1
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Wang LS, Chang YC, Liou S, Weng MH, Chen DY, Kung CC. When "more for others, less for self" leads to co-benefits: A tri-MRI dyad-hyperscanning study. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14560. [PMID: 38469655 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14560] [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: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Unselfishness is admired, especially when collaborations between groups of various scales are urgently needed. However, its neural mechanisms remain elusive. In a tri-MRI dyad-hyperscanning experiment involving 26 groups, each containing 4 participants as two rotating pairs in a coordination game, we sought to achieve reciprocity, or "winning in turn by the two interacting players," as the precursor to unselfishness. Due to its critical role in social processing, the right temporal-parietal junction (rTPJ) was the seed for both time domain (connectivity) and frequency domain (i.e., coherence) analyses. For the former, negative connectivity between the rTPJ and the mentalizing network areas (e.g., the right inferior parietal lobule, rIPL) was identified, and such connectivity was further negatively correlated with the individual's final gain, supporting our task design that "rewarded" the reciprocal participants. For the latter, cerebral coherences of the rTPJs emerged between the interacting pairs (i.e., within-group interacting pairs), and the coupling between the rTPJ and the right superior temporal gyrus (rSTG) between the players who were not interacting with each other (i.e., within-group noninteracting pairs). These coherences reinforce the hypotheses that the rTPJ-rTPJ coupling tracks the collaboration processes and the rTPJ-rSTG coupling for the emergence of decontextualized shared meaning. Our results underpin two social roles (inferring others' behavior and interpreting social outcomes) subserved by the rTPJ-related network and highlight its interaction with other-self/other-concerning brain areas in reaching co-benefits among unselfish players.
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Affiliation(s)
- Le-Si Wang
- Institute of Creative Industries Design, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Cing Chang
- Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Shyhnan Liou
- Institute of Creative Industries Design, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Ming-Hung Weng
- Department of Economics, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Der-Yow Chen
- Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan
- Mind Research and Imaging Center (MRIC), Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Chun-Chia Kung
- Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan
- Mind Research and Imaging Center (MRIC), Tainan, Taiwan
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2
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Tan H, Zeng X, Ni J, Liang K, Xu C, Zhang Y, Wang J, Li Z, Yang J, Han C, Gao Y, Yu X, Han S, Meng F, Ma Y. Intracranial EEG signals disentangle multi-areal neural dynamics of vicarious pain perception. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5203. [PMID: 38890380 PMCID: PMC11189531 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49541-1] [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: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Empathy enables understanding and sharing of others' feelings. Human neuroimaging studies have identified critical brain regions supporting empathy for pain, including the anterior insula (AI), anterior cingulate (ACC), amygdala, and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). However, to date, the precise spatio-temporal profiles of empathic neural responses and inter-regional communications remain elusive. Here, using intracranial electroencephalography, we investigated electrophysiological signatures of vicarious pain perception. Others' pain perception induced early increases in high-gamma activity in IFG, beta power increases in ACC, but decreased beta power in AI and amygdala. Vicarious pain perception also altered the beta-band-coordinated coupling between ACC, AI, and amygdala, as well as increased modulation of IFG high-gamma amplitudes by beta phases of amygdala/AI/ACC. We identified a necessary combination of neural features for decoding vicarious pain perception. These spatio-temporally specific regional activities and inter-regional interactions within the empathy network suggest a neurodynamic model of human pain empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huixin Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoyu Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jun Ni
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Kun Liang
- Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Cuiping Xu
- Department of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Yanyang Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Jiaxin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Zizhou Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jiaxin Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Chunlei Han
- Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Yuan Gao
- Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Xinguang Yu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Fangang Meng
- Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China.
| | - Yina Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China.
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3
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Ghezeljeh FK, Kazemi R, Rostami R, Zandbagleh A, Khomami S, Vandi FR, Hadipour AL. Female Cerebellum Seems Sociable; An iTBS Investigation. CEREBELLUM (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2024:10.1007/s12311-024-01686-x. [PMID: 38530595 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-024-01686-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
The cerebellum has been shown to be engaged in tasks other than motor control, including cognitive and affective functions. Prior neuroimaging studies have documented the role of this area in social cognition and despite these findings, no studies have yet examined the causal relationship between the cerebellum and social cognition. This study aimed to investigate the role of the cerebellum in empathy and theory of mind (ToM) in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel study. 32 healthy participants were assigned to either a sham or active group. For the active group, an intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) protocol at 100% of the motor threshold was applied to the cerebellum, while the control group received sham stimulation. An eyes-closed EEG session, the Empathy Quotient (EQ) test, and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) were administered before and after the iTBS session. The results demonstrated differences in cognitive empathy, ToM, and a decrease in the activity of the default mode network (DMN) between the active and sham groups in females. Females also showed a decrease in the activity of the affective empathy network and connectivity in the DMN. We conclude that cognitive empathy and ToM are associated with cerebellar activity, and due to sex-related differences in the cortical organization of this area which is modulated by sex hormones, the stimulation of the cerebellum in males and females yields different results.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Reza Kazemi
- Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Farshi Moghadam (16 St.), North Kargar Ave., Tehran, Iran.
| | - Reza Rostami
- Department of Psychology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ahmad Zandbagleh
- School of Electrical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
| | - Sanaz Khomami
- Department of Psychology, West Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Abed L Hadipour
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
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4
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Chiappini E, Turrini S, Zanon M, Marangon M, Borgomaneri S, Avenanti A. Driving Hebbian plasticity over ventral premotor-motor projections transiently enhances motor resonance. Brain Stimul 2024; 17:211-220. [PMID: 38387557 DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2024.02.011] [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: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Making sense of others' actions relies on the activation of an action observation network (AON), which maps visual information about observed actions onto the observer's motor system. This motor resonance process manifests in the primary motor cortex (M1) as increased corticospinal excitability finely tuned to the muscles engaged in the observed action. Motor resonance in M1 is facilitated by projections from higher-order AON regions. However, whether manipulating the strength of AON-to-M1 connectivity affects motor resonance remains unclear. METHODS We used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in 48 healthy humans. Cortico-cortical paired associative stimulation (ccPAS) was administered over M1 and the ventral premotor cortex (PMv), a key AON node, to induce spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) in the pathway connecting them. Single-pulse TMS assessed motor resonance during action observation. RESULTS Before ccPAS, action observation increased corticospinal excitability in the muscles corresponding to the observed movements, reflecting motor resonance in M1. Notably, ccPAS aimed at strengthening projections from PMv to M1 (PMv→M1) induced short-term enhancement of motor resonance. The enhancement specifically occurred with the ccPAS configuration consistent with forward PMv→M1 projections and dissipated 20 min post-stimulation; ccPAS administered in the reverse order (M1→PMv) and sham stimulation did not affect motor resonance. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide the first evidence that inducing STDP to strengthen PMv input to M1 neurons causally enhances muscle-specific motor resonance in M1. Our study sheds light on the plastic mechanisms that shape AON functionality and demonstrates that exogenous manipulation of AON connectivity can influence basic mirror mechanisms that underlie social perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilio Chiappini
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010, Vienna, Austria; Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy; Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), 44139, Dortmund, Germany.
| | - Sonia Turrini
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy; Precision Neuroscience & Neuromodulation Program, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, United States
| | - Marco Zanon
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy; Neuroscience Area, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), 34136, Trieste, Italy
| | - Mattia Marangon
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy; Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Biomedicina e Scienze del Movimento, Sezione di Fisiologia e Psicologia, Università di Verona, 37124, Verona, Italy
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521, Cesena, Italy; Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas (CINPSI Neurocog), Universidad Católica Del Maule, 346000, Talca, Chile.
