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Turrini S, Fiori F, Bevacqua N, Saracini C, Lucero B, Candidi M, Avenanti A. Spike-timing-dependent plasticity induction reveals dissociable supplementary- and premotor-motor pathways to automatic imitation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2404925121. [PMID: 38917006 PMCID: PMC11228524 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2404925121] [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: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Humans tend to spontaneously imitate others' behavior, even when detrimental to the task at hand. The action observation network (AON) is consistently recruited during imitative tasks. However, whether automatic imitation is mediated by cortico-cortical projections from AON regions to the primary motor cortex (M1) remains speculative. Similarly, the potentially dissociable role of AON-to-M1 pathways involving the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) or supplementary motor area (SMA) in automatic imitation is unclear. Here, we used cortico-cortical paired associative stimulation (ccPAS) to enhance or hinder effective connectivity in PMv-to-M1 and SMA-to-M1 pathways via Hebbian spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) to test their functional relevance to automatic and voluntary motor imitation. ccPAS affected behavior under competition between task rules and prepotent visuomotor associations underpinning automatic imitation. Critically, we found dissociable effects of manipulating the strength of the two pathways. While strengthening PMv-to-M1 projections enhanced automatic imitation, weakening them hindered it. On the other hand, strengthening SMA-to-M1 projections reduced automatic imitation but also reduced interference from task-irrelevant cues during voluntary imitation. Our study demonstrates that driving Hebbian STDP in AON-to-M1 projections induces opposite effects on automatic imitation that depend on the targeted pathway. Our results provide direct causal evidence of the functional role of PMv-to-M1 projections for automatic imitation, seemingly involved in spontaneously mirroring observed actions and facilitating the tendency to imitate them. Moreover, our findings support the notion that SMA exerts an opposite gating function, controlling M1 to prevent overt motor behavior when inadequate to the context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Turrini
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia “Renzo Canestrari”, Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521Cesena, Italy
| | - Francesca Fiori
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia “Renzo Canestrari”, Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521Cesena, Italy
- Neurophysiology and Neuroengineering of Human-Technology Interaction Research Unit, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, 00128Roma, Italy
| | - Naomi Bevacqua
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia “Renzo Canestrari”, Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521Cesena, Italy
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185Roma, Italy
| | - Chiara Saracini
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica Del Maule, 3460000Talca, Chile
| | - Boris Lucero
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica Del Maule, 3460000Talca, Chile
| | - Matteo Candidi
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185Roma, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia “Renzo Canestrari”, Campus di Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 47521Cesena, Italy
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica Del Maule, 3460000Talca, Chile
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Yu Y, Zhang X, Nitsche MA, Vicario CM, Qi F. Does a single session of transcranial direct current stimulation enhance both physical and psychological performance in national- or international-level athletes? A systematic review. Front Physiol 2024; 15:1365530. [PMID: 38962069 PMCID: PMC11220198 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1365530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 07/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Some studies showed that a single session of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has the potential of modulating motor performance in healthy and athletes. To our knowledge, previously published systematic reviews have neither comprehensively investigated the effects of tDCS on athletic performance in both physical and psychological parameters nor investigated the effects of tDCS on high-level athletes. We examined all available research testing a single session of tDCS on strength, endurance, sport-specific performance, emotional states and cognitive performance for better application in competition and pre-competition trainings of national- or international-level athletes. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, Embase, and Scopus up until to June 2023. Studies were eligible when participants had sports experience at a minimum of state and national level competitions, underwent a single session of tDCS without additional interventions, and received either sham tDCS or no interventions in the control groups. A total of 20 experimental studies (224 participants) were included from 18 articles. The results showed that a single tDCS session improved both physical and psychological parameters in 12 out of the 18 studies. Of these, six refer to the application of tDCS on the motor system (motor cortex, premotor cortex, cerebellum), five on dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and two on temporal cortex. The most sensitive to tDCS are strength, endurance, and emotional states, improved in 67%, 75%, and 75% of studies, respectively. Less than half of the studies showed improvement in sport-specific tasks (40%) and cognitive performance (33%). We suggest that tDCS is an effective tool that can be applied to competition and pre-competition training to improve athletic performance in national- or international-level athletes. Further research would explore various parameters (type of sports, brain regions, stimulation protocol, athlete level, and test tasks) and neural mechanistic studies in improving efficacy of tDCS interventions. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022326989, identifier CRD42022326989.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Yu
- Key Laboratory of Sport Training of General Administration of Sport of China, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
- Sports, Exercise and Brain Sciences Laboratory, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
| | - Xinbi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Sport Training of General Administration of Sport of China, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
- Sports, Exercise and Brain Sciences Laboratory, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
| | - Michael A. Nitsche
- Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
- University Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and University Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Protestant Hospital of Bethel Foundation, University Hospital OWL, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Carmelo M. Vicario
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychology, Education and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Fengxue Qi
- Key Laboratory of Sport Training of General Administration of Sport of China, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
- Sports, Exercise and Brain Sciences Laboratory, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
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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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Sacheli LM, Diana L, Ravani A, Beretta S, Bolognini N, Paulesu E. Neuromodulation of the Left Inferior Frontal Cortex Affects Social Monitoring during Motor Interactions. J Cogn Neurosci 2023; 35:1788-1805. [PMID: 37677055 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
Motor interactions require observing and monitoring a partner's performance as the interaction unfolds. Studies in monkeys suggest that this form of social monitoring might be mediated by the activity of the ventral premotor cortex (vPMc), a critical brain region in action observation and motor planning. Our previous fMRI studies in humans showed that the left vPMc is indeed recruited during social monitoring, but its causal role is unexplored. In three experiments, we applied online anodal or cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation over the left lateral frontal cortex during a music-like interactive task to test the hypothesis that neuromodulation of the left vPMc affects participants' performance when a partner violates the agent's expectations. Participants played short musical sequences together with a virtual partner by playing one note each in turn-taking. In 50% of the trials, the partner violated the participant's expectations by generating the correct note through an unexpected movement. During sham stimulation, the partner's unexpected behavior led to a slowdown in the participant's performance (observation-induced posterror slowing). A significant interaction with the stimulation type showed that cathodal and anodal transcranial direct current stimulation induced modulation of the observation-induced posterror slowing in opposite directions by reducing or enhancing it, respectively. Cathodal stimulation significantly reduced the effect compared to sham stimulation. No effect of neuromodulation was found when the partner behaved as expected or when the observed violation occurred within a context that was perceptually matched but noninteractive in nature. These results provide evidence for the critical causal role that the left vPMc might play in social monitoring during motor interactions, possibly through the interplay with other brain regions in the posterior medial frontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Nadia Bolognini
- University of Milano-Bicocca
- IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano
| | - Eraldo Paulesu
- University of Milano-Bicocca
- IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Italy
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Vannuscorps G, Caramazza A. Effector-specific motor simulation supplements core action recognition processes in adverse conditions. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:nsad046. [PMID: 37688518 PMCID: PMC10576201 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Revised: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Observing other people acting activates imitative motor plans in the observer. Whether, and if so when and how, such 'effector-specific motor simulation' contributes to action recognition remains unclear. We report that individuals born without upper limbs (IDs)-who cannot covertly imitate upper-limb movements-are significantly less accurate at recognizing degraded (but not intact) upper-limb than lower-limb actions (i.e. point-light animations). This finding emphasizes the need to reframe the current controversy regarding the role of effector-specific motor simulation in action recognition: instead of focusing on the dichotomy between motor and non-motor theories, the field would benefit from new hypotheses specifying when and how effector-specific motor simulation may supplement core action recognition processes to accommodate the full variety of action stimuli that humans can recognize.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gilles Vannuscorps
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Place Cardinal Mercier 10, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, Avenue E. Mounier 53, Brussels 1200, Belgium
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Kirkland Street 33, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Alfonso Caramazza
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Kirkland Street 33, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- CIMEC (Center for Mind-Brain Sciences), University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, Mattarello TN 38123, Italy
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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: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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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Turrini S, Fiori F, Chiappini E, Lucero B, Santarnecchi E, Avenanti A. Cortico-cortical paired associative stimulation (ccPAS) over premotor-motor areas affects local circuitries in the human motor cortex via Hebbian plasticity. Neuroimage 2023; 271:120027. [PMID: 36925088 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Revised: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies have shown that cortico-cortical paired associative stimulation (ccPAS) can strengthen connectivity between the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) and the primary motor cortex (M1) by modulating convergent input over M1 via Hebbian spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). However, whether ccPAS locally affects M1 activity remains unclear. We tested 60 right-handed young healthy humans in two studies, using a combination of dual coil TMS and ccPAS over the left PMv and M1 to probe and manipulate PMv-to-M1 connectivity, and single- and paired-pulse TMS to assess neural activity within M1. We provide convergent evidence that ccPAS, relying on repeated activations of excitatory PMv-to-M1 connections, acts locally over M1. During ccPAS, motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) induced by paired PMv-M1 stimulation gradually increased. Following ccPAS, the threshold for inducing MEPs of different amplitudes decreased, and the input-output curve (IO) slope increased, highlighting increased M1 corticospinal excitability. Moreover, ccPAS reduced the magnitude of short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), reflecting suppression of GABA-ergic interneuronal mechanisms within M1, without affecting intracortical facilitation (ICF). These changes were specific to ccPAS Hebbian strengthening of PMv-to-M1 connectivity, as no modulations were observed when reversing the order of the PMv-M1 stimulation during a control ccPAS protocol. These findings expand prior ccPAS research that focused on the malleability of cortico-cortical connectivity at the network-level, and highlight local changes in the area of convergent activation (i.e., M1) during plasticity induction. These findings provide new mechanistic insights into the physiological basis of ccPAS that are relevant for protocol optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Turrini
- Centro studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena 47521, Italy; Precision Neuroscience & Neuromodulation Program, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, United States.
| | - Francesca Fiori
- Centro studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena 47521, Italy; NeXT: Neurophysiology and Neuro-Engineering of Human-Technology Interaction Research Unit, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome 00128, Italy
| | - Emilio Chiappini
- Centro studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena 47521, Italy; Institut für Klinische und Gesundheitspsychologie, Universität Wien, Vienna 1010, Austria
| | - Boris Lucero
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas (CINPSI Neurocog), Universidad Católica Del Maule, Talca 346000, Chile
| | - Emiliano Santarnecchi
- Precision Neuroscience & Neuromodulation Program, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, United States
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena 47521, Italy; Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas (CINPSI Neurocog), Universidad Católica Del Maule, Talca 346000, Chile.
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8
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Sacheli LM, Verga C, Zapparoli L, Seghezzi S, Tomasetig G, Banfi G, Paulesu E. When action prediction grows old: An fMRI study. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 44:373-387. [PMID: 35997233 PMCID: PMC9842895 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Predicting the unfolding of others' actions (action prediction) is crucial for successfully navigating the social world and interacting efficiently. Age-related changes in this domain have remained largely unexplored, especially for predictions regarding simple gestures and independent of contextual information or motor expertise. Here, we evaluated whether healthy aging impacts the neurophysiological processes recruited to anticipate, from the observation of implied-motion postures, the correct conclusion of simple grasping and pointing actions. A color-discrimination task served as a control condition to assess the specificity of the age-related effects. Older adults showed reduced efficiency in performance that was yet not specific to the action prediction task. Nevertheless, fMRI results revealed task-specific age-related differences: while both groups showed stronger recruitment of the lateral occipito-temporal cortex bilaterally during the action prediction than the control task, the younger participants additionally showed a higher bilateral engagement of parietal regions. Importantly, in both groups, the recruitment of visuo-motor processes in the right posterior parietal cortex was a predictor of good performance. These results support the hypothesis of decreased involvement of sensorimotor processes in cognitive tasks when processing action- and body-related stimuli in healthy aging. These results have implications for social interaction, which requires the fast reading of others' gestures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Maria Sacheli
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly
| | - Chiara Verga
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly,Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and PsychologySapienza University of RomeRomeItaly
| | - Laura Zapparoli
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly,IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico GaleazziMilanItaly
| | - Silvia Seghezzi
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly
| | - Giulia Tomasetig
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly
| | - Giuseppe Banfi
- IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico GaleazziMilanItaly,San Raffaele Vita e Salute UniversityMilanItaly
| | - Eraldo Paulesu
- Psychology Department and Milan Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of Milano‐BicoccaMilanItaly,IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico GaleazziMilanItaly
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9
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Emuk Y, Kahraman T, Sengul Y. The acute effects of action observation training on upper extremity functions, cognitive processes and reaction times: a randomized controlled trial. J Comp Eff Res 2022; 11:987-998. [PMID: 35770659 DOI: 10.2217/cer-2022-0079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Aim: To investigate the acute effects of action observation training on upper extremity functions, cognitive functions and response time in healthy, young adults. Materials & methods: A total of 60 participants were randomly divided into five groups: the self-action observation group, action observation group, action practice group, non-action observation group and control group. The Jebsen-Taylor hand function test (JTHFT), nine-hole peg test, serial reaction time task and d2 test of attention were applied to the participants before and after the interventions. Results: JTHFT performance with both non-dominant and dominant hands improved significantly compared with baseline in all groups (p < 0.001). JTHFT performance with non-dominant and dominant hands differed between the groups (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Action observation training seems to enhance the performance of upper extremity-related functions. Observing self-actions resulted in statistically significant positive changes in more variables compared with other methods. However, its clinical effectiveness over the other methods should be investigated in future long-term studies. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT04932057 (ClinicalTrials.gov).
