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Chang W, Zhao X, Wang L, Zhou X. Causal role of frontocentral beta oscillation in comprehending linguistic communicative functions. Neuroimage 2024; 300:120853. [PMID: 39270764 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120853] [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: 04/21/2024] [Revised: 08/28/2024] [Accepted: 09/11/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Linguistic communication is often considered as an action serving the function of conveying the speaker's goal to the addressee. Although neuroimaging studies have suggested a role of the motor system in comprehending communicative functions, the underlying mechanism is yet to be specified. Here, by two EEG experiments and a tACS experiment, we demonstrate that the frontocentral beta oscillation, which represents action states, plays a crucial part in linguistic communication understanding. Participants read scripts involving two interlocutors and rated the interlocutors' attitudes. Each script included a critical sentence said by the speaker expressing a context-dependent function of either promise, request, or reply to the addressee's query. These functions were behaviorally discriminated, with higher addressee's will rating for the promise than for the reply and higher speaker's will rating for the request than for the reply. EEG multivariate analyses showed that different communicative functions were represented by different patterns of the frontocentral beta activity but not by patterns of alpha activity. Further tACS results showed that, relative to alpha tACS and sham stimulation, beta tACS improved the predictability of communicative functions of request or reply, as measured by the speaker's will rating. These results convergently suggest a causal role of the frontocentral beta activities in comprehending linguistic communications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenshuo Chang
- Institute of Linguistics, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 201620, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xiaoxi Zhao
- Institute of Linguistics, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Lihui Wang
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 20030, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China; Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology, Shanghai 200125, China.
| | - Xiaolin Zhou
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Key Laboratory of Brain-Machine Intelligence for Information Behavior (Ministry of Education and Shanghai), School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 201620, China.
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Georgiev C, Legrand T, Mongold SJ, Fiedler-Valenta M, Guittard F, Bourguignon M. An open-access database of video stimuli for action observation research in neuroimaging settings: psychometric evaluation and motion characterization. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1407458. [PMID: 39386138 PMCID: PMC11461298 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1407458] [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: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 09/09/2024] [Indexed: 10/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Video presentation has become ubiquitous in paradigms investigating the neural and behavioral responses to observed actions. In spite of the great interest in uncovering the processing of observed bodily movements and actions in neuroscience and cognitive science, at present, no standardized set of video stimuli for action observation research in neuroimaging settings exists. To facilitate future action observation research, we developed an open-access database of 135 high-definition videos of a male actor performing object-oriented actions. Actions from 3 categories: kinematically natural and goal-intact (Normal), kinematically unnatural and goal-intact (How), or kinematically natural and goal-violating (What), directed toward 15 different objects were filmed from 3 angles. Psychometric evaluation of the database revealed high video recognition accuracy (Mean accuracy = 88.61 %) and substantial inter-rater agreement (Fleiss' Kappa = 0.702), establishing excellent validity and reliability. Videos' exact timing of motion onset was identified using a custom motion detection frame-differencing procedure. Based on its outcome, the videos were edited to assure that motion begins at the second frame of each video. The videos' timing of category recognition was also identified using a novel behavioral up-down staircase procedure. The identified timings can be incorporated in future experimental designs to counteract jittered stimulus onsets, thus vastly improving the sensitivity of neuroimaging experiments. All videos, their psychometric evaluations, and the timing of their frame of category recognition, as well as our custom programs for performing these evaluations on our, or on other similar video databases, are available at the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/zexc4/).