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Norberg J, McMains S, Persson J, Mitchell JP. Frontotemporal contributions to social and non-social semantic judgements. J Neuropsychol 2024; 18:66-80. [PMID: 37255262 DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12328] [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: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Semantic judgements involve the use of general knowledge about the world in specific situations. Such judgements are typically associated with activity in a number of brain regions that include the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). However, previous studies showed activity in brain regions associated with mentalizing, including the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ), in semantic judgements that involved social knowledge. The aim of the present study was to investigate if social and non-social semantic judgements are dissociated using a combination of fMRI and repetitive TMS. To study this, we asked participants to estimate the percentage of exemplars in a given category that shared a specified attribute. Categories could be either social (i.e., stereotypes) or non-social (i.e., object categories). As expected, fMRI results (n = 26) showed enhanced activity in the left IFG that was specific to non-social semantic judgements. However, statistical evidence did not support that repetitive TMS stimulation (n = 19) to this brain region specifically disrupted non-social semantic judgements. Also as expected, the right TPJ showed enhanced activity to social semantic judgements. However, statistical evidence did not support that repetitive TMS stimulation to this brain region specifically disrupted social semantic judgements. It is possible that the causal networks involved in social and non-social semantic judgements may be more complex than expected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joakim Norberg
- Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | | | - Jonas Persson
- Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
- Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
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6
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Cristiano A, Finisguerra A, Urgesi C, Avenanti A, Tidoni E. Functional role of the theory of mind network in integrating mentalistic prior information with action kinematics during action observation. Cortex 2023; 166:107-120. [PMID: 37354870 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/26/2023]
Abstract
Inferring intentions from verbal and nonverbal human behaviour is critical for everyday social life. Here, we combined Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) with a behavioural priming paradigm to test whether key nodes of the Theory of Mind network (ToMn) contribute to understanding others' intentions by integrating prior knowledge about an agent with the observed action kinematics. We used a modified version of the Faked-Action Discrimination Task (FAD), a forced-choice paradigm in which participants watch videos of actors lifting a cube and judge whether the actors are trying to deceive them concerning the weight of the cube. Videos could be preceded or not by verbal description (prior) about the agent's truthful or deceitful intent. We applied single pulse TMS over three key nodes of the ToMn, namely dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) and right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ). Sham-TMS served as a control (baseline) condition. Following sham or rTPJ stimulation, we observed no consistent influence of priors on FAD performance. In contrast, following dmPFC stimulation, and to a lesser extent pSTS stimulation, truthful and deceitful actions were perceived as more deceptive only when the prior suggested a dishonest intention. These findings highlight a functional role of dmPFC and pSTS in coupling prior knowledge about deceptive intents with observed action kinematics in order to judge faked actions. Our study provides causal evidence that fronto-temporal nodes of the ToMn are functionally relevant to mental state inference during action observation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Azzurra Cristiano
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN(2)S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy; IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
| | | | - Cosimo Urgesi
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Neuropsychiatry and Neurorehabilitation Unit, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy; Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Department of Psychology, Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy; Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica Del Maule, Talca, Chile.
| | - Emmanuele Tidoni
- Human Technology Laboratory, School of Psychology and Social Work, University of Hull, Hull, UK; School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
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7
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Mustile M, Kourtis D, Edwards MG, Donaldson DI, Ietswaart M. The neural response is heightened when watching a person approaching compared to walking away: Evidence for dynamic social neuroscience. Neuropsychologia 2022; 175:108352. [PMID: 36007672 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108352] [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: 12/06/2021] [Revised: 07/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The action observation network has been proposed to play a key role in predicting the action intentions (or goals) of others, thereby facilitating social interaction. Key information when interacting with others is whether someone (an agent) is moving towards or away from us, indicating whether we are likely to interact with the person. In addition, to determine the nature of a social interaction, we also need to take into consideration the distance of the agent relative to us as the observer. How this kind of information is processed within the brain is unknown, at least in part because prior studies have not involved live whole-body motion. Consequently, here we recorded mobile EEG in 18 healthy participants, assessing the neural response to the modulation of direction (walking towards or away) and distance (near vs. far distance) during the observation of an agent walking. We evaluated whether cortical alpha and beta oscillations were modulated differently by direction and distance during action observation. We found that alpha was only modulated by distance, with a stronger decrease of power when the agent was further away from the observer, regardless of direction. Critically, by contrast, beta was found to be modulated by both distance and direction, with a stronger decrease of power when the agent was near and facing the participant (walking towards) compared to when they were near but viewed from the back (walking away). Analysis revealed differences in both the timing and distribution of alpha and beta oscillations. We argue that these data suggest a full understanding of action observation requires a new dynamic neuroscience, investigating actual interactions between real people, in real world environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magda Mustile
- Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
| | - Dimitrios Kourtis
- Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - Martin G Edwards
- Institute of Research in the Psychological Sciences, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain- la- Neuve, Belgium
| | - David I Donaldson
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St. Andrews, UK
| | - Magdalena Ietswaart
- Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
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8
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Thompson EL, Bird G, Catmur C. Mirror neuron brain regions contribute to identifying actions, but not intentions. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:4901-4913. [PMID: 35906896 PMCID: PMC9582378 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have struggled to determine the relationship between mirror neuron brain regions and two distinct “action understanding” processes: identifying actions and identifying the intentions underlying those actions. This may be because the identification of intentions from others' actions requires an initial action identification process. Disruptive transcranial magnetic stimulation was administered to left inferior frontal gyrus (lIFG) during a novel cognitive task to determine which of these “action understanding” processes is subserved by mirror neuron brain regions. Participants identified either the actions performed by observed hand actions or the intentions underlying those actions. The extent to which intention identification was disrupted by lIFG (vs. control site) stimulation was dependent on the level of disruption to action identification. We subsequently performed functional magnetic resonance imaging during the same task. During action identification, responses were widespread within mirror neuron areas including lIFG and inferior parietal lobule. However, no independent responses were found in mirror neuron brain regions during intention identification. Instead, responses occurred in brain regions associated with two distinct mentalizing localizer tasks. This supports an account in which mirror neuron brain regions are involved in an initial action identification process, but the subsequent identification of intentions requires additional processing in mentalizing brain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma L Thompson
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.,Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Geoffrey Bird
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.,Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Caroline Catmur
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
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9
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Spaccasassi C, Zanon M, Borgomaneri S, Avenanti A. Mu rhythm and corticospinal excitability capture two different frames of motor resonance: A TMS/EEG co-registration study. Cortex 2022; 154:197-211. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Revised: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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10
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Trujillo JP, Özyürek A, Kan CC, Sheftel-Simanova I, Bekkering H. Differences in functional brain organization during gesture recognition between autistic and neurotypical individuals. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2022; 17:1021-1034. [PMID: 35428885 PMCID: PMC9629468 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsac026] [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: 09/17/2021] [Revised: 03/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Persons with and without autism process sensory information differently. Differences in sensory processing are directly relevant to social functioning and communicative abilities, which are known to be hampered in persons with autism. We collected functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 25 autistic individuals and 25 neurotypical individuals while they performed a silent gesture recognition task. We exploited brain network topology, a holistic quantification of how networks within the brain are organized to provide new insights into how visual communicative signals are processed in autistic and neurotypical individuals. Performing graph theoretical analysis, we calculated two network properties of the action observation network: 'local efficiency', as a measure of network segregation, and 'global efficiency', as a measure of network integration. We found that persons with autism and neurotypical persons differ in how the action observation network is organized. Persons with autism utilize a more clustered, local-processing-oriented network configuration (i.e. higher local efficiency) rather than the more integrative network organization seen in neurotypicals (i.e. higher global efficiency). These results shed new light on the complex interplay between social and sensory processing in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P Trujillo
- Correspondence should be addressed to James P. Trujillo, Radboud University, Donders Centre for Cognition, Maria Montessori Building, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, Nijmegen 6525 GD, The Netherlands. E-mail:
| | - Asli Özyürek
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Donders Centre for Cognition, Nijmegen, GD 6525, The Netherlands,Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, XD 6525, The Netherlands
| | - Cornelis C Kan
- Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Centre, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, GA 6525, The Netherlands
| | - Irina Sheftel-Simanova
- One Planet Research Centre, Radboud University Medical Centre, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, GA 6525, The Netherlands
| | - Harold Bekkering
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Donders Centre for Cognition, Nijmegen, GD 6525, The Netherlands
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11
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Gomez-Feria J, Fernandez-Corazza M, Martin-Rodriguez JF, Mir P. TMS intensity and focality correlation with coil orientation at three non-motor regions. Phys Med Biol 2022; 67. [DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ac4ef9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Objective. The aim of this study is to define the best coil orientations for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for three clinically relevant brain areas: pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and posterior parietal cortex (PPC), by means of simulations in 12 realistic head models of the electric field (E-field). Methods. We computed the E-field generated by TMS in our three volumes of interest (VOI) that were delineated based on published atlases. We then analysed the maximum intensity and spatial focality for the normal and absolute components of the E-field considering different percentile thresholds. Lastly, we correlated these results with the different anatomical properties of our VOIs. Results. Overall, the spatial focality of the E-field for the three VOIs varied depending on the orientation of the coil. Further analysis showed that differences in individual brain anatomy were related to the amount of focality achieved. In general, a larger percentage of sulcus resulted in better spatial focality. Additionally, a higher normal E-field intensity was achieved when the coil axis was placed perpendicular to the predominant orientations of the gyri of each VOI. A positive correlation between spatial focality and E-field intensity was found for PPC and IFG but not for pre-SMA. Conclusions. For a rough approximation, better coil orientations can be based on the individual’s specific brain morphology at the VOI. Moreover, TMS computational models should be employed to obtain better coil orientations in non-motor regions of interest. Significance. Finding better coil orientations in non-motor regions is a challenge in TMS and seeks to reduce interindividual variability. Our individualized TMS simulation pipeline leads to fewer inter-individual variability in the focality, likely enhancing the efficacy of the stimulation and reducing the risk of stimulating adjacent, non-targeted areas.