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuf Emuk
- Dokuz Eylul University, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Izmir, Turkey.,Izmir Katip Celebi University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Turhan Kahraman
- Izmir Katip Celebi University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Yesim Sengul
- Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Izmir, Turkey
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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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11
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Vitale F, Monti I, Padrón I, Avenanti A, de Vega M. The neural inhibition network is causally involved in the disembodiment effect of linguistic negation. Cortex 2021; 147:72-82. [PMID: 35026556 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.11.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Negation applied to action contexts reduces the activation of the motor system. According to the Reusing Inhibition for Negation (RIN) hypothesis, such "disembodiment" effect occurs because understanding negations engages the reuse of inhibitory control mechanisms. Here, we investigated whether the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) - a key area of the inhibitory control system - contributes to primary motor cortex (M1) processing of negated action-sentences. Using a perturb-and-measure paradigm, we applied off-line low-frequency repetitive TMS (rTMS) over the rIFG, before performing a reading task involving action and attentional sentences presented in both affirmative or negative form. During the reading task, motor excitability was assessed by recording motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) induced by single-pulse TMS (spTMS) over the left M1, at two loci in the sentence: the verb or the object. Results show that after sham stimulation (baseline), motor excitability measured on the verb, was reduced for negative, compared to affirmative action sentences. Crucially, neuromodulation of rIFG suppressed this inhibitory effect of negation, since motor excitability was equaled for negative and affirmative action sentences. As expected, no effect of negation was observed for attentional sentences or when the pulse was delivered over the object. Our study confirms that understanding negative action sentences inhibits M1. This effect took place at an early stage of semantic processing (i.e., while processing the verb in our task), and faded at a later time-point. Critically, by highlighting a causal role of rIFG in this motor inhibition, we provide direct neurophysiological support to the RIN hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Vitale
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
| | - Ilaria Monti
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Iván Padrón
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Dipartimento di Psicologia and Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscience Cognitive, Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena Cesena, Italy; Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica Del Maule Talca, Chile
| | - Manuel de Vega
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
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12
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Sacheli LM, Arcangeli E, Carioti D, Butterfill S, Berlingeri M. Taking apart what brings us together: The role of action prediction, perspective-taking, and theory of mind in joint action. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2021; 75:1228-1243. [PMID: 34609238 DOI: 10.1177/17470218211050198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The ability to act together with others to achieve common goals is crucial in life, yet there is no full consensus on the underlying cognitive skills. While influential theoretical accounts suggest that interaction requires sophisticated insights into others' minds, alternative views propose that high-level social skills might not be necessary because interactions are grounded on sensorimotor predictive mechanisms. At present, empirical evidence is insufficient to decide between the two. This study addressed this issue and explored the association between performance at joint action tasks and cognitive abilities in three domains-action prediction, perspective-taking, and theory of mind-in healthy adults (N = 58). We found that, while perspective-taking played a role in reading the behaviour of others independently of the social context, action prediction abilities specifically influenced the agents' performance in an interactive task but not in a control (social but non-interactive) task. In our study, performance at a theory of mind test did not play any role, as confirmed by Bayesian analyses. The results suggest that, in adults, sensorimotor predictive mechanisms might play a significant and specific role in supporting interpersonal coordination during motor interactions. We discuss the implications of our findings for the contrasting theoretical views described earlier and propose a way they might be partly reconciled.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Maria Sacheli
- Department of Psychology and Milan Center for Neuroscience (NeuroMi), University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Elisa Arcangeli
- Department of Humanistic Studies (DISTUM), University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| | - Desiré Carioti
- Department of Humanistic Studies (DISTUM), University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| | | | - Manuela Berlingeri
- Department of Humanistic Studies (DISTUM), University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy.,Center of Developmental Neuropsychology, ASUR Marche, Pesaro, Italy
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13
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Differential Influence of the Dorsal Premotor and Primary Somatosensory Cortex on Corticospinal Excitability during Kinesthetic and Visual Motor Imagery: A Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11091196. [PMID: 34573217 PMCID: PMC8465986 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11091196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Consistent evidence suggests that motor imagery involves the activation of several sensorimotor areas also involved during action execution, including the dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC) and the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). However, it is still unclear whether their involvement is specific for either kinesthetic or visual imagery or whether they contribute to motor activation for both modalities. Although sensorial experience during motor imagery is often multimodal, identifying the modality exerting greater facilitation of the motor system may allow optimizing the functional outcomes of rehabilitation interventions. In a sample of healthy adults, we combined 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to suppress neural activity of the dPMC, S1, and primary motor cortex (M1) with single-pulse TMS over M1 for measuring cortico-spinal excitability (CSE) during kinesthetic and visual motor imagery of finger movements as compared to static imagery conditions. We found that rTMS over both dPMC and S1, but not over M1, modulates the muscle-specific facilitation of CSE during kinesthetic but not during visual motor imagery. Furthermore, dPMC rTMS suppressed the facilitation of CSE, whereas S1 rTMS boosted it. The results highlight the differential pattern of cortico-cortical connectivity within the sensorimotor system during the mental simulation of the kinesthetic and visual consequences of actions.