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Georgiev
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, UNI – ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Thomas Legrand
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, UNI – ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Scott J. Mongold
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, UNI – ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Manoa Fiedler-Valenta
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, UNI – ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Frédéric Guittard
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, UNI – ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Mathieu Bourguignon
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, UNI – ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
- Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et Neuroimagerie Translationnelles, UNI – ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
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3
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Shin N, Ikeda Y, Motomura Y, Higuchi S. Effects of observing own/others hand movement in different perspectives on mu rhythm suppression: an EEG study. J Physiol Anthropol 2024; 43:21. [PMID: 39232843 PMCID: PMC11373409 DOI: 10.1186/s40101-024-00369-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 08/11/2024] [Indexed: 09/06/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous studies have reported that the sense of "self" is associated with specific brain regions and neural network activities. In addition, the mirror system, which functions when executing or observing an action, might contribute to differentiating the self from others and form the basis of the sense of self as a fundamental physical representation. This study investigated whether differences in mu suppression, an indicator of mirror system activity, reflect cognitions related to self-other discrimination. METHODS The participants were 30 of healthy college students. The participants observed short video clips of hand movements performed by themselves or actors from two perspectives (i.e., first-person and third-person). The electroencephalogram (EEG) mu rhythm (8-13 Hz) was measured during video observation as an index of mirror neuron system activity. EEG activity related to self-detection was analyzed using participants' hand movements as self-relevant stimuli. RESULTS The results showed that mu suppression in the 8-13-Hz range exhibited perspective-dependent responses to self/other stimuli. There was a significant self-oriented mu suppression response in the first-person perspective. However, the study found no significant response orientation in the third-person perspective. The results suggest that mirror system activity may involve self-other discrimination differently depending on the perspective. CONCLUSIONS In summary, this study examined the mirror system's activity for self and others using the EEG's mu suppression. As a result, it was suggested that differences in self and others or perspectives may influence mu suppression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nakyeong Shin
- Graduate School of Integrated Frontier Sciences, Kyushu University, 4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-Ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka, Japan.
- Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Kojimachi Business Center, Building, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Yuki Ikeda
- Faculty of Health Science, Kyorin University, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka-Shi, Tokyo, Japan
- Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Kojimachi Business Center, Building, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yuki Motomura
- Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, 4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-Ku Fukuoka City, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Shigekazu Higuchi
- Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, 4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-Ku Fukuoka City, Fukuoka, Japan
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Ünsal E, Duygun R, Yemeniciler İ, Bingöl E, Ceran Ö, Güntekin B. From Infancy to Childhood: A Comprehensive Review of Event- and Task-Related Brain Oscillations. Brain Sci 2024; 14:837. [PMID: 39199528 PMCID: PMC11352659 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14080837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2024] [Revised: 08/12/2024] [Accepted: 08/14/2024] [Indexed: 09/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Brain development from infancy through childhood involves complex structural and functional changes influenced by both internal and external factors. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of event and task-related brain oscillations, focusing on developmental changes across different frequency bands, including delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma. Electroencephalography (EEG) studies highlight that these oscillations serve as functional building blocks for sensory and cognitive processes, with significant variations observed across different developmental stages. Delta oscillations, primarily associated with deep sleep and early cognitive demands, gradually diminish as children age. Theta rhythms, crucial for attention and memory, display a distinct pattern in early childhood, evolving with cognitive maturation. Alpha oscillations, reflecting thalamocortical interactions and cognitive performance, increase in complexity with age. Beta rhythms, linked to active thinking and problem-solving, show developmental differences in motor and cognitive tasks. Gamma oscillations, associated with higher cognitive functions, exhibit notable changes in response to sensory stimuli and cognitive tasks. This review underscores the importance of understanding oscillatory dynamics to elucidate brain development and its implications for sensory and cognitive processing in childhood. The findings provide a foundation for future research on developmental neuroscience and potential clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esra Ünsal
- Department of Neuroscience, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey; (E.Ü.); (R.D.); (İ.Y.); (E.B.)
- Neuroscience Research Center, Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Rümeysa Duygun
- Department of Neuroscience, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey; (E.Ü.); (R.D.); (İ.Y.); (E.B.)
- Neuroscience Research Center, Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey
| | - İrem Yemeniciler
- Department of Neuroscience, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey; (E.Ü.); (R.D.); (İ.Y.); (E.B.)
- Neuroscience Research Center, Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey
- Department of Biophysics, School of Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Elifnur Bingöl
- Department of Neuroscience, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey; (E.Ü.); (R.D.); (İ.Y.); (E.B.)