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12
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Functional correlates of response inhibition in impulse control disorders in Parkinson's disease. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 32:102822. [PMID: 34536820 PMCID: PMC8449263 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 07/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
PD patients with ICD behave like controls in proactive and reactive inhibition. PD patients with ICD recruit different mechanisms depending on the inhibition type. Proactive inhibition is executed hyperactivating the stopping network bilaterally. Restrained inhibition is accomplished with the coactivation of attentional areas. In restrained inhibition, connectivity between right STN and precuneus is reduced.
Impulse control disorder is a prevalent side-effect of Parkinson’s disease (PD) medication, with a strong negative impact on the quality of life of those affected. Although impulsivity has classically been associated with response inhibition deficits, previous evidence from PD patients with impulse control disorder (ICD) has not revealed behavioral dysfunction in response inhibition. In this study, 18 PD patients with ICD, 17 PD patients without this complication, and 15 healthy controls performed a version of the conditional Stop Signal Task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Whole-brain contrasts, regions of interest, and functional connectivity analyses were conducted. Our aim was to investigate the neural underpinnings of two aspects of response inhibition: proactive inhibition, inhibition that has been prepared beforehand, and restrained inhibition, inhibition of an invalid inhibitory tendency. We observed that, in respect to the other two groups, PD patients with ICD exhibited hyperactivation of the stopping network bilaterally while performing proactive inhibition. When engaged in restrained inhibition, they showed hyperactivation of the left inferior frontal gyrus, an area linked to action monitoring. Restrained inhibition also resulted in changes to the functional co-activation between inhibitory regions and left inferior parietal cortex and right supramarginal gyrus. Our findings indicate that PD patients with ICD completed the inhibition task correctly, showing altered engagement of inhibitory and attentional areas. During proactive inhibition they showed bilateral hyperactivation of two inhibitory regions, while during restrained inhibition they showed additional involvement of attentional areas responsible for alerting and orienting.
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13
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Decroix J, Ott L, Morgado N, Kalénine S. Can the early visual processing of others' actions be related to social power and dominance? PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021; 86:1858-1870. [PMID: 34802076 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01617-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Although goals often drive action understanding, this ability is also prone to important variability among individuals, which may have its origin in individual social characteristics. The present study aimed at evaluating the relationship between the tendency to prioritize goal information over grip information during early visual processing of action and several social dimensions. Visual processing of grip and goal information during action recognition was evaluated in 64 participants using the priming protocol developed by Decroix and Kalénine (Exp Brain Res 236(8):2411-2426, 2018). Object-directed action photographs were primed by photographs sharing the same goal and/or the same grip. The effects of goal and grip priming on action recognition were evaluated for different prime durations. The same participants further fulfilled questionnaires characterizing the way individuals deal with their social environment, namely their sense of social power, dominance, perspective taking, and construal level. At the group level, results confirmed greater goal than grip priming effects on action recognition for the shortest prime duration. Regression analyses between the pattern of response times in the action priming protocol and scores at the questionnaires further showed that the advantage of goal over grip priming was associated with higher sense of social power, and possibly to lower dominance. Overall, data confirm that observers tend to prioritize goal-related information when processing visual actions but further indicate that this tendency is sensitive to individual social characteristics. Results suggest that goal information may not always drive action understanding and point out the connection between low-level processing of observed actions and more general individual characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérémy Decroix
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193, SCALab-Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, 59000, Lille, France
| | - Laurent Ott
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193, SCALab-Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, 59000, Lille, France
| | - Nicolas Morgado
- Univ. Paris Nanterre, LICAÉ-Laboratoire Sur Les Interactions Cognition-Action-Émotion, Nanterre, France
| | - Solène Kalénine
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193, SCALab-Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, 59000, Lille, France.
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14
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Kemmerer D. What modulates the Mirror Neuron System during action observation?: Multiple factors involving the action, the actor, the observer, the relationship between actor and observer, and the context. Prog Neurobiol 2021; 205:102128. [PMID: 34343630 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2021.102128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Revised: 06/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Seeing an agent perform an action typically triggers a motor simulation of that action in the observer's Mirror Neuron System (MNS). Over the past few years, it has become increasingly clear that during action observation the patterns and strengths of responses in the MNS are modulated by multiple factors. The first aim of this paper is therefore to provide the most comprehensive survey to date of these factors. To that end, 22 distinct factors are described, broken down into the following sets: six involving the action; two involving the actor; nine involving the observer; four involving the relationship between actor and observer; and one involving the context. The second aim is to consider the implications of these findings for four prominent theoretical models of the MNS: the Direct Matching Model; the Predictive Coding Model; the Value-Driven Model; and the Associative Model. These assessments suggest that although each model is supported by a wide range of findings, each one is also challenged by other findings and relatively unaffected by still others. Hence, there is now a pressing need for a richer, more inclusive model that is better able to account for all of the modulatory factors that have been identified so far.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Kemmerer
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Lyles-Porter Hall, Purdue University, 715 Clinic Drive, United States.
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15
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Papitto G, Lugli L, Borghi AM, Pellicano A, Binkofski F. Embodied negation and levels of concreteness: A TMS study on German and Italian language processing. Brain Res 2021; 1767:147523. [PMID: 34010607 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2021.147523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Revised: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 05/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
According to the embodied cognition perspective, linguistic negation may block the motor simulations induced by language processing. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied to the left primary motor cortex (hand area) of monolingual Italian and German healthy participants during a rapid serial visual presentation of sentences from their own language. In these languages, the negative particle is located at the beginning and at the end of the sentence, respectively. The study investigated whether the interruption of the motor simulation processes, accounted for by reduced motor evoked potentials (MEPs), takes place similarly in two languages differing on the position of the negative marker. Different levels of sentence concreteness were also manipulated to investigate if negation exerts generalized effects or if it is affected by the semantic features of the sentence. Our findings indicate that negation acts as a block on motor representations, but independently from the language and words concreteness level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Papitto
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Leipzig, Germany; International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication: Function, Structure, and Plasticity, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Luisa Lugli
- Department of Philosophy and Communication, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Anna M Borghi
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy
| | - Antonello Pellicano
- Division of Clinical Cognitive Sciences, Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Ferdinand Binkofski
- Division of Clinical Cognitive Sciences, Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-4), Research Center Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany
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16
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Decroix J, Borgomaneri S, Kalénine S, Avenanti A. State-dependent TMS of inferior frontal and parietal cortices highlights integration of grip configuration and functional goals during action recognition. Cortex 2020; 132:51-62. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Revised: 07/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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17
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Transient Disruption of the Inferior Parietal Lobule Impairs the Ability to Attribute Intention to Action. Curr Biol 2020; 30:4594-4605.e7. [PMID: 32976808 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.08.104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Revised: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Although it is well established that fronto-parietal regions are active during action observation, whether they play a causal role in the ability to infer others' intentions from visual kinematics remains undetermined. In the experiments reported here, we combined offline continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) with computational modeling to reveal and causally probe single-trial computations in the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Participants received cTBS over the left anterior IPL and the left IFG pars orbitalis in separate sessions before completing an intention discrimination task (discriminate intention of observed reach-to-grasp acts) or a kinematic discrimination task unrelated to intention (discriminate peak wrist height of the same acts). We targeted intention-sensitive regions whose fMRI activity, recorded when observing the same reach-to-grasp acts, could accurately discriminate intention. We found that transient disruption of activity of the left IPL, but not the IFG, impaired the observer's ability to attribute intention to action. Kinematic discrimination unrelated to intention, in contrast, was largely unaffected. Computational analyses of how encoding (mapping of intention to movement kinematics) and readout (mapping of kinematics to intention choices) intersect at the single-trial level revealed that IPL cTBS did not diminish the overall sensitivity of intention readout to movement kinematics. Rather, it selectively misaligned intention readout with respect to encoding, deteriorating mapping from informative kinematic features to intention choices. These results provide causal evidence of how the left anterior IPL computes mapping from kinematics to intentions.
