not improve over trials, suggesting that "parity" did not serve as a conditioned reinforcer. All children showed a strong bias for "mirroring"--responding in the same hemispace as the modeler. The 2-year-olds produced more matching errors than the 3-year-olds and most children showed a bias for responding with their right hands. The strong effects of training environment (nursery matching games) are consistent with a Skinnerian account, but not a cognitive goal theory account, of imitation in young children.
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963
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Lozano SC, Hard BM, Tversky B. Putting motor resonance in perspective. Cognition 2008; 106:1195-220. [PMID: 17662266 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2007.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2006] [Revised: 05/28/2007] [Accepted: 05/31/2007] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Perceiving another person's actions changes the spatial perspective people use to describe objects in a scene, possibly because seeing human action induces people to map the actions, including their spatial context, to their own body and motor representations [Lozano, S. C., Hard, B. M., & Tversky, B. (2007). Putting action in perspective. Cognition 103, 480-490]. If so, then the effect of perceived action on perspective should be modulated by action experience. The present studies tested this prediction by showing participants a photograph and asking them to describe the location of one object relative to another. Across studies, adoption of the actor's perspective increased when participants saw actions that were more familiar or were performed with a limb (hand or foot) that observers had more experience performing actions with themselves. The present findings indicate that observers' experience performing observed actions influences their tendency to engage in self-other mapping, and consequently, their interpretations and descriptions of spatial scenes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra C Lozano
- Department of Psychology, Jordan Hall, Building 01-420, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
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964
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The Evolution of Social Cognition: Goal Familiarity Shapes Monkeys' Action Understanding. Curr Biol 2008; 18:227-32. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.12.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2007] [Revised: 12/06/2007] [Accepted: 12/07/2007] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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965
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Flexibility and development of mirroring mechanisms. Behav Brain Sci 2008. [DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x07003226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe empirical support for the shared circuits model (SCM) is mixed. We review recent results from our own lab and others supporting a central claim of SCM that mirroring occurs at multiple levels of representation. By contrast, the model is silent as to why human infants are capable of showing imitative behaviours mediated by a mirror system. This limitation is a problem with formal models that address neither the neural correlates nor the behavioural evidence directly.
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966
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Hayes SJ, Ashford D, Bennett SJ. Goal-directed imitation: the means to an end. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2008; 127:407-15. [PMID: 17880901 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2006] [Revised: 07/20/2007] [Accepted: 07/23/2007] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The effects of goal-directed imitation and observational learning were examined whilst learning a goal-directed motor skill (three-ball cascade juggling). An observational learning (OL) group observed a model and a control (CON) group received minimal verbal instructions regarding how to hold and release the juggling balls. The OL group performed more juggling cycles across practice and retention than the CON group. In addition, the OL group's upper limb coordination and ball flight trajectory pattern were more similar to the model's movements than the CON group. These data show that when the to-be-learnt movement pattern and end-goal are not specified by the task's mechanical constraints, or can be achieved by modifying a pre-existing motor skill, individuals have difficulty learning on the basis of discovery processes alone. Under these circumstances, observational learning is effective because it conveys to the individual the specific means by which the end-goal can be achieved. These findings lead us to suggest that when the end-goal and the means to achieve the end-goal are directly linked, the means are given sufficient weight in the goal hierarchy such that the model's movement is imitated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Spencer J Hayes
- Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Henry Cotton Campus, 15-21 Webster Street, Liverpool L3 2ET, UK.
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967
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Calvo-Merino B, Jola C, Glaser DE, Haggard P. Towards a sensorimotor aesthetics of performing art. Conscious Cogn 2008; 17:911-22. [PMID: 18207423 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2007.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2007] [Revised: 10/08/2007] [Accepted: 11/20/2007] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The field of neuroaesthetics attempts to identify the brain processes underlying aesthetic experience, including but not limited to beauty. Previous neuroaesthetic studies have focussed largely on paintings and music, while performing arts such as dance have been less studied. Nevertheless, increasing knowledge of the neural mechanisms that represent the bodies and actions of others, and which contribute to empathy, make a neuroaesthetics of dance timely. Here, we present the first neuroscientific study of aesthetic perception in the context of the performing arts. We investigated brain areas whose activity during passive viewing of dance stimuli was related to later, independent aesthetic evaluation of the same stimuli. Brain activity of six naïve male subjects was measured using fMRI, while they watched 24 dance movements, and performed an irrelevant task. In a later session, participants rated each movement along a set of established aesthetic dimensions. The ratings were used to identify brain regions that were more active when viewing moves that received high average ratings than moves that received low average ratings. This contrast revealed bilateral activity in the occipital cortices and in right premotor cortex. Our results suggest a possible role of visual and sensorimotor brain areas in an automatic aesthetic response to dance. This sensorimotor response may explain why dance is widely appreciated in so many human cultures.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Calvo-Merino
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University College London, 17 Queen Square, WC1N 3AR, London, UK.