- Neuroscience Research Center, Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey
- Department of Biophysics, School of Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Ömer Ceran
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey;
| | - Bahar Güntekin
- Neuroscience Research Center, Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey
- Department of Biophysics, School of Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey
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5
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Bolt NK, Loehr JD. Motor-related cortical oscillations distinguish one's own from a partner's contributions to a joint action. Biol Psychol 2024; 190:108804. [PMID: 38670429 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2024.108804] [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: 08/20/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
The ability to distinguish between one's own and others' actions is a requirement for successful joint action. Such a distinction might be supported by dissociable motor activity underlying each partner's individual contributions to the joint action. However, little research has directly compared motor activity associated with one's own vs. others' actions during joint action. The current study investigated whether motor-related cortical oscillations distinguish between self- and partner-produced actions when partners take turns producing taps to meet a joint timing goal. Across two experiments, the degree of beta suppression differentiated one's own from a partner's actions, with more suppression occurring during one's own actions than during a partner's actions. Self-partner differences in mu suppression were also evident, particularly when partners produced actions in succession. Increased beta suppression was also observed during partners' actions when they were followed by one's own actions, suggesting that the coordination demands imposed by the joint action could affect the pattern of beta reactivity during a turn-taking joint action. Together, these findings demonstrate that dynamic patterns of motor activity underpin successful joint action and that periods of distinct motor activity are associated with one's own contributions to a joint action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole K Bolt
- Department of Psychology and Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
| | - Janeen D Loehr
- Department of Psychology and Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
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Siemann J, Kroeger A, Bender S, Muthuraman M, Siniatchkin M. Segregated Dynamical Networks for Biological Motion Perception in the Mu and Beta Range Underlie Social Deficits in Autism. Diagnostics (Basel) 2024; 14:408. [PMID: 38396447 PMCID: PMC10887711 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics14040408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Biological motion perception (BMP) correlating with a mirror neuron system (MNS) is attenuated in underage individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While BMP in typically-developing controls (TDCs) encompasses interconnected MNS structures, ASD data hint at segregated form and motion processing. This coincides with less fewer long-range connections in ASD than TDC. Using BMP and electroencephalography (EEG) in ASD, we characterized directionality and coherence (mu and beta frequencies). Deficient BMP may stem from desynchronization thereof in MNS and may predict social-communicative deficits in ASD. Clinical considerations thus profit from brain-behavior associations. METHODS Point-like walkers elicited BMP using 15 white dots (walker vs. scramble in 21 ASD (mean: 11.3 ± 2.3 years) vs. 23 TDC (mean: 11.9 ± 2.5 years). Dynamic Imaging of Coherent Sources (DICS) characterized the underlying EEG time-frequency causality through time-resolved Partial Directed Coherence (tPDC). Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification validated the group effects (ASD vs. TDC). RESULTS TDC showed MNS sources and long-distance paths (both feedback and bidirectional); ASD demonstrated distinct from and motion sources, predominantly local feedforward connectivity, and weaker coherence. Brain-behavior correlations point towards dysfunctional networks. SVM successfully classified ASD regarding EEG and performance. CONCLUSION ASD participants showed segregated local networks for BMP potentially underlying thwarted complex social interactions. Alternative explanations include selective attention and global-local processing deficits. SIGNIFICANCE This is the first study applying source-based connectivity to reveal segregated BMP networks in ASD regarding structure, cognition, frequencies, and temporal dynamics that may explain socio-communicative aberrancies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Siemann
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Bethel, Evangelical Hospital Bielefeld, 33617 Bielefeld, Germany;
| | - Anne Kroeger
- Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Goethe-University of Frankfurt am Main, 60389 Frankfurt, Germany (S.B.)
| | - Stephan Bender
- Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Goethe-University of Frankfurt am Main, 60389 Frankfurt, Germany (S.B.)
- Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany
| | - Muthuraman Muthuraman
- Department of Neurology, Neural Engineering with Signal Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (NESA-AI), University Clinic Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany;
| | - Michael Siniatchkin
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Bethel, Evangelical Hospital Bielefeld, 33617 Bielefeld, Germany;
- University Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
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Gülbetekin E, Bayraktar S, Kantar D, Varlık Özsoy E, Er MN, Altun E, Fidanci A. Does Tactile Stimulation of the Face Affect the Processing of Other Faces? Neural and Behavioural Effects of Facial Touch. Soc Neurosci 2023; 18:297-311. [PMID: 37559568 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2023.2245126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
The integration of vision and touch is proposed as a critical factor for processing one's own body and the bodies of others in the brain. We hypothesize that tactile stimulation on an individual's face may change the ability to process the faces of other, but not the processing of other visual images. We aimed to determine if facial touch increased the activity of the mirror system and face recognition memory of the observer. Therefore, mu suppression was measured to compare the effect of facial touch in performing two visual tasks. The participants observed faces and non-face visual images under two sets of conditions. In the first condition, a robotic finger touched the participant's cheek while in the second condition, no touch occurred. Upon each observational task, the participants were given in a recognition test. Behavioral results indicated that facial touch improved recognition performance for faces, but not for non-face visual images. Tactile stimulation increased mu suppression in both occipital and central electrodes during face processing; however, the suppression did not significantly change during non-face visual processing. Our findings support the concept that the brain uses a self-body representation, as a reference to understand the mental states or behaviors of others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evrim Gülbetekin
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Seda Bayraktar
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Deniz Kantar
- Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Ece Varlık Özsoy
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
| | | | | | - Arda Fidanci
- Center for Cognitive Science, University of Minnesota, M'nneapol's, USA
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Zanini A, Dureux A, Selvanayagam J, Everling S. Ultra-high field fMRI identifies an action-observation network in the common marmoset. Commun Biol 2023; 6:553. [PMID: 37217698 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04942-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The observation of others' actions activates a network of temporal, parietal and premotor/prefrontal areas in macaque monkeys and humans. This action-observation network (AON) has been shown to play important roles in social action monitoring, learning by imitation, and social cognition in both species. It is unclear whether a similar network exists in New-World primates, which separated from Old-Word primates ~35 million years ago. Here we used ultra-high field fMRI at 9.4 T in awake common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) while they watched videos depicting goal-directed (grasping food) or non-goal-directed actions. The observation of goal-directed actions activates a temporo-parieto-frontal network, including areas 6 and 45 in premotor/prefrontal cortices, areas PGa-IPa, FST and TE in occipito-temporal region and areas V6A, MIP, LIP and PG in the occipito-parietal cortex. These results show overlap with the humans and macaques' AON, demonstrating the existence of an evolutionarily conserved network that likely predates the separation of Old and New-World primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Zanini
- Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
| | - Audrey Dureux
- Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Janahan Selvanayagam
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Stefan Everling
- Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
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9
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Knaus TA, Burns CO, Kamps J, Foundas AL. Action viewing and language in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Exp Brain Res 2023; 241:559-570. [PMID: 36625967 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-022-06540-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
The mirror neuron system consists of fronto-parietal regions and responds to both goal-directed action execution and observation. The broader action observation network is specifically involved in observation of actions and is thought to play a role in understanding the goals of the motor act, the intention of others, empathy, and language. Many, but not all, studies have found mirror neuron system or action observation network dysfunction in autism spectrum disorder. The objective of this study was to use observation of a goal-directed action fMRI paradigm to examine the action observation network in autism spectrum disorder and to determine whether fronto-parietal activation is associated with language ability. Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (n = 23) were compared to typically developing adolescents (n = 20), 11-17 years. Overall, there were no group differences in activation, however, the autism spectrum group with impaired expressive language (n = 13) had significantly reduced inferior frontal and inferior parietal activation during action viewing. In controls, right supramarginal gyrus activation was associated with higher expressive language; bilateral supramarginal and left pars opercularis activation was associated with better verbal-gesture integration. Results suggest that action-observation network dysfunction may characterize a subgroup of individuals with autism spectrum disorder with expressive language deficits. Therefore, interventions that target this dysfunctional network may improve expressive language in this autism spectrum subgroup. Future treatment studies should individualize therapeutic approaches based on brain-behavior relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracey A Knaus
- Brain and Behavior Program at Children's Hospital, Department of Neurology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans, New Orleans, USA. .,Department of Psychology, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA.