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18
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Abdelgabar AR, Suttrup J, Broersen R, Bhandari R, Picard S, Keysers C, De Zeeuw CI, Gazzola V. Action perception recruits the cerebellum and is impaired in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia. Brain 2020; 142:3791-3805. [PMID: 31747689 PMCID: PMC7409410 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awz337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Revised: 09/02/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Our cerebellum has been proposed to generate prediction signals that may help us plan and execute our motor programmes. However, to what extent our cerebellum is also actively involved in perceiving the action of others remains to be elucidated. Using functional MRI, we show here that observing goal-directed hand actions of others bilaterally recruits lobules VI, VIIb and VIIIa in the cerebellar hemispheres. Moreover, whereas healthy subjects (n = 31) were found to be able to discriminate subtle differences in the kinematics of observed limb movements of others, patients suffering from spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6; n = 21) were severely impaired in performing such tasks. Our data suggest that the human cerebellum is actively involved in perceiving the kinematics of the hand actions of others and that SCA6 patients’ deficits include a difficulty in perceiving the actions of other individuals. This finding alerts us to the fact that cerebellar disorders can alter social cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdel R Abdelgabar
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Judith Suttrup
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Robin Broersen
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ritu Bhandari
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Samuel Picard
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Christian Keysers
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Chris I De Zeeuw
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Valeria Gazzola
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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19
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Orlandi A, D'Incà S, Proverbio AM. Muscular effort coding in action representation in ballet dancers and controls: Electrophysiological evidence. Brain Res 2020; 1733:146712. [PMID: 32044337 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2020.146712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Revised: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The present electrophysiological (EEG) study investigated the neural correlates of perceiving effortful vs. effortless movements belonging to a specific repertoire (ballet). Previous evidence has shown an increased heart and respiratory rate during the observation and imagination of human actions that require a great muscular effort. In addition, TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) and EEG studies have evidenced a greater muscle-specific cortical excitability and an increase in late event-related potentials during the observation of effortful actions. In this investigation, fifteen professional female ballet dancers and 15 controls with no experience whatsoever with dance, gymnastics, or martial arts were recruited. They were shown 326 short videos displaying a male dancer performing standard ballet steps that could be either effortful or relatively effortless. Participants were instructed to observe each clip and imagine themselves physically executing the same movement. Importantly, they were blinded to the stimuli properties. The observation of effortful compared with effortless movements resulted in a larger P300 over frontal sites in dancers only, likely because of their visuomotor expertise with the specific steps. Moreover, an enhanced Late Positivity was identified over posterior sites in response to effortful stimuli in both groups, possibly reflecting the processing of larger quantities of visual kinematic information. The source reconstruction swLORETA performed on the Late Positivity component showed greater engagement of frontoparietal regions in dancers, while task-related frontal and occipitotemporal visual regions were more active in controls. It, therefore, appears that, in dancers, effort information was encoded in a more refined manner during action observation and in the absence of explicit instruction. Acquired motor knowledge seems to result in visuomotor resonance processes, which, in turn, underlies enhanced action representation of the observed movements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Orlandi
- Neuro-MI, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Dept. of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
| | - Silvia D'Incà
- Neuro-MI, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Dept. of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
| | - Alice Mado Proverbio
- Neuro-MI, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Dept. of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
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20
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Pereira M, Faivre N, Iturrate I, Wirthlin M, Serafini L, Martin S, Desvachez A, Blanke O, Van De Ville D, Millán JDR. Disentangling the origins of confidence in speeded perceptual judgments through multimodal imaging. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:8382-8390. [PMID: 32238562 PMCID: PMC7165419 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1918335117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The human capacity to compute the likelihood that a decision is correct-known as metacognition-has proven difficult to study in isolation as it usually cooccurs with decision making. Here, we isolated postdecisional from decisional contributions to metacognition by analyzing neural correlates of confidence with multimodal imaging. Healthy volunteers reported their confidence in the accuracy of decisions they made or decisions they observed. We found better metacognitive performance for committed vs. observed decisions, indicating that committing to a decision may improve confidence. Relying on concurrent electroencephalography and hemodynamic recordings, we found a common correlate of confidence following committed and observed decisions in the inferior frontal gyrus and a dissociation in the anterior prefrontal cortex and anterior insula. We discuss these results in light of decisional and postdecisional accounts of confidence and propose a computational model of confidence in which metacognitive performance naturally improves when evidence accumulation is constrained upon committing a decision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Pereira
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland;
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition, CNRS UMR 5105, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38400 Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France
| | - Nathan Faivre
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition, CNRS UMR 5105, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38400 Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France
| | - Iñaki Iturrate
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Marco Wirthlin
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Luana Serafini
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41121 Modena, Italy
| | - Stéphanie Martin
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Arnaud Desvachez
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Olaf Blanke
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Dimitri Van De Ville
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Medical Image Processing Lab, Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - José Del R Millán
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712
- Department of Neurology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712
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21
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Borja Jimenez KC, Abdelgabar AR, De Angelis L, McKay LS, Keysers C, Gazzola V. Changes in brain activity following the voluntary control of empathy. Neuroimage 2020; 216:116529. [PMID: 31931155 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2019] [Revised: 12/19/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In neuroscience, empathy is often conceived as relatively automatic. The voluntary control that people can exert on brain mechanisms that map the emotions of others onto our own emotions has received comparatively less attention. Here, we therefore measured brain activity while participants watched emotional Hollywood movies under two different instructions: to rate the main characters' emotions by empathizing with them, or to do so while keeping a detached perspective. We found that participants yielded highly consistent and similar ratings of emotions under both conditions. Using intersubject correlation-based analyses we found that, when encouraged to empathize, participants' brain activity in limbic (including cingulate and putamen) and somatomotor regions (including premotor, SI and SII) synchronized more during the movie than when encouraged to detach. Using intersubject functional connectivity we found that comparing the empathic and detached perspectives revealed widespread increases in functional connectivity between large scale networks. Our findings contribute to the increasing awareness that we have voluntary control over the neural mechanisms through which we process the emotions of others.
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Affiliation(s)
- K C Borja Jimenez
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - A R Abdelgabar
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - L De Angelis
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - L S McKay
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Current Address: Division of Psychology, School of Education & Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, High Street, Paisley, PA1 2BE, UK
| | - C Keysers
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018, WV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - V Gazzola
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018, WV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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22
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Kim H, Yoshimura N, Koike Y. Characteristics of Kinematic Parameters in Decoding Intended Reaching Movements Using Electroencephalography (EEG). Front Neurosci 2019; 13:1148. [PMID: 31736690 PMCID: PMC6838638 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2019] [Accepted: 10/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The utility of premovement electroencephalography (EEG) for decoding movement intention during a reaching task has been demonstrated. However, the kind of information the brain represents regarding the intended target during movement preparation remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated which movement parameters (i.e., direction, distance, and positions for reaching) can be decoded in premovement EEG decoding. Eight participants performed 30 types of reaching movements that consisted of 1 of 24 movement directions, 7 movement distances, 5 horizontal target positions, and 5 vertical target positions. Event-related spectral perturbations were extracted using independent components, some of which were selected via an analysis of variance for further binary classification analysis using a support vector machine. When each parameter was used for class labeling, all possible binary classifications were performed. Classification accuracies for direction and distance were significantly higher than chance level, although no significant differences were observed for position. For the classification in which each movement was considered as a different class, the parameters comprising two vectors representing each movement were analyzed. In this case, classification accuracies were high when differences in distance were high, the sum of distances was high, angular differences were large, and differences in the target positions were high. The findings further revealed that direction and distance may provide the largest contributions to movement. In addition, regardless of the parameter, useful features for classification are easily found over the parietal and occipital areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyeonseok Kim
- Department of Information and Communications Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Natsue Yoshimura
- Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan.,Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology (PRESTO), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Saitama, Japan
| | - Yasuharu Koike
- Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan
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23
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Sciutti A, Patanè L, Sandini G. Development of visual perception of others' actions: Children's judgment of lifted weight. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0224979. [PMID: 31730653 PMCID: PMC6857952 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0224979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2018] [Accepted: 10/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans are excellent at perceiving different features of the actions performed by others. For instance, by viewing someone else manipulating an unknown object, one can infer its weight–an intrinsic feature otherwise not directly accessible through vision. How such perceptual skill develops during childhood remains unclear. To confront this gap, the current study had children (N:63, 6–10 years old) and adults (N:21) judge the weight of objects after observing videos of an actor lifting them. Although 6-year-olds could already discriminate different weights, judgment accuracy had not reached adult-like levels by 10 years of age. Additionally, children’s stature was a more reliable predictor of their ability to read others’ actions than was their chronological age. This paper discusses the results in light of a potential link between motor development and action perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Sciutti
- Cognitive Architecture for Collaborative Technologies (CONTACT) Unit, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Laura Patanè
- Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | - Giulio Sandini
- Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
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24