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968
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Graber OP, Oberthaler W. [Weight bearing upright magnetic resonance imaging of pointe dancing]. RONTGENPRAXIS; ZEITSCHRIFT FUR RADIOLOGISCHE TECHNIK 2008; 56:195-198. [PMID: 19294878 DOI: 10.1016/j.rontge.2007.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Weight-bearing upright Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) "en pointe" is the ideal tool for research in the field of functional anatomy of pointe dancing and pointe dancing related medicine.
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969
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Barbarulo AM, Pappatà S, Puoti G, Prinster A, Grossi D, Cotrufo R, Salvatore M, Trojano L. Rehabilitation of gesture imitation: a case study with fMRI. Neurocase 2008; 14:293-306. [PMID: 18766981 DOI: 10.1080/13554790802363688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Acquired disorders of gesture imitation are amenable to treatment, but with poor generalisation toward gestures not included in the training program. We investigated the neural basis of this item-specific recovery in a patient with a slowly progressive posterior cortical atrophy, by means of an fMRI study comparing imitation of rehabilitated and not-rehabilitated gestures. Results suggested that in our patient gesture imitation recruited the mirror system and additional areas relevant to gesture analysis and preparation. Imitation of rehabilitated gestures activated the mirror neuron system, and also left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and putamen, and the right anterior temporal cortex. This suggests that item-specific recovery was based on interaction of circuitry of imitation with neural systems involved in emotional and motivational processing.
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970
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Oberman LM, Ramachandran VS, Pineda JA. Modulation of mu suppression in children with autism spectrum disorders in response to familiar or unfamiliar stimuli: The mirror neuron hypothesis. Neuropsychologia 2008; 46:1558-65. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 273] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2007] [Revised: 01/05/2008] [Accepted: 01/15/2008] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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971
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Williams JH. Self–other relations in social development and autism: multiple roles for mirror neurons and other brain bases. Autism Res 2008; 1:73-90. [DOI: 10.1002/aur.15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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972
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Abernethy B, Zawi K, Jackson RC. Expertise and Attunement to Kinematic Constraints. Perception 2008; 37:931-48. [PMID: 18686711 DOI: 10.1068/p5340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Three experiments were undertaken to ascertain the extent to which expertise in natural anticipatory tasks is characterised by superior attunement to the biomechanical (kinematic) constraints of the movement pattern being observed. Twelve world-class and twelve non-expert badminton players were required to predict the depth of an opponent's stroke from either video displays or point-light displays of the opposing player's hitting action. The information available within the displays was manipulated through temporal and/or spatial occlusion. Consistent with predictions that can be derived from the constraint-attunement hypothesis (Vicente and Wang, 1998 Psychological Review105 33–57), experts showed: (i) an unchanged pattern of information pick-up when the display was reduced from video to point-light and only kinematic information was available; (ii) superior information pick-up from kinematic features that non-experts could use; and (iii) attunement to early kinematic information from the lower body to which non-experts were not sensitive. Consistent with predictions that can be derived from a common-coding perspective (Prinz, 1997 European Journal of Cognitive Psychology9 129–154), the anticipation of stroke depth was facilitated more for experts than non-experts when the perceptual display provided linked segment information reminiscent of the cross-segmental torque transfers that occur during expert movement production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce Abernethy
- School of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia
| | - Khairi Zawi
- School of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia
- Department of Physical Education, University of Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
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973
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Press C, Gillmeister H, Heyes C. Sensorimotor experience enhances automatic imitation of robotic action. Proc Biol Sci 2007; 274:2509-14. [PMID: 17698489 PMCID: PMC2275887 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research in cognitive neuroscience has found that observation of human actions activates the 'mirror system' and provokes automatic imitation to a greater extent than observation of non-biological movements. The present study investigated whether this human bias depends primarily on phylogenetic or ontogenetic factors by examining the effects of sensorimotor experience on automatic imitation of non-biological robotic, stimuli. Automatic imitation of human and robotic action stimuli was assessed before and after training. During these test sessions, participants were required to execute a pre-specified response (e.g. to open their hand) while observing a human or robotic hand making a compatible (opening) or incompatible (closing) movement. During training, participants executed opening and closing hand actions while observing compatible (group CT) or incompatible movements (group IT) of a robotic hand. Compatible, but not incompatible, training increased automatic imitation of robotic stimuli (speed of responding on compatible trials, compared with incompatible trials) and abolished the human bias observed at pre-test. These findings suggest that the development of the mirror system depends on sensorimotor experience, and that, in our species, it is biased in favour of human action stimuli because these are more abundant than non-biological action stimuli in typical developmental environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clare Press
- Department of Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, UK.