| | - Claire O Burns
- Brain and Behavior Program at Children's Hospital, Department of Neurology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans, New Orleans, USA.,Michael R. Boh Center for Child Development, Ochsner Hospital, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Jodi Kamps
- Department of Psychology, Children's Hospital and Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State Univeristy Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, USA
| | - Anne L Foundas
- Brain and Behavior Program at Children's Hospital, Department of Neurology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans, New Orleans, USA.,The Brain Institute of Louisiana, New Orleans, USA
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Angioletti L, Balconi M. Delta-Alpha EEG pattern reflects the interoceptive focus effect on interpersonal motor synchronization. FRONTIERS IN NEUROERGONOMICS 2022; 3:1012810. [PMID: 38235477 PMCID: PMC10790895 DOI: 10.3389/fnrgo.2022.1012810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Little is known about how the modulation of the interoceptive focus impacts the neural correlates of high-level social processes, such as synchronization mechanisms. Therefore, the current study aims to explore the intraindividual electrophysiological (EEG) patterns induced by the interoceptive focus on breath when performing cognitive and motor tasks requiring interpersonal synchronization. A sample of 28 healthy caucasian adults was recruited and asked to perform two tasks requiring interpersonal synchronization during two distinct conditions: while focusing on the breath or without the focus on the breath. EEG frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, and beta band) were recorded from the frontal, temporo-central, and parieto-occipital regions of interest. Significant results were observed for the delta and alpha bands. Notably, higher mean delta values and alpha desynchronization were observed in the temporo-central area during the focus on the breath condition when performing the motor compared to the cognitive synchronization task. Taken together these results could be interpreted considering the functional meaning of delta and alpha band in relation to motor synchronization. Indeed, motor delta oscillations shape the dynamics of motor behaviors and motor neural processes, while alpha band attenuation was previously observed during generation, observation, and imagery of movement and is considered to reflect cortical motor activity and action-perception coupling. Overall, the research shows that an EEG delta-alpha pattern emerges in the temporo-central areas at the intra-individual level, indicating the attention to visceral signals, particularly during interpersonal motor synchrony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Angioletti
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
| | - Michela Balconi
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
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Vecchiato G, Del Vecchio M, Ambeck-Madsen J, Ascari L, Avanzini P. EEG-EMG coupling as a hybrid method for steering detection in car driving settings. Cogn Neurodyn 2022; 16:987-1002. [PMID: 36237409 PMCID: PMC9508316 DOI: 10.1007/s11571-021-09776-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding mental processes in complex human behavior is a key issue in driving, representing a milestone for developing user-centered assistive driving devices. Here, we propose a hybrid method based on electroencephalographic (EEG) and electromyographic (EMG) signatures to distinguish left and right steering in driving scenarios. Twenty-four participants took part in the experiment consisting of recordings of 128-channel EEG and EMG activity from deltoids and forearm extensors in non-ecological and ecological steering tasks. Specifically, we identified the EEG mu rhythm modulation correlates with motor preparation of self-paced steering actions in the non-ecological task, while the concurrent EMG activity of the left (right) deltoids correlates with right (left) steering. Consequently, we exploited the mu rhythm de-synchronization resulting from the non-ecological task to detect the steering side using cross-correlation analysis with the ecological EMG signals. Results returned significant cross-correlation values showing the coupling between the non-ecological EEG feature and the muscular activity collected in ecological driving conditions. Moreover, such cross-correlation patterns discriminate the steering side earlier relative to the single EMG signal. This hybrid system overcomes the limitation of the EEG signals collected in ecological settings such as low reliability, accuracy, and adaptability, thus adding to the EMG the characteristic predictive power of the cerebral data. These results prove how it is possible to complement different physiological signals to control the level of assistance needed by the driver. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11571-021-09776-w.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Vecchiato
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy, Via Volturno 39/E, 43125 Parma, Italy
| | - Maria Del Vecchio
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy, Via Volturno 39/E, 43125 Parma, Italy
| | | | - Luca Ascari
- Camlin Italy S.R.L., Parma, Italy
- Henesis s.r.l., 43123 Parma, Italy
| | - Pietro Avanzini
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy, Via Volturno 39/E, 43125 Parma, Italy
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12