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14
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Gold J, Ciorciari J. Impacts of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on the Action Observation Network and Sports Anticipation Task. JOURNAL OF SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 43:310-322. [PMID: 34140423 DOI: 10.1123/jsep.2020-0109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2020] [Revised: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Effective anticipation skills in sporting cognition have been shown to facilitate expertise in sports. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has shown to improve motor and cognitive functioning. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the assistive effects of tDCS on the action observer network in both novice and expert gamers during an occlusion task, as well as the related electroencephalographic spectral power response. Twenty-three novice and 23 expert video gamers received either sham or active tDCS with a right parietal anode and left frontal cathode. Only experts demonstrated a significant improvement in predicting ball direction for the overall and early occlusions after tDCS. Spectral power results revealed significant changes in theta, high-gamma, and delta frequencies. The findings indicate that tDCS was able to modulate anticipatory behavior and cortical activity in experts compared with novice participants, suggesting a facilitatory role for tDCS to improve anticipatory effects and assist as a neurocognitive training technique.
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15
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Breveglieri R, Bosco A, Borgomaneri S, Tessari A, Galletti C, Avenanti A, Fattori P. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Over the Human Medial Posterior Parietal Cortex Disrupts Depth Encoding During Reach Planning. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:267-280. [PMID: 32995831 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Revised: 07/01/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Accumulating evidence supports the view that the medial part of the posterior parietal cortex (mPPC) is involved in the planning of reaching, but while plenty of studies investigated reaching performed toward different directions, only a few studied different depths. Here, we investigated the causal role of mPPC (putatively, human area V6A-hV6A) in encoding depth and direction of reaching. Specifically, we applied single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the left hV6A at different time points while 15 participants were planning immediate, visually guided reaching by using different eye-hand configurations. We found that TMS delivered over hV6A 200 ms after the Go signal affected the encoding of the depth of reaching by decreasing the accuracy of movements toward targets located farther with respect to the gazed position, but only when they were also far from the body. The effectiveness of both retinotopic (farther with respect to the gaze) and spatial position (far from the body) is in agreement with the presence in the monkey V6A of neurons employing either retinotopic, spatial, or mixed reference frames during reach plan. This work provides the first causal evidence of the critical role of hV6A in the planning of visually guided reaching movements in depth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rossella Breveglieri
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Annalisa Bosco
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Center for studies and research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy.,IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Alessia Tessari
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
| | - Claudio Galletti
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Center for studies and research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, Italy.,Center for research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neurosciences, Catholic University of Maule, 3460000 Talca, Chile
| | - Patrizia Fattori
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
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16
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Fiori F, Plow E, Rusconi ML, Cattaneo Z. Modulation of corticospinal excitability during paintings viewing: A TMS study. Neuropsychologia 2020; 149:107664. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Revised: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 10/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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17
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Vitale F, Padrón I, Avenanti A, de Vega M. Enhancing Motor Brain Activity Improves Memory for Action Language: A tDCS Study. Cereb Cortex 2020; 31:1569-1581. [PMID: 33136142 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Revised: 08/17/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The embodied cognition approach to linguistic meaning posits that action language understanding is grounded in sensory-motor systems. However, evidence that the human motor cortex is necessary for action language memory is meager. To address this issue, in two groups of healthy individuals, we perturbed the left primary motor cortex (M1) by means of either anodal or cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), before participants had to memorize lists of manual action and attentional sentences. In each group, participants received sham and active tDCS in two separate sessions. Following anodal tDCS (a-tDCS), participants improved the recall of action sentences compared with sham tDCS. No similar effects were detected following cathodal tDCS (c-tDCS). Both a-tDCS and c-tDCS induced variable changes in motor excitability, as measured by motor-evoked potentials induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Remarkably, across groups, action-specific memory improvements were positively predicted by changes in motor excitability. We provide evidence that excitatory modulation of the motor cortex selectively improves performance in a task requiring comprehension and memory of action sentences. These findings indicate that M1 is necessary for accurate processing of linguistic meanings and thus provide causal evidence that high-order cognitive functions are grounded in the human motor system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Vitale
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 38200, Spain
| | - Iván Padrón
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 38200, Spain
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, Cesena 47521, Italy
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca 3460000, Chile
| | - Manuel de Vega
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 38200, Spain
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18
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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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19
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Hilt PM, Cardellicchio P, Dolfini E, Pozzo T, Fadiga L, D’Ausilio A. Motor Recruitment during Action Observation: Effect of Interindividual Differences in Action Strategy. Cereb Cortex 2020; 30:3910-3920. [PMID: 32043124 PMCID: PMC7264692 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Revised: 11/04/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual processing of other's actions is supported by sensorimotor brain activations. Access to sensorimotor representations may, in principle, provide the top-down signal required to bias search and selection of critical visual features. For this to happen, it is necessary that a stable one-to-one mapping exists between observed kinematics and underlying motor commands. However, due to the inherent redundancy of the human musculoskeletal system, this is hardly the case for multijoint actions where everyone has his own moving style (individual motor signature-IMS). Here, we investigated the influence of subject's IMS on subjects' motor excitability during the observation of an actor achieving the same goal by adopting two different IMSs. Despite a clear dissociation in kinematic and electromyographic patterns between the two actions, we found no group-level modulation of corticospinal excitability (CSE) in observers. Rather, we found a negative relationship between CSE and actor-observer IMS distance, already at the single-subject level. Thus, sensorimotor activity during action observation does not slavishly replicate the motor plan implemented by the actor, but rather reflects the distance between what is canonical according to one's own motor template and the observed movements performed by other individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- P M Hilt
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
| | - P Cardellicchio
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
| | - E Dolfini
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
| | - T Pozzo
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
- INSERMU1093, Universite de Bourgogne Franche-Comte, 21000, Dijon, France
| | - L Fadiga
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
- Section of Human Physiology, Università di Ferrara, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
| | - A D’Ausilio
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
- Section of Human Physiology, Università di Ferrara, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
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20
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Maddaluno O, Guidali G, Zazio A, Miniussi C, Bolognini N. Touch anticipation mediates cross-modal Hebbian plasticity in the primary somatosensory cortex. Cortex 2020; 126:173-181. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Revised: 12/15/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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21
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Motor cortical inhibition during concurrent action execution and action observation. Neuroimage 2020; 208:116445. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2019] [Revised: 11/12/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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22
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Blocking facial mimicry affects recognition of facial and body expressions. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0229364. [PMID: 32078668 PMCID: PMC7032686 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2019] [Accepted: 02/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Facial mimicry is commonly defined as the tendency to imitate-at a sub-threshold level-facial expressions of other individuals. Numerous studies support a role of facial mimicry in recognizing others' emotions. However, the underlying functional mechanism is unclear. A prominent hypothesis considers facial mimicry as based on an action-perception loop, leading to the prediction that facial mimicry should be observed only when processing others' facial expressions. Nevertheless, previous studies have also detected facial mimicry during observation of emotional bodily expressions. An emergent alternative hypothesis is that facial mimicry overtly reflects the simulation of an "emotion", rather than the reproduction of a specific observed motor pattern. In the present study, we tested whether blocking mimicry ("Bite") on the lower face disrupted recognition of happy expressions conveyed by either facial or body expressions. In Experiment 1, we tested participants' ability to identify happy, fearful and neutral expressions in the Bite condition and in two control conditions. In Experiment 2, to ensure that such a manipulation selectively affects emotion recognition, we tested participants' ability to recognize emotional expressions, as well as the actors' gender, under the Bite condition and a control condition. Finally, we investigated the relationship between dispositional empathy and emotion recognition under the condition of blocked mimicry. Our findings demonstrated that blocking mimicry on the lower face hindered recognition of happy facial and body expressions, while the recognition of neutral and fearful expressions was not affected by the mimicry manipulation. The mimicry manipulation did not affect the gender discrimination task. Furthermore, the impairment of happy expression recognition correlated with empathic traits. These results support the role of facial mimicry in emotion recognition and suggest that facial mimicry reflects a global sensorimotor simulation of others' emotions rather than a muscle-specific reproduction of an observed motor expression.