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974
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Abstract
In primates, ventral premotor and rostral inferior parietal neurons fire during the execution of hand and mouth actions. Some cells (called mirror neurons) also fire when hand and mouth actions are just observed. Mirror neurons provide a simple neural mechanism for understanding the actions of others. In humans, posterior inferior frontal and rostral inferior parietal areas have mirror properties. These human areas are relevant to imitative learning and social behavior. Indeed, the socially isolating condition of autism is associated with a deficit in mirror neuron areas. Strategies inspired by mirror neuron research recently have been used in the treatment of autism and in motor rehabilitation after stroke.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Iacoboni
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Brain Research Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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975
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Désy MC, Théoret H. Modulation of motor cortex excitability by physical similarity with an observed hand action. PLoS One 2007; 2:e971. [PMID: 17912350 PMCID: PMC1989142 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2007] [Accepted: 09/12/2007] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The passive observation of hand actions is associated with increased motor cortex excitability, presumably reflecting activity within the human mirror neuron system (MNS). Recent data show that in-group ethnic membership increases motor cortex excitability during observation of culturally relevant hand gestures, suggesting that physical similarity with an observed body part may modulate MNS responses. Here, we ask whether the MNS is preferentially activated by passive observation of hand actions that are similar or dissimilar to self in terms of sex and skin color. Transcranial magnetic stimulation-induced motor evoked potentials were recorded from the first dorsal interosseus muscle while participants viewed videos depicting index finger movements made by female or male participants with black or white skin color. Forty-eight participants equally distributed in terms of sex and skin color participated in the study. Results show an interaction between self-attributes and physical attributes of the observed hand in the right motor cortex of female participants, where corticospinal excitability is increased during observation of hand actions in a different skin color than that of the observer. Our data show that specific physical properties of an observed action modulate motor cortex excitability and we hypothesize that in-group/out-group membership and self-related processes underlie these effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Christine Désy
- Département de psychologie and Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
| | - Hugo Théoret
- Département de psychologie and Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
- * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
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976
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Abstract
An observation that neurons in the motor cortex of the monkey are active both when the monkey performs a specific action and when he watches an actor executing the same action led to the mirror-system hypothesis. This hypothesis suggests that primates perceive and interpret others' actions by generating an internal motor representation (e.g., simulation). Recent evidence suggests that humans have a similar mirror system. In this review, we focus on the essential congruence between the motor and visual properties of an action. We summarize behavioral and imaging studies in humans that show that observing others' actions can interfere with our own motor execution. We discuss a framework for understanding such an internal representation and suggest that the activity in the parietal cortex during observation of others' actions is based on the sensory-to-motor remapping properties of this region, which are necessary for fine control of our own actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lior Shmuelof
- Department of Neurobiology Hebrew Univeristy, Jerusalem, Israel.
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977
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Vogt S, Buccino G, Wohlschläger AM, Canessa N, Shah NJ, Zilles K, Eickhoff SB, Freund HJ, Rizzolatti G, Fink GR. Prefrontal involvement in imitation learning of hand actions: Effects of practice and expertise. Neuroimage 2007; 37:1371-83. [PMID: 17698372 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 201] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2007] [Revised: 05/02/2007] [Accepted: 07/06/2007] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
In this event-related fMRI study, we demonstrate the effects of a single session of practising configural hand actions (guitar chords) on cortical activations during observation, motor preparation and imitative execution. During the observation of non-practised actions, the mirror neuron system (MNS), consisting of inferior parietal and ventral premotor areas, was more strongly activated than for the practised actions. This finding indicates a strong role of the MNS in the early stages of imitation learning. In addition, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was selectively involved during observation and motor preparation of the non-practised chords. This finding confirms Buccino et al.'s [Buccino, G., Vogt, S., Ritzl, A., Fink, G.R., Zilles, K., Freund, H.-J., Rizzolatti, G., 2004a. Neural circuits underlying imitation learning of hand actions: an event-related fMRI study. Neuron 42, 323-334] model of imitation learning: for actions that are not yet part of the observer's motor repertoire, DLPFC engages in operations of selection and combination of existing, elementary representations in the MNS. The pattern of prefrontal activations further supports Shallice's [Shallice, T., 2004. The fractionation of supervisory control. In: Gazzaniga, M.S. (Ed.), The Cognitive Neurosciences, Third edition. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 943-956] proposal of a dominant role of the left DLPFC in modulating lower level systems and of a dominant role of the right DLPFC in monitoring operations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Vogt
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, UK.