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Stahl B, Darkow R, von Podewils V, Meinzer M, Grittner U, Reinhold T, Grewe T, Breitenstein C, Flöel A. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Enhance Training Effectiveness in Chronic Post-Stroke Aphasia: A Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol. Front Neurol 2019; 10:1089. [PMID: 31695667 PMCID: PMC6817733 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2019.01089] [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: 05/17/2019] [Accepted: 09/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Intensive speech-language therapy (SLT) can promote recovery from chronic post-stroke aphasia, a major consequence of stroke. However, effect sizes of intensive SLT are moderate, potentially reflecting a physiological limit of training-induced progress. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an easy-to-use, well-tolerated and low-cost approach that may enhance effectiveness of intensive SLT. In a recent phase-II randomized controlled trial, 26 individuals with chronic post-stroke aphasia received intensive SLT combined with anodal-tDCS of the left primary motor cortex (M1), resulting in improved naming and proxy-rated communication ability, with medium-to-large effect sizes. Aims: The proposed protocol seeks to establish the incremental benefit from anodal-tDCS of M1 in a phase-III randomized controlled trial with adequate power, ecologically valid outcomes, and evidence-based SLT. Methods: The planned study is a prospective randomized placebo-controlled (using sham-tDCS), parallel-group, double-blind, multi-center, phase-III superiority trial. A sample of 130 individuals with aphasia at least 6 months post-stroke will be recruited in more than 18 in- and outpatient rehabilitation centers. Outcomes: The primary outcome focuses on communication ability in chronic post-stroke aphasia, as revealed by changes on the Amsterdam-Nijmegen Everyday Language Test (A-scale; primary endpoint: 6-month follow-up; secondary endpoints: immediately after treatment, and 12-month follow-up). Secondary outcomes include measures assessing linguistic-executive skills, attention, memory, emotional well-being, quality of life, health economic costs, and adverse events (endpoints: 6-month follow-up, immediately after treatment, and 12-month follow-up). Discussion: Positive results will increase the quality of life for persons with aphasia and their families while reducing societal costs. After trial completion, a workshop with relevant stakeholders will ensure transfer into best-practice guidelines and successful integration within clinical routine. Clinical Trial Registration:www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT03930121.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Stahl
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.,Department of Neurology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.,Psychologische Hochschule Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Robert Darkow
- Department of Neurology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Logopedics, FH Johanneum University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria
| | - Viola von Podewils
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Marcus Meinzer
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.,Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Ulrike Grittner
- Institute of Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Thomas Reinhold
- Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tanja Grewe
- Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, Idstein, Germany
| | - Caterina Breitenstein
- Department of Neurology with Institute of Translational Neurology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Agnes Flöel
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.,German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Rostock/Greifswald, Germany
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25
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Thompson EL, Bird G, Catmur C. Conceptualizing and testing action understanding. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 105:106-114. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Revised: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 08/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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26
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Seeing minds in others: Mind perception modulates low-level social-cognitive performance and relates to ventromedial prefrontal structures. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2019; 18:837-856. [PMID: 29992485 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-018-0608-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In social interactions, we rely on nonverbal cues like gaze direction to understand the behavior of others. How we react to these cues is affected by whether they are believed to originate from an entity with a mind, capable of having internal states (i.e., mind perception). While prior work has established a set of neural regions linked to social-cognitive processes like mind perception, the degree to which activation within this network relates to performance in subsequent social-cognitive tasks remains unclear. In the current study, participants performed a mind perception task (i.e., judging the likelihood that faces, varying in physical human-likeness, have internal states) while event-related fMRI was collected. Afterwards, participants performed a social attention task outside the scanner, during which they were cued by the gaze of the same faces that they previously judged within the mind perception task. Parametric analyses of the fMRI data revealed that activity within ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was related to both mind ratings inside the scanner and gaze-cueing performance outside the scanner. In addition, other social brain regions were related to gaze-cueing performance, including frontal areas like the left insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and inferior frontal gyrus, as well as temporal areas like the left temporo-parietal junction and bilateral temporal gyri. The findings suggest that functions subserved by the vmPFC are relevant to both mind perception and social attention, implicating a role of vmPFC in the top-down modulation of low-level social-cognitive processes.
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27
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Berntsen MB, Cooper NR, Hughes G, Romei V. Prefrontal transcranial alternating current stimulation improves motor sequence reproduction. Behav Brain Res 2019; 361:39-49. [PMID: 30578806 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.12.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2018] [Revised: 12/01/2018] [Accepted: 12/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Cortical activity in frontal, parietal, and motor regions during sequence observation correlates with performance on sequence reproduction. Increased cortical activity observed during observation has therefore been suggested to represent increased learning. Causal relationships have been demonstrated between M1 and motor sequence reproduction and between parietal cortex and bimanual learning. However, similar effects have not been reported for frontal regions despite a number of reports implicating its involvement in encoding of motor sequences. Investigating causal relations between cortical activity and reproduction of motor sequences in parietal, frontal and primary motor regions can disentangle whether specific regions during simple observation can be selectively ascribed to encoding or reproduction or both. We designed a sensorimotor paradigm that included a strong motor sequence component, and tested the impact of individually adjusted transcranial alternating current stimulation (IAF-tACS) to prefrontal, parietal, and primary motor regions on electroencephalographic motor rhythms (alpha and beta bandwidths) during motor sequence observation and the ability to reproduce the observed sequences. Independently of the stimulated region, IAF-tACS led to a reduction in suppression in the lower beta-range relative to sham. Prefrontal IAF-tACS however, led to significant improvement in motor sequence reproduction, pinpointing the crucial role of prefrontal regions in motor sequence reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica B Berntsen
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom.
| | - Nicholas R Cooper
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom.
| | - Gethin Hughes
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom
| | - Vincenzo Romei
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom; Dipartimento di Psicologia and Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Campus di Cesena, Universitá di Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy
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28
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Visual attention and action: How cueing, direct mapping, and social interactions drive orienting. Psychon Bull Rev 2018; 25:1585-1605. [PMID: 28808932 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-017-1354-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Despite considerable interest in both action perception and social attention over the last 2 decades, there has been surprisingly little investigation concerning how the manual actions of other humans orient visual attention. The present review draws together studies that have measured the orienting of attention, following observation of another's goal-directed action. Our review proposes that, in line with the literature on eye gaze, action is a particularly strong orienting cue for the visual system. However, we additionally suggest that action may orient visual attention using mechanisms, which gaze direction does not (i.e., neural direct mapping and corepresentation). Finally, we review the implications of these gaze-independent mechanisms for the study of attention to action. We suggest that our understanding of attention to action may benefit from being studied in the context of joint action paradigms, where the role of higher level action goals and social factors can be investigated.
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29
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Paracampo R, Montemurro M, de Vega M, Avenanti A. Primary motor cortex crucial for action prediction: A tDCS study. Cortex 2018; 109:287-302. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Revised: 09/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/16/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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30
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Farmer H, Ciaunica A, Hamilton AFDC. The functions of imitative behaviour in humans. MIND & LANGUAGE 2018; 33:378-396. [PMID: 30333677 PMCID: PMC6175014 DOI: 10.1111/mila.12189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This article focuses on the question of the function of imitation and whether current accounts of imitative function are consistent with our knowledge about imitation's origins. We first review theories of imitative origin concluding that empirical evidence suggests that imitation arises from domain-general learning mechanisms. Next, we lay out a selective account of function that allows normative functions to be ascribed to learned behaviours. We then describe and review four accounts of the function of imitation before evaluating the relationship between the claim that imitation arises out of domain-general learning mechanisms and theories of the function of imitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harry Farmer
- Institute of Cognitive NeuroscienceUniversity College LondonLondonUK
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of BathBathUK
| | - Anna Ciaunica
- Institute of Cognitive NeuroscienceUniversity College LondonLondonUK
- Institute of PhilosophyUniversity of PortoPortoPortugal
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31
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Amoruso L, Finisguerra A, Urgesi C. Contextualizing action observation in the predictive brain: Causal contributions of prefrontal and middle temporal areas. Neuroimage 2018; 177:68-78. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Revised: 03/27/2018] [Accepted: 05/07/2018] [Indexed: 10/16/2022] Open
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32
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Paracampo R, Pirruccio M, Costa M, Borgomaneri S, Avenanti A. Visual, sensorimotor and cognitive routes to understanding others' enjoyment: An individual differences rTMS approach to empathic accuracy. Neuropsychologia 2018; 116:86-98. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.01.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2017] [Revised: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 01/31/2018] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
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33
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Paracampo R, Tidoni E, Borgomaneri S, di Pellegrino G, Avenanti A. Sensorimotor Network Crucial for Inferring Amusement from Smiles. Cereb Cortex 2018; 27:5116-5129. [PMID: 27660050 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhw294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2016] [Accepted: 08/26/2016] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding whether another's smile reflects authentic amusement is a key challenge in social life, yet, the neural bases of this ability have been largely unexplored. Here, we combined transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with a novel empathic accuracy (EA) task to test whether sensorimotor and mentalizing networks are critical for understanding another's amusement. Participants were presented with dynamic displays of smiles and explicitly requested to infer whether the smiling individual was feeling authentic amusement or not. TMS over sensorimotor regions representing the face (i.e., in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and ventral primary somatosensory cortex (SI)), disrupted the ability to infer amusement authenticity from observed smiles. The same stimulation did not affect performance on a nonsocial task requiring participants to track the smiling expression but not to infer amusement. Neither TMS over prefrontal and temporo-parietal areas supporting mentalizing, nor peripheral control stimulations, affected performance on either task. Thus, motor and somatosensory circuits for controlling and sensing facial movements are causally essential for inferring amusement from another's smile. These findings highlight the functional relevance of IFG and SI to amusement understanding and suggest that EA abilities may be grounded in sensorimotor networks for moving and feeling the body.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Paracampo
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy
| | - Emmanuele Tidoni
- Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy.,Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy.,Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppe di Pellegrino
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Department of Psychology, Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy.,Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
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34
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Brich LFM, Bächle C, Hermsdörfer J, Stadler W. Real-Time Prediction of Observed Action Requires Integrity of the Dorsal Premotor Cortex: Evidence From Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:101. [PMID: 29628880 PMCID: PMC5876293 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 03/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Studying brain mechanisms underlying the prediction of observed action, the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) has been suggested a key area. The present study probed this notion using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to test whether interference in this area would affect the accuracy in predicting the time course of object directed actions performed with the right hand. Young and healthy participants observed actions in short videos. These were briefly occluded from view for 600 ms and resumed immediately afterwards. The task was to continue the action mentally and to indicate after each occlusion, whether the action was resumed at the right moment (condition in-time) or shifted. In a first run, single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (sTMS) was delivered over the left primary hand-area during occlusion. In the second run, rTMS over the left PMd was applied during occlusion in half of the participants [experimental group (EG)]. The control group (CG) received sham-rTMS over the same area. Under rTMS, the EG predicted less trials correctly than in the sTMS run. Sham-rTMS in the CG had no effects on prediction. The interference in PMd interacted with the type of manipulation applied to the action’s time course occasionally during occlusion. The performance decrease of the EG was most pronounced in conditions in which the continuations after occlusions were too late in the action’s course. The present results extend earlier findings suggesting that real-time action prediction requires the integrity of the PMd. Different functional roles of this area are discussed. Alternative interpretations consider either simulation of specific motor programming functions or the involvement of a feature-unspecific predictor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louisa F M Brich
- Chair of Human Movement Science, Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Christine Bächle
- Chair of Human Movement Science, Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Joachim Hermsdörfer
- Chair of Human Movement Science, Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Waltraud Stadler
- Chair of Human Movement Science, Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
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35
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Yang CC, Khalifa N, Völlm B. The effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on empathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychol Med 2018; 48:737-750. [PMID: 28826416 DOI: 10.1017/s003329171700232x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Empathy is a multi-dimensional concept with affective and cognitive components, the latter often referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM). Impaired empathy is prevalent in people with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as personality disorder, psychopathy, and schizophrenia, highlighting the need to develop therapeutic interventions to address this. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a non-invasive therapeutic technique that has been effective in treating various neuropsychiatric conditions, can be potentially used to modulate empathy. To our knowledge, no systematic reviews or meta-analyses in this field have been conducted. The aim of the current study was to review the literature on the use of rTMS to modulate empathy in adults. Seven electronic databases (AMED, Cochrane library, EMBASE, Medline, Pubmed, PsycInfo, and Web of Science) were searched using appropriate search terms. Twenty-two studies were identified, all bar one study involved interventions in healthy rather than clinical populations, and 18 of them, providing results for 24 trials, were included in the meta-analyses. Results showed an overall small, but statistically significant, effect in favour of active rTMS in healthy individuals. Differential effects across cognitive and affective ToM were evident. Subgroup analyses for cognitive ToM revealed significant effect sizes on excitatory rTMS, offline paradigms, and non-randomised design trials. Subgroup analyses for affective ToM revealed significant effect sizes on excitatory rTMS, offline paradigms, and non-randomised design trials. Meta-regression revealed no significant sources of heterogeneity. In conclusion, rTMS may have discernible effects on different components of empathy. Further research is required to examine the effects of rTMS on empathy in clinical and non-clinical populations, using appropriate empathy tasks and rTMS protocols.
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Affiliation(s)
- C-C Yang
- Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology,School of Medicine,University of Nottingham,UK
| | - N Khalifa
- Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology,School of Medicine,University of Nottingham,UK
| | - B Völlm
- Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology,School of Medicine,University of Nottingham,UK
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36
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Ando' A, Pineda JA, Giromini L, Soghoyan G, QunYang, Bohm M, Maryanovsky D, Zennaro A. Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on attribution of movement to ambiguous stimuli and EEG mu suppression. Brain Res 2018; 1680:69-76. [PMID: 29247630 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2017.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2017] [Revised: 11/23/2017] [Accepted: 12/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Recent research suggests that attributing human movement to ambiguous and static Rorschach stimuli (M responses) is associated with EEG mu suppression, and that disrupting the left inferior gyrus (LIFG; a putative area implicated in mirroring activity) decreases the tendency to see human movement when exposed to the Rorschach ambiguous stimuli. The current study aimed to test whether disrupting the LIFG via repetitive transcranial stimulation (rTMS) would decrease both the number of human movement attributions and EEG mu suppression. Each participant was exposed to the Rorschach stimuli twice, i.e., during a baseline condition (without rTMS but with EEG recording) and soon after rTMS (TMS condition with EEG recording). Experimental group (N = 15) was stimulated over the LIFG, while the control group (N = 13) was stimulated over the Vertex. As expected, disrupting the LIFG but not Vertex, decreased the number of M attributions provided by the participants exposed to the Rorschach stimuli, with a significant interaction effect. Unexpectedly, however, rTMS did not significantly influence EEG mu suppression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agata Ando'
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Italy
| | - Jaime A Pineda
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, CA, USA
| | | | - Gregory Soghoyan
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, CA, USA
| | - QunYang
- Department of the Medical Psychology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Miranda Bohm
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Daniel Maryanovsky
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, CA, USA
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37
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Catmur C, Thompson EL, Bairaktari O, Lind F, Bird G. Sensorimotor training alters action understanding. Cognition 2018; 171:10-14. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.10.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2017] [Revised: 10/26/2017] [Accepted: 10/28/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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38
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Ruggiero M, Catmur C. Mirror neurons and intention understanding: Dissociating the contribution of object type and intention to mirror responses using electromyography. Psychophysiology 2018; 55:e13061. [PMID: 29349781 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2017] [Revised: 11/09/2017] [Accepted: 12/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Since their discovery in the monkey and human brain, mirror neurons have been claimed to play a key role in understanding others' intentions. For example, "action-constrained" mirror neurons in inferior parietal lobule fire when the monkey observes a grasping movement that is followed by an eating action, but not when it is followed by a placing action. It is claimed these responses enable the monkey to predict the intentions of the actor. These findings have been replicated in human observers by recording electromyography responses of the mouth-opening mylohyoid muscle during action observation. Mylohyoid muscle activity was greater during the observation of actions performed with the intention to eat than of actions performed with the intention to place, again suggesting an ability to predict the actor's intentions. However, in previous studies, intention was confounded with object type (food for eating actions, nonfood for placing actions). We therefore used electromyography to measure mylohyoid activity in participants observing eating and placing actions. Unlike previous studies, we used a design in which each object (food, nonfood) could be both eaten and placed, and thus participants could not predict the actor's intention at the onset of the action. Greater mylohyoid activity was found for the observation of actions performed on food objects, irrespective of intention, indicating that the object type, not the actor's intention, drives the mirror response. This result suggests that observers' motor responses during action observation reflect the presence of a particular object, rather than the actor's underlying intentions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maura Ruggiero
- School of Human and Social Science, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.,Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
| | - Caroline Catmur
- Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom.,Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
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39
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Wiese E, Metta G, Wykowska A. Robots As Intentional Agents: Using Neuroscientific Methods to Make Robots Appear More Social. Front Psychol 2017; 8:1663. [PMID: 29046651 PMCID: PMC5632653 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2017] [Accepted: 09/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Robots are increasingly envisaged as our future cohabitants. However, while considerable progress has been made in recent years in terms of their technological realization, the ability of robots to interact with humans in an intuitive and social way is still quite limited. An important challenge for social robotics is to determine how to design robots that can perceive the user's needs, feelings, and intentions, and adapt to users over a broad range of cognitive abilities. It is conceivable that if robots were able to adequately demonstrate these skills, humans would eventually accept them as social companions. We argue that the best way to achieve this is using a systematic experimental approach based on behavioral and physiological neuroscience methods such as motion/eye-tracking, electroencephalography, or functional near-infrared spectroscopy embedded in interactive human-robot paradigms. This approach requires understanding how humans interact with each other, how they perform tasks together and how they develop feelings of social connection over time, and using these insights to formulate design principles that make social robots attuned to the workings of the human brain. In this review, we put forward the argument that the likelihood of artificial agents being perceived as social companions can be increased by designing them in a way that they are perceived as intentional agents that activate areas in the human brain involved in social-cognitive processing. We first review literature related to social-cognitive processes and mechanisms involved in human-human interactions, and highlight the importance of perceiving others as intentional agents to activate these social brain areas. We then discuss how attribution of intentionality can positively affect human-robot interaction by (a) fostering feelings of social connection, empathy and prosociality, and by (b) enhancing performance on joint human-robot tasks. Lastly, we describe circumstances under which attribution of intentionality to robot agents might be disadvantageous, and discuss challenges associated with designing social robots that are inspired by neuroscientific principles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Wiese
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States
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40
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The heaviness of invisible objects: Predictive weight judgments from observed real and pantomimed grasps. Cognition 2017; 168:140-145. [PMID: 28675815 PMCID: PMC5585416 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.06.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2017] [Revised: 06/21/2017] [Accepted: 06/22/2017] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Observation of others' actions has been proposed to provide a shared experience of the properties of objects acted upon. We report results that suggest a similar form of shared experience may be gleaned from the observation of pantomimed grasps, i.e., grasps aimed at pretended objects. In a weight judgment task, participants were asked to observe a hand reaching towards and grasping either a real or imagined glass, and to predictively judge its weight. Results indicate that participants were able to discriminate whether the to-be-grasped glass was empty, and thus light, or full, and thus heavy. Worthy of further investigation, this finding suggests that by observing others' movements we can make predictions, and form expectations about the characteristics of objects that exist only in others' minds.