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Mustile M, Kourtis D, Edwards MG, Donaldson DI, Ietswaart M. The neural response is heightened when watching a person approaching compared to walking away: Evidence for dynamic social neuroscience. Neuropsychologia 2022; 175:108352. [PMID: 36007672 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Revised: 07/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The action observation network has been proposed to play a key role in predicting the action intentions (or goals) of others, thereby facilitating social interaction. Key information when interacting with others is whether someone (an agent) is moving towards or away from us, indicating whether we are likely to interact with the person. In addition, to determine the nature of a social interaction, we also need to take into consideration the distance of the agent relative to us as the observer. How this kind of information is processed within the brain is unknown, at least in part because prior studies have not involved live whole-body motion. Consequently, here we recorded mobile EEG in 18 healthy participants, assessing the neural response to the modulation of direction (walking towards or away) and distance (near vs. far distance) during the observation of an agent walking. We evaluated whether cortical alpha and beta oscillations were modulated differently by direction and distance during action observation. We found that alpha was only modulated by distance, with a stronger decrease of power when the agent was further away from the observer, regardless of direction. Critically, by contrast, beta was found to be modulated by both distance and direction, with a stronger decrease of power when the agent was near and facing the participant (walking towards) compared to when they were near but viewed from the back (walking away). Analysis revealed differences in both the timing and distribution of alpha and beta oscillations. We argue that these data suggest a full understanding of action observation requires a new dynamic neuroscience, investigating actual interactions between real people, in real world environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magda Mustile
- Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
| | - Dimitrios Kourtis
- Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - Martin G Edwards
- Institute of Research in the Psychological Sciences, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain- la- Neuve, Belgium
| | - David I Donaldson
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St. Andrews, UK
| | - Magdalena Ietswaart
- Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
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13
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Karimova ED, Gulyaeva AS, Katermin NS. The degree of mu rhythm suppression in women is associated with presence of children as well as empathy and anxiety level. Soc Neurosci 2022; 17:382-396. [PMID: 35950700 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2022.2112753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
In experiments on observing and performing social gestures, the level of mu rhythm suppression is associated with the activity of the mirror neuron system (MNS), which is responsible for the perception and understanding of nonverbal signals in social communication. In turn, while MNS activity may be associated primarily with empathy, it is also associated with other psychological and demographic factors affecting the effectiveness of cortical neural networks.In this study, we verified the influence of empathy, state and trait anxiety levels, presence and number of children, age, and menstrual cycle phase on the mu-suppression level in 40 women. We used 32-channel EEG recorded during observation, and synchronous execution of various hand movements. The ICA infomax method was used for decomposing and selecting the left hemisphere component of the mu-rhythm.Mu-suppression was higher in women with one child, with higher levels of empathy, and with lower anxiety levels. It is possible that MNS activity is stronger in women during parental care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ekaterina D Karimova
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of RAS (IHNA&NPh RAS), Moscow, Russia
| | - Alena S Gulyaeva
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of RAS (IHNA&NPh RAS), Moscow, Russia
| | - Nikita S Katermin
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of RAS (IHNA&NPh RAS), Moscow, Russia
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14
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Thompson EL, Bird G, Catmur C. Mirror neuron brain regions contribute to identifying actions, but not intentions. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:4901-4913. [PMID: 35906896 PMCID: PMC9582378 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have struggled to determine the relationship between mirror neuron brain regions and two distinct “action understanding” processes: identifying actions and identifying the intentions underlying those actions. This may be because the identification of intentions from others' actions requires an initial action identification process. Disruptive transcranial magnetic stimulation was administered to left inferior frontal gyrus (lIFG) during a novel cognitive task to determine which of these “action understanding” processes is subserved by mirror neuron brain regions. Participants identified either the actions performed by observed hand actions or the intentions underlying those actions. The extent to which intention identification was disrupted by lIFG (vs. control site) stimulation was dependent on the level of disruption to action identification. We subsequently performed functional magnetic resonance imaging during the same task. During action identification, responses were widespread within mirror neuron areas including lIFG and inferior parietal lobule. However, no independent responses were found in mirror neuron brain regions during intention identification. Instead, responses occurred in brain regions associated with two distinct mentalizing localizer tasks. This supports an account in which mirror neuron brain regions are involved in an initial action identification process, but the subsequent identification of intentions requires additional processing in mentalizing brain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma L Thompson
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.,Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Geoffrey Bird
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.,Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Caroline Catmur
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
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15