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978
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Petrosini L. "Do what I do" and "do how I do": different components of imitative learning are mediated by different neural structures. Neuroscientist 2007; 13:335-48. [PMID: 17644765 DOI: 10.1177/10738584070130040701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The involvement of different neural structures in imitative learning was studied in two paradigms. In an experimental paradigm, rats observed actor rats learning spatial procedures in a water maze. After the observational training, the observers underwent a cerebellar lesion, preventing further procedural acquisitions, and then were tested in the water maze previously observed. The cerebellar networks appear to be indispensable for acquiring by imitation the spatial procedures. The procedural sequence was then dissected into the single behavioral units, demonstrating that such units do exist and can be independently acquired. By using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), the role of the cerebellum and prefrontal cortex in imitative learning was investigated in humans. Subjects observed an actor detecting a hidden sequence in a matrix and then performed the task detecting either the previously observed sequence or a new one. Cerebellar rTMS applied before the observational training interfered with performance of the new sequence, whereas prefrontal rTMS interfered also with performance of the previously observed one. rTMS delivered after the observational training did not influence task execution. These findings indicate that the cerebellum and prefrontal cortex interact in planning actions, the former by permitting the acquisition by imitation of procedural competencies and the latter by providing flexibility among already acquired solutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Petrosini
- Department of Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
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979
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Gallese V. Before and below 'theory of mind': embodied simulation and the neural correlates of social cognition. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2007; 362:659-69. [PMID: 17301027 PMCID: PMC2346524 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2006.2002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 333] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The automatic translation of folk psychology into newly formed brain modules specifically dedicated to mind-reading and other social cognitive abilities should be carefully scrutinized. Searching for the brain location of intentions, beliefs and desires-as such-might not be the best epistemic strategy to disclose what social cognition really is. The results of neurocognitive research suggest that in the brain of primates, mirror neurons, and more generally the premotor system, play a major role in several aspects of social cognition, from action and intention understanding to language processing. This evidence is presented and discussed within the theoretical frame of an embodied simulation account of social cognition. Embodied simulation and the mirror neuron system underpinning it provide the means to share communicative intentions, meaning and reference, thus granting the parity requirements of social communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vittorio Gallese
- Department of Neuroscience, Section of Physiology, University of Parma, 43100 Parma, Italy.
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980
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Brown LE, Wilson ET, Goodale MA, Gribble PL. Motor force field learning influences visual processing of target motion. J Neurosci 2007; 27:9975-83. [PMID: 17855611 PMCID: PMC6672632 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1245-07.2007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2007] [Revised: 07/18/2007] [Accepted: 07/22/2007] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
There are reciprocal connections between visual and motor areas of the cerebral cortex. Although recent studies have provided intriguing new insights, in comparison with volume of research on the visual control of movement, relatively little is known about how movement influences vision. The motor system is perfectly suited to learn about environmental forces. Does environmental force information, learned by the motor system, influence visual processing? Here, we show that learning to compensate for a force applied to the hand influenced how participants predicted target motion for interception. Ss trained in one of three constant force fields by making reaching movements while holding a robotic manipulandum. The robot applied forces in a null [null force field (NFF)], leftward [leftward force field (LFF)], or [rightward force field (RFF)] direction. Training was followed immediately with an interception task. The target accelerated from left to right and Ss's task was to stab it. When viewing time was optimal for prediction, the RFF group initiated their responses earlier and hit more targets, and the LFF group initiated their responses later and hit fewer targets, than the NFF group. In follow-up experiments, we show that motor learning is necessary, and we rule out the possibility that explicit force direction information drives how Ss altered their predictions of visual motion. Environmental force information, acquired by motor learning, influenced how the motion of nearby visual targets was predicted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liana E Brown
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2.
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981
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982
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Abernethy B, Zawi K. Pickup of Essential Kinematics Underpins Expert Perception of Movement Patterns. J Mot Behav 2007; 39:353-67. [PMID: 17827113 DOI: 10.3200/jmbr.39.5.353-368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
In a series of 3 experiments, the authors examined the ability of badminton players of different skill levels (12 experts and 12 nonexperts) to anticipate the direction of badminton strokes. Participants viewed either film or point-light displays under a range of temporal or spatial occlusion conditions. World-class players were able to consistently pick up useful predictive information from the advance (precontact) kinematics of both the lower body and the racquet when the motion of those features was presented in isolation, whereas recreational players' use of the same information depended on the concurrent presence of linked segments. Participants' information pickup closely matched key biomechanical changes in the movement pattern being viewed, although, contrary to a common-coding view of perception and action (e.g., W. Prinz, 1997), some important differences were evident between the characteristics of the experts' movement prediction and those of expert movement production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce Abernethy
- Institute of Human Performance, The University of Hong Kong.