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41
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State-Dependent TMS Reveals Representation of Affective Body Movements in the Anterior Intraparietal Cortex. J Neurosci 2017. [PMID: 28642285 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0913-17.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In humans, recognition of others' actions involves a cortical network that comprises, among other cortical regions, the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), where biological motion is coded and the anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS), where movement information is elaborated in terms of meaningful goal-directed actions. This action observation system (AOS) is thought to encode neutral voluntary actions, and possibly some aspects of affective motor repertoire, but the role of the AOS' areas in processing affective kinematic information has never been examined. Here we investigated whether the AOS plays a role in representing dynamic emotional bodily expressions. In the first experiment, we assessed behavioral adaptation effects of observed affective movements. Participants watched series of happy or fearful whole-body point-light displays (PLDs) as adapters and were then asked to perform an explicit categorization of the emotion expressed in test PLDs. Participants were slower when categorizing any of the two emotions as long as it was congruent with the emotion in the adapter sequence. We interpreted this effect as adaptation to the emotional content of PLDs. In the second experiment, we combined this paradigm with TMS applied over either the right aIPS, pSTS, and the right half of the occipital pole (corresponding to Brodmann's area 17 and serving as control) to examine the neural locus of the adaptation effect. TMS over the aIPS (but not over the other sites) reversed the behavioral cost of adaptation, specifically for fearful contents. This demonstrates that aIPS contains an explicit representation of affective body movements.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In humans, a network of areas, the action observation system, encodes voluntary actions. However, the role of these brain regions in processing affective kinematic information has not been investigated. Here we demonstrate that the aIPS contains a representation of affective body movements. First, in a behavioral experiment, we found an adaptation after-effect for emotional PLDs, indicating the existence of a neural representation selective for affective information in biological motion. To examine the neural locus of this effect, we then combined the adaptation paradigm with TMS. Stimulation of the aIPS (but not over pSTS and control site) reversed the behavioral cost of adaptation, specifically for fearful contents, demonstrating that aIPS contains a representation of affective body movements.
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Betti S, Castiello U, Guerra S, Sartori L. Overt orienting of spatial attention and corticospinal excitability during action observation are unrelated. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0173114. [PMID: 28319191 PMCID: PMC5358745 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2016] [Accepted: 02/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Observing moving body parts can automatically activate topographically corresponding motor representations in the primary motor cortex (M1), the so-called direct matching. Novel neurophysiological findings from social contexts are nonetheless proving that this process is not automatic as previously thought. The motor system can flexibly shift from imitative to incongruent motor preparation, when requested by a social gesture. In the present study we aim to bring an increase in the literature by assessing whether and how diverting overt spatial attention might affect motor preparation in contexts requiring interactive responses from the onlooker. Experiment 1 shows that overt attention—although anchored to an observed biological movement—can be captured by a target object as soon as a social request for it becomes evident. Experiment 2 reveals that the appearance of a short-lasting red dot in the contralateral space can divert attention from the target, but not from the biological movement. Nevertheless, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over M1 combined with electromyography (EMG) recordings (Experiment 3) indicates that attentional interference reduces corticospinal excitability related to the observed movement, but not motor preparation for a complementary action on the target. This work provides evidence that social motor preparation is impermeable to attentional interference and that a double dissociation is present between overt orienting of spatial attention and neurophysiological markers of action observation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Betti
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Umberto Castiello
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
- Centro Beniamino Segre, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma, Italy
| | - Silvia Guerra
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Luisa Sartori
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
- * E-mail:
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Avenanti A, Paracampo R, Annella L, Tidoni E, Aglioti SM. Boosting and Decreasing Action Prediction Abilities Through Excitatory and Inhibitory tDCS of Inferior Frontal Cortex. Cereb Cortex 2017; 28:1282-1296. [PMID: 28334143 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhx041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Avenanti
- Department of Psychology and Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Riccardo Paracampo
- Department of Psychology and Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena, Italy
| | - Laura Annella
- Department of Psychology and Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena, Italy
| | - Emmanuele Tidoni
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy
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Valchev N, Tidoni E, Hamilton AFDC, Gazzola V, Avenanti A. Primary somatosensory cortex necessary for the perception of weight from other people's action: A continuous theta-burst TMS experiment. Neuroimage 2017; 152:195-206. [PMID: 28254507 PMCID: PMC5440175 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.02.075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2016] [Revised: 02/10/2017] [Accepted: 02/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The presence of a network of areas in the parietal and premotor cortices, which are active both during action execution and observation, suggests that we might understand the actions of other people by activating those motor programs for making similar actions. Although neurophysiological and imaging studies show an involvement of the somatosensory cortex (SI) during action observation and execution, it is unclear whether SI is essential for understanding the somatosensory aspects of observed actions. To address this issue, we used off-line transcranial magnetic continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) just before a weight judgment task. Participants observed the right hand of an actor lifting a box and estimated its relative weight. In counterbalanced sessions, we delivered sham and active cTBS over the hand region of the left SI and, to test anatomical specificity, over the left motor cortex (M1) and the left superior parietal lobule (SPL). Active cTBS over SI, but not over M1 or SPL, impaired task performance relative to sham cTBS. Moreover, active cTBS delivered over SI just before participants were asked to evaluate the weight of a bouncing ball did not alter performance compared to sham cTBS. These findings indicate that SI is critical for extracting somatosensory features (heavy/light) from observed action kinematics and suggest a prominent role of SI in action understanding. TMS over the somatosensory cortex disrupts performance on a weight judgment task. Disruption is specific for judgements based on observed human actions. No TMS effect is found for judgements based on observed non-human motion. No effect is found when TMS is administered over nearby frontal and parietal region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikola Valchev
- BCN Neuroimaging Centre, Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, CMHC S110, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06519, USA
| | - Emmanuele Tidoni
- Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Campus Cesena, 47521 Cesena, Italyhe somatosensory aspects of the actions of others rem; IRCSS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Antonia F de C Hamilton
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Valeria Gazzola
- BCN Neuroimaging Centre, Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, An Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129 B, 1001 NK Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Campus Cesena, 47521 Cesena, Italyhe somatosensory aspects of the actions of others rem; IRCSS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy.