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23
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Pedullà L, Gervasoni E, Bisio A, Biggio M, Ruggeri P, Avanzino L, Bove M. The last chance to pass the ball: investigating the role of temporal expectation and motor resonance in processing temporal errors in motor actions. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2020; 15:123-134. [PMID: 32064526 PMCID: PMC7171376 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2019] [Revised: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/31/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans can acquire information on others' motor outputs (action prediction) and intentions (action understanding) according to their individual motor repertoire and to the detected gesture's features (e.g. temporal patterns). We aimed at dissociating between action prediction and action understanding abilities in soccer players and novices observing soccer action videos including correct timing pass (CTP) or delayed pass (DP). First, we used an occluding paradigm to evaluate participants' ability to predict the correct time to pass the ball. Although soccer players showed reduced reaction times, all subjects showed a similar pattern of performance: during DP observation, responses appeared delayed with respect to the other conditions but anticipated with respect to the observed DP. In a separate experiment, we investigated the ability to recognize CTP vs DP and the modulation of primary motor cortex (M1) excitability associated to video observation. Only soccer players showed selective modulation of M1 according to the plausibility of the observed action, with increased excitability during the observation of the CTP and in a phase preceding the DP. In conclusion, action prediction ability seems to be independent from the individual motor repertoire. By contrast, only subjects with previously acquired sensorimotor skills are able to infer the observed action's long-term intention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ludovico Pedullà
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa 16132, Italy
| | | | - Ambra Bisio
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa 16132, Italy
| | - Monica Biggio
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa 16132, Italy
| | - Piero Ruggeri
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa 16132, Italy
| | - Laura Avanzino
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa 16132, Italy
- IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa 16132, Italy
| | - Marco Bove
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa 16132, Italy
- IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa 16132, Italy
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24
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Hebbian associative plasticity in the visuo-tactile domain: A cross-modal paired associative stimulation protocol. Neuroimage 2019; 201:116025. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Revised: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
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25
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Schmitz J, Bartoli E, Maffongelli L, Fadiga L, Sebastian-Galles N, D’Ausilio A. Motor cortex compensates for lack of sensory and motor experience during auditory speech perception. Neuropsychologia 2019; 128:290-296. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2017] [Revised: 12/18/2017] [Accepted: 01/05/2018] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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26
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Gandolfo M, Era V, Tieri G, Sacheli LM, Candidi M. Interactor's body shape does not affect visuo-motor interference effects during motor coordination. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2019; 196:42-50. [PMID: 30986565 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2018] [Revised: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 04/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The biological-tuning of the Action Observation Network is highly debated. A current open question relates to whether the morphological appearance (body shape) and/or the biological motion of the observed agent triggers action simulation processes. Motor simulation of the partner's action is critical for motor interactions, where two partners coordinate their actions in space and time. It supports interpersonal alignment and facilitates online coordination. However, motor simulation also leads to visuo-motor interference effects when people are required to coordinate with complementary actions, i.e. incongruent movements as compared to the observed ones. Movement kinematics of interactive partners allows us to capture their automatic tendency to simulate and imitate the partner's complementary movements. In an online reach-to-grasp task, we investigated whether visuo-motor interference effects, visible in the kinematics of complementary movements, are modulated by the visual presence of the interactor's body shape. We asked participants to interact with 1) a humanoid agent with a human-like body shape and with real human, biological, movement kinematics, or 2) a non-humanoid agent, which did not resemble the human body-shape but moved with the same real kinematics. Through the combination of inferential and Bayesian statistics, the results show no effect of interactor's body shape on visuo-motor interference in reaching and grasping kinematics during online motor coordination. We discuss the results and propose that the kinematics of the observed movements, during motor interactions, might be the key factor for visuo-motor interference to take place independently from the morphological appearance of the partner. This is particularly relevant in a technological society that constantly asks humans to interact with artificial agents.