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983
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Kilner J, Hamilton AFDC, Blakemore SJ. Interference effect of observed human movement on action is due to velocity profile of biological motion. Soc Neurosci 2007; 2:158-66. [PMID: 18633814 DOI: 10.1080/17470910701428190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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984
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Abstract
In the adult human brain, the presence of a system matching the observation and the execution of actions is well established. This mechanism is thought to rely primarily on the contribution of so-called 'mirror neurons', cells that are active when a specific gesture is executed as well as when it is seen or heard. Despite the wealth of evidence detailing the existence of a mirror neuron system (MNS) in the adult brain, little is known about its normal development. Yet, a better understanding of the MNS in infants would be of considerable theoretical and clinical interest, as dysfunctions within the MNS have been demonstrated in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. Arguments in favor of an innate, or very early, mechanism underlying action understanding mainly come from studies of neonatal imitation, the existence of which has been questioned by some. Here, we review evidence suggesting the presence of an MNS in the human child, as well as work that suggests, although indirectly, the existence of a mechanism matching the perception and the execution of actions in the human newborn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-François Lepage
- Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal and Centre de Recherche de l'Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Canada
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985
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Urgesi C, Calvo-Merino B, Haggard P, Aglioti SM. Transcranial magnetic stimulation reveals two cortical pathways for visual body processing. J Neurosci 2007; 27:8023-30. [PMID: 17652592 PMCID: PMC6672742 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0789-07.2007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual recognition of human bodies is more difficult for upside down than upright presentations. This body inversion effect implies that body perception relies on configural rather than local processing. Although neuroimaging studies indicate that the visual processing of human bodies engages a large fronto-temporo-parietal network, information about the neural underpinnings of configural body processing is meager. Here, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to study the causal role of premotor, visual, and parietal areas in configural processing of human bodies. Eighteen participants performed a delayed matching-to-sample task with upright or inverted static body postures. Event-related, dual-pulse rTMS was applied 150 ms after the sample stimulus onset, over left ventral premotor cortex (vPMc), right extrastriate body area (EBA), and right superior parietal lobe (SPL) and, as a control site, over the right primary visual cortex (V1). Interfering stimulation of vPMc significantly reduced accuracy of matching judgments for upright bodies. In contrast, EBA rTMS significantly reduced accuracy for inverted but not for upright bodies. Furthermore, a significant body inversion effect was observed after interfering stimulation of EBA and V1 but not of vPMc and SPL. These results demonstrate an active contribution of the fronto-parietal mirror network to configural processing of bodies and suggest a novel, embodied aspect of visual perception. In contrast, the local processing of the body, possibly based on the form of individual body parts instead of on the whole body unit, appears to depend on EBA. Therefore, we propose two distinct cortical routes for the visual processing of human bodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cosimo Urgesi
- Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) “E. Medea,” Polo Friuli Venezia Giulia, I-33078 San Vito al Tagliamento, Pordenone, Italy
| | - Beatriz Calvo-Merino
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology Department, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology Department, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom
| | - Salvatore M. Aglioti
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Roma “La Sapienza,” I-00185 Rome, Italy, and
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, I-00179 Rome, Italy
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986
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Schütz-Bosbach S, Prinz W. Perceptual resonance: action-induced modulation of perception. Trends Cogn Sci 2007; 11:349-55. [PMID: 17629544 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2007.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 315] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2007] [Revised: 05/22/2007] [Accepted: 06/21/2007] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
A direct relationship between perception and action implies bi-directionality, and predicts not only effects of perception on action but also effects of action on perception. Modern theories of social cognition have intensively examined the relation from perception to action and propose that mirroring the observed actions of others underlies action understanding. Here, we suggest that this view is incomplete, as it neglects the perspective of the actor. We will review empirical evidence showing the effects of self-generated action on perceptual judgments. We propose that producing action might prime perception in a way that observers are selectively sensitive to related or similar actions of conspecifics. Therefore, perceptual resonance, not motor resonance, might be decisive for grounding sympathy and empathy and, thus, successful social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Schütz-Bosbach
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Psychology, Leipzig, Germany.