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Krol MA, Jellema T. Sensorimotor anticipation of others' actions in real-world and video settings: modulation by level of engagement? Soc Neurosci 2022; 17:293-304. [PMID: 35613478 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2022.2083229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Electroencephalography (EEG) studies investigating social cognition have used both video and real-world stimuli, often without a strong reasoning why one or the other was chosen. Video stimuli can be selected for practical reasons, while naturalistic real-world stimuli are ecologically valid. The current study investigated modulatory effects on EEG mu (8 - 13 Hz) suppression, directly prior to the onset - and during the course - of observed actions, related to real-world and video settings. Recordings were made over sensorimotor cortex and stimuli in both settings consisted of identical (un)predictable object-related grasping and placing actions. In both settings a very similar mu suppression was found during unfolding of the action, irrespective of predictability. However, mu suppression related to the anticipation of upcoming predictable actions was found exclusively in the real-world setting. Thus, even though the presentation setting does not seem to modulate mu suppression during action observation, it does affect the anticipation-related mu suppression. We discuss the possibility that this may be due to increased social engagement in real-world settings, which in particular affects anticipation. The findings emphasise the importance of using real-world stimuli to bring out the subtle, anticipatory, aspects related to action observation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manon A Krol
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Kapittelweg 29, 6525 EN, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Tjeerd Jellema
- The University of Hull Department of Psychology, Cottingham Road, HU6 7RX, Hull, United Kingdom
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16
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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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17
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Friedrich EVC, Zillekens IC, Biel AL, O'Leary D, Seegenschmiedt EV, Singer J, Schilbach L, Sauseng P. Seeing a Bayesian ghost: Sensorimotor activation leads to an illusory social perception. iScience 2022; 25:104068. [PMID: 35355523 PMCID: PMC8958323 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Based on our prior experiences we form social expectations and anticipate another person’s response. Under certain conditions, these expectations can be so strong that they lead to illusory perception of another person who is actually not there (i.e., seeing a Bayesian ghost). We used EEG to investigate the neural correlates of such illusory social perception. Our results showed that activation of the premotor cortex predicted the occurrence of the Bayesian ghost, whereas its actual appearance was later accompanied by activation in sensorimotor and adjacent parietal regions. These findings confirm that our perception of others is so strongly affected by prior expectations, in such a way they can prompt illusory social perceptions associated with activity change in brain regions relevant for action perception. They also contribute to a better understanding of social interaction in healthy individuals as well as persons with mental illnesses, which can be characterized by illusory perception and social interaction difficulties. Expecting a response to a social action can lead to an illusion of another person The brain does not merely respond to social signals but anticipates social behavior Sensorimotor activity indicates top-down predictions that outweigh sensory input Illusory social perception is associated with sensorimotor and parietal activity
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth V C Friedrich
- Department of Psychology, Research Unit Biological Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80802 Munich, Germany
| | - Imme C Zillekens
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany.,International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany
| | - Anna Lena Biel
- Department of Psychology, Research Unit Biological Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80802 Munich, Germany
| | - Dariusz O'Leary
- Department of Psychology, Research Unit Biological Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80802 Munich, Germany
| | - Eva Victoria Seegenschmiedt
- Department of Psychology, Research Unit Biological Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80802 Munich, Germany
| | - Johannes Singer
- Department of Psychology, Research Unit Biological Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80802 Munich, Germany.,Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Leonhard Schilbach
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany.,International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany.,Medical Faculty, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80336 Munich, Germany
| | - Paul Sauseng
- Department of Psychology, Research Unit Biological Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80802 Munich, Germany
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18
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Scanlon JEM, Jacobsen NSJ, Maack MC, Debener S. Stepping in time: Alpha-mu and beta oscillations during a walking synchronization task. Neuroimage 2022; 253:119099. [PMID: 35301131 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Interpersonal behavioral synchrony is referred to as temporal coordination of action between two or more individuals. Humans tend to synchronize their movements during repetitive movement tasks such as walking. Mobile EEG technology now allows us to examine how this happens during gait. 18 participants equipped with foot accelerometers and mobile EEG walked with an experimenter in three conditions: With their view of the experimenter blocked, walking naturally, and trying to synchronize their steps with the experimenter. The experimenter walked following a headphone metronome to keep their steps consistent for all conditions. Step behavior and synchronization between the experimenter and participant were compared between conditions. Additionally, event-related spectral perturbations (ERSPs) were time-warped to the gait cycle in order to analyze alpha-mu (7.5-12.5 Hz) and beta (16-32 Hz) rhythms over the whole gait cycle. Step synchronization was significantly higher in the synchrony condition than in the natural condition. Likewise regarding ERSPs, right parietal channel (C4, C6, CP4, CP6) alpha-mu and central channel (C1, Cz, C2) beta power were suppressed from baseline in the walking synchrony condition compared to the natural walking condition. The natural and blocked conditions were not found to be significantly different in behavioral or spectral comparisons. Our results are compatible with the view that intentional synchronization employs systems associated with social interaction as well as the central motor system.