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27
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McDonough KL, Hudson M, Bach P. Cues to intention bias action perception toward the most efficient trajectory. Sci Rep 2019; 9:6472. [PMID: 30996227 PMCID: PMC6470138 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-42204-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans interpret others' behaviour as intentional and expect them to take the most energy-efficient path to achieve their goals. Recent studies show that these expectations of efficient action take the form of a prediction of an ideal "reference" trajectory, against which observed actions are evaluated, distorting their perceptual representation towards this expected path. Here we tested whether these predictions depend upon the implied intentionality of the stimulus. Participants saw videos of an actor reaching either efficiently (straight towards an object or arched over an obstacle) or inefficiently (straight towards obstacle or arched over empty space). The hand disappeared mid-trajectory and participants reported the last seen position on a touch-screen. As in prior research, judgments of inefficient actions were biased toward efficiency expectations (straight trajectories upwards to avoid obstacles, arched trajectories downward towards goals). In two further experimental groups, intentionality cues were removed by replacing the hand with a non-agentive ball (group 2), and by removing the action's biological motion profile (group 3). Removing these cues substantially reduced perceptual biases. Our results therefore confirm that the perception of others' actions is guided by expectations of efficient actions, which are triggered by the perception of semantic and motion cues to intentionality.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Matthew Hudson
- University of Plymouth, School of Psychology, Plymouth, PL48AA, UK
- School of Business, National College of Ireland, Mayor Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
| | - Patric Bach
- University of Plymouth, School of Psychology, Plymouth, PL48AA, UK
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28
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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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29
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Fiori F, Chiappini E, Avenanti A. Enhanced action performance following TMS manipulation of associative plasticity in ventral premotor-motor pathway. Neuroimage 2018; 183:847-858. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2017] [Revised: 08/17/2018] [Accepted: 09/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
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30
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Marini M, Banaji MR, Pascual-Leone A. Studying Implicit Social Cognition with Noninvasive Brain Stimulation. Trends Cogn Sci 2018; 22:1050-1066. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2018.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2018] [Revised: 05/15/2018] [Accepted: 07/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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31
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Zanon M, Borgomaneri S, Avenanti A. Action-related dynamic changes in inferior frontal cortex effective connectivity: A TMS/EEG coregistration study. Cortex 2018; 108:193-209. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2017] [Revised: 07/11/2018] [Accepted: 08/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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32
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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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33
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Khalil R, Tindle R, Boraud T, Moustafa AA, Karim AA. Social decision making in autism: On the impact of mirror neurons, motor control, and imitative behaviors. CNS Neurosci Ther 2018; 24:669-676. [PMID: 29963752 PMCID: PMC6055683 DOI: 10.1111/cns.13001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2018] [Revised: 06/02/2018] [Accepted: 06/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The Mirror Neuron System (MNS) plays a crucial role in action perception and imitative behavior, which is suggested to be impaired in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). In this review, we discuss the plausibility and empirical evidence of a neural interaction between the MNS, action perception, empathy, imitative behavior, and their impact on social decision making in ASDs. To date, there is no consensus regarding a particular theory in ASDs and its underlying mechanisms. Some theories have completely focused on social difficulties, others have emphasized sensory aspects. Based on the current studies, we suggest a multilayer neural network model including the MNS on a first layer and transforming this information to a higher layer network responsible for reasoning. Future studies with ASD participants combining behavioral tasks with neuroimaging methods and transcranial brain stimulation as well as computational modeling can help validate and complement this suggested model. Moreover, we propose applying the behavioral paradigms, and the neurophysiological markers mentioned in this review article for evaluating psychiatric treatment approaches in ASDs. The investigation of modulating effects of different treatment approaches on the neurophysiological markers of the MNS can help find specific subgroups of ASDs patients and support tailored psychiatric interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Radwa Khalil
- Department of Psychology and MethodsJacobs University BremenBremenGermany
- Department of Prevention and Health PsychologySRH Mobile UniversityRiedlingenGermany
| | - Richard Tindle
- CanTeenResearch Evaluation and Social PolicySydneyNSWAustralia
| | - Thomas Boraud
- Institute of Neurodegenerative DiseasesCNRS UMR‐5293University of BordeauxBordeauxFrance
| | - Ahmed A. Moustafa
- Marcs Institute for Brain and BehaviorWestern Sydney UniversitySydneyNSWAustralia
| | - Ahmed A. Karim
- Department of Prevention and Health PsychologySRH Mobile UniversityRiedlingenGermany
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyUniversity of TübingenTübingenGermany
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34
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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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35
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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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36
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Ferrari C, Nadal M, Schiavi S, Vecchi T, Cela-Conde CJ, Cattaneo Z. The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex mediates the interaction between moral and aesthetic valuation: a TMS study on the beauty-is-good stereotype. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2018; 12:707-717. [PMID: 28158864 PMCID: PMC5460046 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsx002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2016] [Accepted: 01/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Attractive individuals are perceived as possessing more positive personal traits than unattractive individuals. This reliance on aesthetic features to infer moral character suggests a close link between aesthetic and moral valuation. Here we aimed to investigate the neural underpinnings of the interaction between aesthetic and moral valuation by combining transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with a priming paradigm designed to assess the Beauty-is-Good stereotype. Participants evaluated the trustworthiness of a series of faces (targets), each of which was preceded by an adjective describing desirable, undesirable, or neutral aesthetic qualities (primes). TMS was applied between prime and target to interfere with activity in two regions known to be involved in aesthetic and moral valuation: the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC, a core region in social cognition) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC, critical in decision making). Our results showed that when TMS was applied over vertex (control) and over the dlPFC, participants judged faces as more trustworthy when preceded by positive than by negative aesthetic primes (as also shown in two behavioral experiments). However, when TMS was applied over the dmPFC, primes had no effect on trustworthiness judgments. A second Experiment corroborated this finding. Our results suggest that mPFC plays a causal role linking moral and aesthetic valuation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Ferrari
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Marcos Nadal
- Human Evolution and Cognition Group (EvoCog), University of the Balearic Islands and IFISC, Associated Unit to CSIC, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Susanna Schiavi
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Tomaso Vecchi
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.,Brain Connectivity Center, C. Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy
| | - Camilo J Cela-Conde
- Human Evolution and Cognition Group (EvoCog), University of the Balearic Islands and IFISC, Associated Unit to CSIC, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Zaira Cattaneo
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.,Brain Connectivity Center, C. Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy
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37
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Simon S, Mukamel R. Sensitivity to perception level differentiates two subnetworks within the mirror neuron system. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2018; 12:861-870. [PMID: 28338793 PMCID: PMC5460052 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsx015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2016] [Accepted: 01/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Mirror neurons are a subset of brain cells that discharge during action execution and passive observation of similar actions. An open question concerns the functional role of their ability to match observed and executed actions. Since understanding of goals requires conscious perception of actions, we expect that mirror neurons potentially involved in action goal coding, will be modulated by changes in action perception level. Here, we manipulated perception level of action videos depicting short hand movements and measured the corresponding fMRI BOLD responses in mirror regions. Our results show that activity levels within a network of regions, including the sensorimotor cortex, primary motor cortex, dorsal premotor cortex and posterior superior temporal sulcus, are sensitive to changes in action perception level, whereas activity levels in the inferior frontal gyrus, ventral premotor cortex, supplementary motor area and superior parietal lobule are invariant to such changes. In addition, this parcellation to two sub-networks manifest as smaller functional distances within each group of regions during task and resting state. Our results point to functional differences between regions within the mirror neurons system which may have implications with respect to their possible role in action understanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiri Simon
- Sagol School of Neuroscience and School of Psychological Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Roy Mukamel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience and School of Psychological Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
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38
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Cardellicchio P, Hilt PM, Olivier E, Fadiga L, D'Ausilio A. Early modulation of intra-cortical inhibition during the observation of action mistakes. Sci Rep 2018; 8:1784. [PMID: 29379086 PMCID: PMC5788976 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-20245-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2017] [Accepted: 01/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Errors while performing an action are fundamental for learning. During interaction others' errors must be monitored and taken into account to allow joint action coordination and imitation learning. This monitoring relies on an action observation network (AON) mainly based on parietofrontal recurrent circuits. Although different studies suggest that inappropriate actions may rapidly be inhibited during execution, little is known about the modulation of the AON when an action misstep is shown. Here we used single and paired pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation to assess corticospinal excitability, intracortical facilitation and intracortical inhibition at different time intervals (120, 180, 240 ms) after the visual presentation of a motor execution error. Results show a specific and early (120 ms) decrease of intracortical inhibition likely because of a significant mismatch between the observed erroneous action and observer's expectations. Indeed, as proposed by the top-down predictive framework, the motor system may be involved in the generation of these error signals and our data show that this mechanism could rely on the early decrease of intracortical inhibition within the corticomotor system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pasquale Cardellicchio
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Fossato di Mortara, 17-19, Ferrara, Italy.