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987
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Spiers HJ, Maguire EA. Decoding human brain activity during real-world experiences. Trends Cogn Sci 2007; 11:356-65. [PMID: 17618161 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2007.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2007] [Revised: 05/25/2007] [Accepted: 06/19/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The human brain evolved to function and survive in a highly stimulating, complex and fast-changing world. Attempting to ascertain the neural substrates of operating in naturalistic contexts represents a huge challenge. Recently, however, researchers have begun to use several innovative analysis methods to interrogate functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected during dynamic naturalistic tasks. Central to these new developments is the inventive approach taken to segregating neural activity linked to specific events within the overall continuous stream of complex stimulation. In this review, we discuss the recent literature, detailing the key studies and their methods. These analytical techniques can be applied in a wide range of cognitive domains and, thus, offer exciting new opportunities for gaining insights into the brain bases of thoughts and behaviours in the real-world setting where they normally occur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo J Spiers
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.
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988
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Reithler J, van Mier HI, Peters JC, Goebel R. Nonvisual motor learning influences abstract action observation. Curr Biol 2007; 17:1201-7. [PMID: 17614278 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.06.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2007] [Revised: 06/03/2007] [Accepted: 06/04/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Neuroimaging studies have recently provided support for the existence of a human equivalent of the "mirror-neuron" system as first described in monkeys [1], involved in both the execution of movements as well as the observation and imitation of actions performed by others (e.g., [2-6]). A widely held conception concerning this system is that the understanding of observed actions is mediated by a covert simulation process [7]. In the present fMRI experiment, this simulation process was probed by asking subjects to discriminate between visually presented trajectories that either did or did not match previously performed but unseen continuous movement sequences. A specific network of learning-related premotor and parietal areas was found to be reactivated when participants were confronted with their movements' visual counterpart. Moreover, the strength of these reactivations was dependent on the observers' experience with executing the corresponding movement sequence. These findings provide further support for the emerging view that embodied simulations during action observation engage widespread activations in cortical motor regions beyond the classically defined mirror-neuron system. Furthermore, the obtained results extend previous work by showing experience-dependent perceptual modulations at the neural systems level based on nonvisual motor learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel Reithler
- Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Faculty of Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands.
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989
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Gazzola V, van der Worp H, Mulder T, Wicker B, Rizzolatti G, Keysers C. Aplasics Born without Hands Mirror the Goal of Hand Actions with Their Feet. Curr Biol 2007; 17:1235-40. [PMID: 17629484 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.06.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2007] [Revised: 06/09/2007] [Accepted: 06/11/2007] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The premotor and parietal mirror neuron system (MNS) is thought to contribute to the understanding of observed actions by mapping them onto "corresponding" motor programs of the observer [1-24], but how would the MNS respond to the observation of hand actions if the observer never had hands? Would it not show changes of blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal, because the observer lacks motor programs that can resonate [12, 25, 26], or would it show significant changes because the observer has motor programs for the foot or mouth with corresponding goals [15, 17, 19, 27, 28]? We scanned two aplasic subjects, born without arms or hands, while they watched hand actions and compared their brain activity with that of 16 control subjects. All subjects additionally executed actions with different effectors (feet, mouth, and, for controls, hands). The BOLD signal of aplasic individuals within the putative MNS was augmented when they watched hand actions, demonstrating the brain's capacity to mirror actions that deviate from the embodiment of the observer by recruiting voxels involved in the execution of actions that achieve corresponding goals by different effectors. This sheds light on the functional organization of the MNS and predominance of goals in imitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Gazzola
- BCN Neuroimaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, A. Deusinglaan 2, 9713 AW Groningen, The Netherlands
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990
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Poliakoff E, Galpin A, Dick J, Moore P, Tipper SP. The effect of viewing graspable objects and actions in Parkinson's disease. Neuroreport 2007; 18:483-7. [PMID: 17496808 DOI: 10.1097/wnr.0b013e32805867a1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Viewing action-relevant stimuli such as a graspable object or another person moving can affect the observer's own motor system. Evidence exists that external stimuli may facilitate or hinder movement in Parkinson's disease, so we investigated whether action-relevant stimuli would exert a stronger influence. We measured the effect of action-relevant stimuli (graspable door handles and finger movements) on reaction times compared with baseline stimuli (bars and object movements). Parkinson's patients were influenced by the location of the baseline stimuli, but unlike healthy controls, action-relevant stimuli did not exert a stronger influence. This suggests that external cues exert their influence in Parkinson's disease through lower-level visual processes and the influence of action-relevant stimuli on the motor system is disrupted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen Poliakoff
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, and Greater Manchester Neurosciences Unit, Hope Hospital, Salford, UK.