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Wakita M. Interaction between Perceived Action and Music Sequences in the Left Prefrontal Area. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 10:656. [PMID: 28082884 PMCID: PMC5186772 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2016] [Accepted: 12/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Observing another person's piano play and listening to a melody interact with the observer's execution of piano play. This interaction is thought to occur because the execution of musical-action and the perception of both musical-action and musical-sound share a common representation in which the frontoparietal network is involved. However, it is unclear whether the perceptions of observed piano play and listened musical sound use a common neural resource. The present study used near-infrared spectroscopy to determine whether the interaction between the perception of musical-action and musical-sound sequences appear in the left prefrontal area. Measurements were obtained while participants watched videos that featured hands playing familiar melodies on a piano keyboard. Hand movements were paired with either a congruent or an incongruent melody. Two groups of participants (nine well-trained and nine less-trained) were instructed to identify the melody according to hand movements and to ignore the accompanying auditory track. Increased cortical activation was detected in the well-trained participants when hand movements were paired with incongruent melodies. Therefore, an interference effect was detected regarding the processing of action and sound sequences, indicating that musical-action sequences may be perceived with a representation that is also used for the perception of musical-sound sequences. However, in less-trained participants, such a contrast was not detected between conditions despite both groups featuring comparable key-touch reading abilities. Therefore, the current results imply that the left prefrontal area is involved in translating temporally structured sequences between domains. Additionally, expertise may be a crucial factor underlying this translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masumi Wakita
- Department of Neuroscience, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University Inuyama, Japan
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Cook J. From movement kinematics to social cognition: the case of autism. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 371:rstb.2015.0372. [PMID: 27069049 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The way in which we move influences our ability to perceive, interpret and predict the actions of others. Thus movements play an important role in social cognition. This review article will appraise the literature concerning movement kinematics and motor control in individuals with autism, and will argue that movement differences between typical and autistic individuals may contribute to bilateral difficulties in reciprocal social cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Cook
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK
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Palmer CE, Bunday KL, Davare M, Kilner JM. A Causal Role for Primary Motor Cortex in Perception of Observed Actions. J Cogn Neurosci 2016; 28:2021-2029. [PMID: 27458752 PMCID: PMC5348015 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
It has been proposed that motor system activity during action observation may be modulated by the kinematics of observed actions. One purpose of this activity during action observation may be to predict the visual consequence of another person's action based on their movement kinematics. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the primary motor cortex (M1) may have a causal role in inferring information that is present in the kinematics of observed actions. Healthy participants completed an action perception task before and after applying continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over left M1. A neurophysiological marker was used to quantify the extent of M1 disruption following cTBS and stratify our sample a priori to provide an internal control. We found that a disruption to M1 caused a reduction in an individual's sensitivity to interpret the kinematics of observed actions; the magnitude of suppression of motor excitability predicted this change in sensitivity.
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Jacquet PO, Roy AC, Chambon V, Borghi AM, Salemme R, Farnè A, Reilly KT. Changing ideas about others' intentions: updating prior expectations tunes activity in the human motor system. Sci Rep 2016; 6:26995. [PMID: 27243157 PMCID: PMC4886635 DOI: 10.1038/srep26995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2015] [Accepted: 05/10/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Predicting intentions from observing another agent's behaviours is often thought to depend on motor resonance - i.e., the motor system's response to a perceived movement by the activation of its stored motor counterpart, but observers might also rely on prior expectations, especially when actions take place in perceptually uncertain situations. Here we assessed motor resonance during an action prediction task using transcranial magnetic stimulation to probe corticospinal excitability (CSE) and report that experimentally-induced updates in observers' prior expectations modulate CSE when predictions are made under situations of perceptual uncertainty. We show that prior expectations are updated on the basis of both biomechanical and probabilistic prior information and that the magnitude of the CSE modulation observed across participants is explained by the magnitude of change in their prior expectations. These findings provide the first evidence that when observers predict others' intentions, motor resonance mechanisms adapt to changes in their prior expectations. We propose that this adaptive adjustment might reflect a regulatory control mechanism that shares some similarities with that observed during action selection. Such a mechanism could help arbitrate the competition between biomechanical and probabilistic prior information when appropriate for prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre O. Jacquet
- Evolution and Social Cognition Group, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (LNC), Département d’Etudes Cognitives, INSERM U960, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, F-75005 Paris, France
- Evolution and Social Cognition Group, Institut Jean Nicod, Département d’Etudes Cognitives, CNRS UMR8129, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Alice C. Roy
- Dynamique Du Langage, CNRS UMR 5596, University Lumières Lyon II, 69363 Lyon, France
| | - Valérian Chambon
- Evolution and Social Cognition Group, Institut Jean Nicod, Département d’Etudes Cognitives, CNRS UMR8129, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, F-75005 Paris, France
- Department of Neuroscience, Biotech Campus-University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Anna M. Borghi
- Department of Psychology, Bologna University, 40127 Bologna, Italy
- Institute of Sciences and Technologies of Cognition, CNR, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Roméo Salemme
- ImpAct Team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center CRNL, INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, & Hospices Civils de Lyon, Neuro-immersion & Mouvement et Handicap, 69675 Bron, France
- University Claude Bernard Lyon I, 69100 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Alessandro Farnè
- ImpAct Team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center CRNL, INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, & Hospices Civils de Lyon, Neuro-immersion & Mouvement et Handicap, 69675 Bron, France
- University Claude Bernard Lyon I, 69100 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Karen T. Reilly
- ImpAct Team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center CRNL, INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, & Hospices Civils de Lyon, Neuro-immersion & Mouvement et Handicap, 69675 Bron, France
- University Claude Bernard Lyon I, 69100 Villeurbanne, France
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Cazzato V, Mele S, Urgesi C. Different contributions of visual and motor brain areas during liking judgments of same- and different-gender bodies. Brain Res 2016; 1646:98-108. [PMID: 27235869 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2016.05.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2015] [Revised: 05/17/2016] [Accepted: 05/25/2016] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that body aesthetic appreciation involves the activation of both visual and motor areas, supporting a role of sensorimotor embodiment in aesthetic processing. Causative evidence, however, that neural activity in these areas is crucial for reliable aesthetic body appreciation has so far provided only for extrastriate body area (EBA), while the functional role played by premotor regions remained less clear. Here, we applied short trains of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over bilateral dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC) and EBA during liking judgments of female and male bodies varying in weight and implied motion. We found that both dPMC and EBA are necessary for aesthetic body appreciation, but their relative contribution depends on the model's gender. While dPMC-rTMS decreased the liking judgments of same-, but not of different-gender models, EBA-rTMS increased the liking judgments of different-, but not of same-gender models. Relative contributions of motor and visual areas may reflect processing of diverse aesthetic properties, respectively implied motion vs. body form, and/or greater sensorimotor embodiment of same- vs. different-gender bodies. Results suggest that aesthetic body processing is subserved by a network of motor and visual areas, whose relative contribution may depend on the specific stimulus and task.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Cazzato
- Dipartimento di Lingue e letterature, Comunicazione, Formazione e Società, Università di Udine, Udine, Italy; Scientific Institute (IRCCS) Eugenio Medea, Polo Friuli Venezia Giulia, San Vito al tagliamento, Pordenone, Italy; School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
| | - S Mele
- Dipartimento di Lingue e letterature, Comunicazione, Formazione e Società, Università di Udine, Udine, Italy; Scientific Institute (IRCCS) Eugenio Medea, Polo Friuli Venezia Giulia, San Vito al tagliamento, Pordenone, Italy
| | - C Urgesi
- Dipartimento di Lingue e letterature, Comunicazione, Formazione e Società, Università di Udine, Udine, Italy; Scientific Institute (IRCCS) Eugenio Medea, Polo Friuli Venezia Giulia, San Vito al tagliamento, Pordenone, Italy; School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, UK.
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Paloyelis Y, Doyle OM, Zelaya FO, Maltezos S, Williams SC, Fotopoulou A, Howard MA. A Spatiotemporal Profile of In Vivo Cerebral Blood Flow Changes Following Intranasal Oxytocin in Humans. Biol Psychiatry 2016; 79:693-705. [PMID: 25499958 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 126] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2013] [Revised: 08/21/2014] [Accepted: 10/07/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Animal and human studies highlight the role of oxytocin in social cognition and behavior and the potential of intranasal oxytocin (IN-OT) to treat social impairment in individuals with neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism. However, extensive efforts to evaluate the central actions and therapeutic efficacy of IN-OT may be marred by the absence of data regarding its temporal dynamics and sites of action in the living human brain. METHODS In a placebo-controlled study, we used arterial spin labeling to measure IN-OT-induced changes in resting regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 32 healthy men. Volunteers were blinded regarding the nature of the compound they received. The rCBF data were acquired 15 min before and up to 78 min after onset of treatment onset (40 IU of IN-OT or placebo). The data were analyzed using mass univariate and multivariate pattern recognition techniques. RESULTS We obtained robust evidence delineating an oxytocinergic network comprising regions expected to express oxytocin receptors, based on histologic evidence, and including core regions of the brain circuitry underpinning social cognition and emotion processing. Pattern recognition on rCBF maps indicated that IN-OT-induced changes were sustained over the entire posttreatment observation interval (25-78 min) and consistent with a pharmacodynamic profile showing a peak response at 39-51 min. CONCLUSIONS Our study provides the first visualization and quantification of IN-OT-induced changes in rCBF in the living human brain unaffected by cognitive, affective, or social manipulations. Our findings can inform theoretical and mechanistic models regarding IN-OT effects on typical and atypical social behavior and guide future experiments (e.g., regarding the timing of experimental manipulations).
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Affiliation(s)
- Yannis Paloyelis
- Departments of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London.
| | - Orla M Doyle
- Departments of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London
| | - Fernando O Zelaya
- Departments of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London
| | - Stefanos Maltezos
- Departments of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London
| | - Steven C Williams
- Departments of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London
| | - Aikaterini Fotopoulou
- Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew A Howard
- Departments of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London
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