| | - Pauline M Hilt
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Fossato di Mortara, 17-19, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Etienne Olivier
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Luciano Fadiga
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Fossato di Mortara, 17-19, Ferrara, Italy
- Section of Human Physiology, Università di Ferrara, Via Fossato di Mortara, 17-19, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Alessandro D'Ausilio
- IIT@UniFe Center for Translational Neurophysiology, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Fossato di Mortara, 17-19, Ferrara, Italy
- Section of Human Physiology, Università di Ferrara, Via Fossato di Mortara, 17-19, Ferrara, Italy
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39
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Ticini LF, Urgesi C, Kotz SA. Modulating Mimetic Preference with Theta Burst Stimulation of the Inferior Parietal Cortex. Front Psychol 2017; 8:2101. [PMID: 29250021 PMCID: PMC5717539 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 11/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We like an object more when we see someone else reaching for it. To what extent is action observation causally linked to object valuation? In this study, we set out to answer to this question by applying continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Previous studies pointed to this region as critical in the representation of others' actions and in tool manipulation. However, it is unclear to what extent IPL's involvement simply reflects action observation, rather than a casual role in objects' valuation. To clarify this issue, we measured cTBS-dependent modulations of participants' “mimetic preference ratings”, i.e., the difference between the ratings of pairs of familiar objects that were (vs. were not) reached out for by other individuals. Our result shows that cTBS increased mimetic preference ratings for tools, when compared to a control condition without stimulation. This effect was selective for items that were reached for or manipulated by another individual, whilst it was not detected in non-tool objects. Although preliminary, this finding suggests that the automatic and covert simulation of an observed action, even when there is no intention to act on an object, influences explicit affective judgments for objects. This work supports embodied cognition theories by substantiating that our subjective preference is grounded in action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca F Ticini
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Biological, Medical and Health Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Cosimo Urgesi
- Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.,Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico "Eugenio Medea", Bosisio Parini, Italy
| | - Sonja A Kotz
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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40
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Vicario CM, Rafal RD, Borgomaneri S, Paracampo R, Kritikos A, Avenanti A. Pictures of disgusting foods and disgusted facial expressions suppress the tongue motor cortex. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2017; 12:352-362. [PMID: 27614770 PMCID: PMC5390717 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsw129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2015] [Accepted: 08/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The tongue holds a unique role in gustatory disgust. However, it is unclear whether the tongue representation in the motor cortex (tM1) is affected by the sight of distaste-related stimuli. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in healthy humans, we recorded tongue motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) as an index of tM1 cortico-hypoglossal excitability. MEPs were recorded while participants viewed pictures associated with gustatory disgust and revulsion (i.e. rotten foods and faces expressing distaste), non-oral-related disgusting stimuli (i.e. invertebrates like worms) and control stimuli. We found that oral-related disgust pictures suppressed tM1 cortico-hypoglossal output. This tM1 suppression was predicted by interindividual differences in disgust sensitivity. No similar suppression was found for disgusting invertebrates or when MEPs were recorded from a control muscle. These findings suggest that revulsion-eliciting food pictures trigger anticipatory inhibition mechanisms, possibly preventing toxin swallowing and contamination. A similar suppression is elicited when viewing distaste expressions, suggesting vicarious motor inhibition during social perception of disgust. Our study suggests an avoidant-defensive mechanism in human cortico-hypoglossal circuits and its ‘resonant’ activation in the vicarious experience of others’ distaste. These findings support a role for the motor system in emotion-driven motor anticipation and social cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmelo M Vicario
- Wolfson Centre for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor Gwynedd LL57 2DG, UK.,School of Psychology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7000, Australia
| | - Robert D Rafal
- Wolfson Centre for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor Gwynedd LL57 2DG, UK
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Department of Psychology and Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena 47521, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma 00179, Italy
| | - Riccardo Paracampo
- Department of Psychology and Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena 47521, Italy
| | - Ada Kritikos
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, McElwain Building, St Lucia Campus, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Department of Psychology and Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena 47521, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma 00179, Italy
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41
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Lagravinese G, Bisio A, De Ferrari AR, Pelosin E, Ruggeri P, Bove M, Avanzino L. An Emotion-Enriched Context Influences the Effect of Action Observation on Cortical Excitability. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:504. [PMID: 29093674 PMCID: PMC5651558 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Observing other people in action activates the “mirror neuron system” that serves for action comprehension and prediction. Recent evidence suggests that this function requires a high level codification triggered not only by components of motor behavior, but also by the environment where the action is embedded. An overlooked component of action perceiving is the one related to the emotional information provided by the context where the observed action takes place. Indeed, whether valence and arousal associated to an emotion might exert an influence on motor system activation during action observation has not been assessed so far. Here, cortico-spinal excitability of the left motor cortex was recorded in three groups of subjects. In the first condition, motor-evoked potential (MEPs) were recorded from a muscle involved in the grasping movement (i.e., abductor pollicis brevis, APB) while participants were watching the same reach-to-grasp movement embedded in contexts with negative emotional valence, but different levels of arousal: sadness (low arousal), and disgust (high arousal) (“Context plus Movement-APB” condition). In the second condition, MEPs were recorded from APB muscle while participants were observing static images representing the contexts in which the movement observed by participants in “Context plus Movement-APB” condition took place (“Context Only-APB” condition). Finally, in the third condition, MEPS were recorded from a muscle not involved in the grasping action, i.e., abductor digiti minimi, ADM, while participants were watching the same videos shown during the “Context plus Movement-APB” condition (“Context plus Movement-ADM” condition). Results showed a greater increase of cortical excitability only during the observation of the hand moving in the context eliciting disgust, and these changes were specific for the muscle involved in the observed action. Our findings show that the emotional context in which a movement occurs modulates motor resonance and that the combination of negative valence/high arousal drives the greater response in the observer’s mirror neuron system in a strictly muscle specific fashion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanna Lagravinese