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991
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Lozano SC, Hard BM, Tversky B. Putting action in perspective. Cognition 2007; 103:480-90. [PMID: 16765339 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2006.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2005] [Revised: 03/15/2006] [Accepted: 04/20/2006] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Embodied approaches to cognition propose that our own actions influence our understanding of the world. Do other people's actions also have this influence? The present studies show that perceiving another person's actions changes the way people think about objects in a scene. In Study 1, participants viewed a photograph and answered a question about the location of one object relative to another. The question either did or did not call attention to an action being performed in the scene. Studies 2 and 3 focused on whether depicting an action in a scene influenced perspective choice. Across all studies, drawing attention to action, whether verbally or pictorially, led observers to encode object locations from the actor's spatial perspective. Study 4 demonstrated that the tendency to adopt the actor's perspective might be mediated by motor experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra C Lozano
- Department of Psychology, Jordan Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
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992
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Abstract
Can covert sensorimotor simulation of stimulus-relevant actions influence affective judgments, even when there is no intention to act? Skilled and novice typists picked which of two letter dyads they preferred. In each pair, one dyad, if typed using standard typing methods, would involve the same fingers (e.g., FV); the other would be typed with different fingers (e.g., FJ). Thus, if typed, dyads of the former kind should create more motor interference than dyads of the latter kind. Although individuals could not explain how the dyads differed, skilled typists preferred those typed with different fingers. Novices showed no preference. Moreover, a motor task performed while making dyad preference judgments attenuated skilled typists' preference--but only when the motor task involved the specific fingers that would be used to type the dyads. These findings suggest that in skilled typists, perceiving letters prompts covert sensorimotor simulation of typing them, which in turn influences affective judgments about this information.
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993
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Abstract
We investigated brain activity during the recognition of cooperative actions between two persons. Participants were requested to observe movie clips in which one person received an object passed by another person and to rate the appropriateness of the hand-motion patterns of the receiver. The relative oxyhaemoglobin concentrations in the regions that are considered to be involved in the mirror neuron system (the inferior frontal and precentral areas) were measured by 24-channel near-infrared spectroscopy. The results revealed that the relative oxyhaemoglobin concentration increased to a greater extent during the observation of appropriate receiving actions than during the observation of inappropriate ones. These results suggest that the mirror neuron system is involved in the comprehension of cooperative actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroshi Shibata
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
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994
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Schubotz RI. Prediction of external events with our motor system: towards a new framework. Trends Cogn Sci 2007; 11:211-8. [PMID: 17383218 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2007.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 360] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2006] [Revised: 01/11/2007] [Accepted: 02/13/2007] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
We cannot, in the proper sense, imitate or re-enact inanimate events, such as ocean waves rolling, or even non-human animate ones, such as dogs walking. However, we can anticipate the way they change and recent studies show that our motor system becomes involved while doing so. A novel framework is presented that accounts for these findings by generalizing a predictive account of the motor system from action to event perception. It is suggested that we predict events that we cannot reproduce ourselves by exploiting an audiomotor or visuomotor representation that never amounts to a real action because it lacks proprioceptive and other interoceptive information. This view inspires thinking beyond our customary conceptualization of a 'motor' system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricarda I Schubotz
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neurology, PO Box 500 355, 04303 Leipzig, Germany.
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995
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Gazzola V, Rizzolatti G, Wicker B, Keysers C. The anthropomorphic brain: The mirror neuron system responds to human and robotic actions. Neuroimage 2007; 35:1674-84. [PMID: 17395490 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 380] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2006] [Revised: 01/29/2007] [Accepted: 02/02/2007] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In humans and monkeys the mirror neuron system transforms seen actions into our inner representation of these actions. Here we asked if this system responds also if we see an industrial robot perform similar actions. We localised the motor areas involved in the execution of hand actions, presented the same subjects blocks of movies of humans or robots perform a variety of actions. The mirror system was activated strongly by the sight of both human and robotic actions, with no significant differences between these two agents. Finally we observed that seeing a robot perform a single action repeatedly within a block failed to activate the mirror system. This latter finding suggests that previous studies may have failed to find mirror activations to robotic actions because of the repetitiveness of the presented actions. Our findings suggest that the mirror neuron system could contribute to the understanding of a wider range of actions than previously assumed, and that the goal of an action might be more important for mirror activations than the way in which the action is performed.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Gazzola
- BCN Neuroimaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, A. Deusinglaan 2, 9713AW Groningen, The Netherlands
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996
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Nielsen T. Felt presence: paranoid delusion or hallucinatory social imagery? Conscious Cogn 2007; 16:975-83; discussion 984-91. [PMID: 17434323 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2007.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2006] [Accepted: 02/04/2007] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Cheyne and Girard characterize felt presence (FP) during sleep paralysis attacks as a pre-hallucinatory expression of a threat-activated vigilance system. While their results may be consistent with this interpretation, they are nonetheless correlational and do not address a parsimonious alternative explanation. This alternative stipulates that FP is a purely spatial, hallucinatory form of a common cognitive phenomenon-social imagery-that is often, but not necessarily, linked with threat and fear and that may induce distress among susceptible individuals. The occurrence of both fearful and non-fearful FPs in a multiplicity of situations other than sleep paralysis attacks supports the notion that FPs are hallucinatory variants of social imagery and that they are not necessarily bound to threat-activated vigilance. Evidence linking FPs with anxiety disorders supports the notion that the distress they evoke may be mediated by a more general affective distress personality factor. To illustrate the predominantly spatial character of FP hallucinations, similarities between FP and phantom limbs are summarized and the possibility that these two phenomena are parallel expressions (self- vs. other-presence) of a mirror neuron system is considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tore Nielsen
- Dream & Nightmare Laboratory, Sacré-Coeur Hospital, Montreal, Canada
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997
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Schütz-Bosbach S, Prinz W. Prospective coding in event representation. Cogn Process 2007; 8:93-102. [PMID: 17406917 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-007-0167-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2007] [Revised: 03/06/2007] [Accepted: 03/08/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
A perceived event such as a visual stimulus in the external world and a to-be-produced event such as an intentional action are subserved by event representations. Event representations do not only contain information about present states but also about past and future states. Here we focus on the role of representing future states in event perception and generation (i.e., prospective coding). Relevant theoretical issues and paradigms are discussed. We suggest that the predictive power of the motor system may be exploited for prospective coding not only in producing but also in perceiving events. Predicting is more advantageous than simply reacting. Perceptual prediction allows us to select appropriate responses ahead of the realization of an (anticipated) event and therefore, it is indispensable to flexibly and timely adapt to new situations and thus, successfully interact with our physical and social environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Schütz-Bosbach
- Department of Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstr. 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
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998
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Graf M, Reitzner B, Corves C, Casile A, Giese M, Prinz W. Predicting point-light actions in real-time. Neuroimage 2007; 36 Suppl 2:T22-32. [PMID: 17499167 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.03.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2006] [Accepted: 03/20/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022] Open
Abstract
There is convincing evidence for a mirror system in humans which simulates actions of conspecifics. One possible purpose of such a simulation system is to support action prediction in real-time. Our goal was to study whether the prediction of actions involves a real-time simulation process. We motion-captured a number of human actions and rendered them as point-light action sequences. Observers perceived brief videos of these actions, followed by an occluder and a static test posture. We independently varied the occluder time and the movement gap (i.e., the time between the endpoint of the action and the test posture). Observers were required to judge whether the test stimulus depicted a continuation of the action in the same depth orientation. Prediction performance was best when occluder time and movement gap corresponded, i.e., when the test posture was a continuation of the sequence that matched the occluder duration (Experiments 1, 2 and 4). This pattern of results was destroyed when the sequences and test images were flipped around the horizontal axis (Experiment 3). Overall, our findings suggest that action prediction involves a simulation process that operates in real-time. This process can break down when the actions are presented under viewing conditions for which observers have little experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Graf
- Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Psychology, Amalienstrasse 33, D-80799 Munich, Germany.
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999
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Williams JHG, Whiten A, Waiter GD, Pechey S, Perrett DI. Cortical and subcortical mechanisms at the core of imitation. Soc Neurosci 2007; 2:66-78. [DOI: 10.1080/17470910701268059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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1000
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Vogt S, Thomaschke R. From visuo-motor interactions to imitation learning: Behavioural and brain imaging studies. J Sports Sci 2007; 25:497-517. [PMID: 17365538 DOI: 10.1080/02640410600946779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
We review three areas of research and theory relating to the involvement of motor processing in action observation: behavioural studies on imitation learning, behavioural work on short-term visuomotor interactions, and related neurophysiological and neuroimaging work. A large number of behavioural studies now indicate bi-directional links between perception and action: visual processing can automatically induce related motor processes, and motor actions can direct future visual processing. The related concept of direct matching (Rizzolatti et al., 2001) does not, however, imply that observed actions are transduced into a corresponding motor representation that would guarantee an instant and accurate imitation. Rather, studies on the mirror neuron system indicate that action observation engages the observer's own motor prototype of the observed action. This allows for enhanced action recognition, imitation recognition, and, predominantly in humans, imitation and observational learning. Despite the clear impact of action observation on motor representations, recent neuroimaging work also indicates the overlap of imitation learning with processes of non-imitative skill acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Vogt
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
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