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Ambra Bisio
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Alessia Raffo De Ferrari
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Elisa Pelosin
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Piero Ruggeri
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marco Bove
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Laura Avanzino
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
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42
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Panasiti MS, Porciello G, Aglioti SM. The bright and the dark sides of motor simulation. Neuropsychologia 2017; 105:92-100. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2017] [Revised: 04/14/2017] [Accepted: 05/18/2017] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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43
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Urgesi C. Chapter 4. Visual and motor components of action anticipation in basketball and soccer. MOVING BODIES IN INTERACTION – INTERACTING BODIES IN MOTION 2017. [DOI: 10.1075/ais.8.04urg] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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44
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Interfering with activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex via TMS affects social impressions updating. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2017; 16:626-34. [PMID: 27012713 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-016-0419-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
In our everyday social interactions we often need to deal with others' unpredictable behaviors. Integrating unexpected information in a consistent representation of another agent is a cognitively demanding process. Several neuroimaging studies point to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) as a critical structure in mediating social evaluations. Our aim here was to shed light on the possible causal role of the mPFC in the dynamic process of forming and updating social impressions about others. We addressed this issue by suppressing activity in the mPFC by means of 1 Hz offline transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) prior to a task requiring participants to evaluate other agents' trustworthiness after reading about their social behavior. In two different experiments, we found that inhibiting activity in the mPFC increased perceived trustworthiness when inconsistent information about one agent's behavior was provided. In turn, when only negative or positive behaviors of a person were described, TMS over the mPFC did not affect judgments. Our results indicate that the mPFC is causally involved in mediating social impressions updating-at least in cases in which judgment is uncertain due to conflicting information to be processed.
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45
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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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46
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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: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [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: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [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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48
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Catching on it early: Bodily and brain anticipatory mechanisms for excellence in sport. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2017; 234:53-67. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2017.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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49
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Fiori F, Chiappini E, Soriano M, Paracampo R, Romei V, Borgomaneri S, Avenanti A. Long-latency modulation of motor cortex excitability by ipsilateral posterior inferior frontal gyrus and pre-supplementary motor area. Sci Rep 2016; 6:38396. [PMID: 27929075 PMCID: PMC5144072 DOI: 10.1038/srep38396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2016] [Accepted: 11/08/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The primary motor cortex (M1) is strongly influenced by several frontal regions. Dual-site transcranial magnetic stimulation (dsTMS) has highlighted the timing of early (<40 ms) prefrontal/premotor influences over M1. Here we used dsTMS to investigate, for the first time, longer-latency causal interactions of the posterior inferior frontal gyrus (pIFG) and pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) with M1 at rest. A suprathreshold test stimulus (TS) was applied over M1 producing a motor-evoked potential (MEP) in the relaxed hand. Either a subthreshold or a suprathreshold conditioning stimulus (CS) was administered over ipsilateral pIFG/pre-SMA sites before the TS at different CS-TS inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs: 40-150 ms). Independently of intensity, CS over pIFG and pre-SMA (but not over a control site) inhibited MEPs at an ISI of 40 ms. The CS over pIFG produced a second peak of inhibition at an ISI of 150 ms. Additionally, facilitatory modulations were found at an ISI of 60 ms, with supra- but not subthreshold CS intensities. These findings suggest differential modulatory roles of pIFG and pre-SMA in M1 excitability. In particular, the pIFG -but not the pre-SMA- exerts intensity-dependent modulatory influences over M1 within the explored time window of 40-150 ms, evidencing fine-tuned control of M1 output.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Fiori
- Dipartimento di Psicologia and Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Campus di Cesena, Università di Bologna 47521 Cesena, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy.,Dipartimento di Psicologia, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Emilio Chiappini
- Dipartimento di Psicologia and Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Campus di Cesena, Università di Bologna 47521 Cesena, Italy
| | - Marco Soriano
- Dipartimento di Psicologia and Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Campus di Cesena, Università di Bologna 47521 Cesena, Italy
| | - Riccardo Paracampo
- Dipartimento di Psicologia and Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Campus di Cesena, Università di Bologna 47521 Cesena, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Romei
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, UK
| | - Sara Borgomaneri
- Dipartimento di Psicologia and Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Campus di Cesena, Università di Bologna 47521 Cesena, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Dipartimento di Psicologia and Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Campus di Cesena, Università di Bologna 47521 Cesena, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
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50
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Action observation: the less-explored part of higher-order vision. Sci Rep 2016; 6:36742. [PMID: 27857160 PMCID: PMC5114682 DOI: 10.1038/srep36742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2016] [Accepted: 10/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Little is presently known about action observation, an important perceptual component of high-level vision. To investigate this aspect of perception, we introduce a two-alternative forced-choice task for observed manipulative actions while varying duration or signal strength by noise injection. We show that accuracy and reaction time in this task can be modeled by a diffusion process for different pairs of action exemplars. Furthermore, discrimination of observed actions is largely viewpoint-independent, cannot be reduced to judgments about the basic components of action: shape and local motion, and requires a minimum duration of about 150–200 ms. These results confirm that action observation is a distinct high-level aspect of visual perception based on temporal integration of visual input generated by moving body parts. This temporal integration distinguishes it from object or scene perception, which require only very brief presentations and are viewpoint-dependent. The applicability of a diffusion model suggests that these aspects of high-level vision differ mainly at the level of the sensory neurons feeding the decision processes.
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