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Affiliation(s)
- J E M Scanlon
- Neuropsychology Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
| | - N S J Jacobsen
- Neuropsychology Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - M C Maack
- Neuropsychology Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - S Debener
- Neuropsychology Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany; Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany; Center for Neurosensory Science and Systems, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
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19
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Fan H, Luo Z. Functional Integration of Mirror Neuron System and Sensorimotor Cortex under Virtual Self-Actions Visual Perception. Behav Brain Res 2022; 423:113784. [PMID: 35122793 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.113784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2021] [Revised: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Virtual reality (VR) technology, with the advantage of immersive visual experience, has been increasingly applied in the rehabilitation therapy of motor deficits. The functional integration of the mirror neuron system and the sensorimotor cortex under the visual perception of actions is one of the theoretical bases for the application of action observation in the neurorehabilitation of motor deficits. Whether the visual experience changes brought by VR technology can further promote this functional integration to be further confirmed. Using the exact low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (eLORETA) source localization method, we calculated and statistically tested the whole brain cortical voxel current density estimation under the Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals collected during action observation under the first-person and third-person perspectives in the VR scene for twenty healthy adults. Furthermore, the functional connectivity between the mirror neuron system and the sensorimotor cortex was analyzed using the lagged phase synchronization method. Under the first-person perspective in the VR scene, the current density changes of the core cortices of the mirror neuron system lead to a larger average event-related potential, more significant suppression in the α1 and α2 frequency bands of EEG signals, and a significant enhancement of functional connectivity between the core cortices of the mirror neuron system and the sensorimotor cortex. These findings indicate that compared with the traditional action observation, the visual reappearance of self-actions in the VR scene further stimulates the activity of the core cortices of the mirror neuron system, and promotes the functional integration of the core cortices of the mirror neuron system and the sensorimotor cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Fan
- Institute of Intelligent Control and Robotics, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
| | - Zhizeng Luo
- Institute of Intelligent Control and Robotics, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
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20
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Zimmermann M, Lomoriello AS, Konvalinka I. Intra-individual behavioural and neural signatures of audience effects and interactions in a mirror-game paradigm. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:211352. [PMID: 35223056 PMCID: PMC8847899 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
We often perform actions while observed by others, yet the behavioural and neural signatures of audience effects remain understudied. Performing actions while being observed has been shown to result in more emphasized movements in musicians and dancers, as well as during communicative actions. Here, we investigate the behavioural and neural mechanisms of observed actions in relation to individual actions in isolation and interactive joint actions. Movement kinematics and EEG were recorded in 42 participants (21 pairs) during a mirror-game paradigm, while participants produced improvised movements alone, while observed by a partner, or by synchronizing movements with the partner. Participants produced largest movements when being observed, and observed actors and dyads in interaction produced slower and less variable movements in contrast with acting alone. On a neural level, we observed increased mu suppression during interaction, as well as to a lesser extent during observed actions, relative to individual actions. Moreover, we observed increased widespread functional brain connectivity during observed actions relative to both individual and interactive actions, suggesting increased intra-individual monitoring and action-perception integration as a result of audience effects. These results suggest that observed actors take observers into account in their action plans by increasing self-monitoring; on a behavioural level, observed actions are similar to emergent interactive actions, characterized by slower and more predictable movements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marius Zimmermann
- Section for Cognitive Systems, DTU Compute, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
- Institute of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | | | - Ivana Konvalinka
- Section for Cognitive Systems, DTU Compute, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
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21
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Moore M, Katsumi Y, Dolcos S, Dolcos F. Electrophysiological Correlates of Social Decision-making: An EEG Investigation of a Modified Ultimatum Game. J Cogn Neurosci 2021; 34:54-78. [PMID: 34673955 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Cooperation behaviors during social decision-making have been shown to be sensitive to manipulations of context. However, it remains unclear how aspects of context in dynamic social interactions, such as observed nonverbal behaviors, may modulate cooperation decisions and the associated neural mechanisms. In this study, participants responded to offers from proposers to split $10 in an Ultimatum Game following observation of proposer approach (friendly) or avoidance (nonfriendly) behaviors, displayed by dynamic whole-body animated avatars, or following a nonsocial interaction control condition. As expected, behavioral results showed that participants tended to have greater acceptance rates for unfair offers following observed nonverbal social interactions with proposers compared with control, suggesting an enhancing effect of social interactions on cooperative decisions. ERP results showed greater N1 and N2 responses at the beginning of social interaction conditions compared with control, and greater sustained and late positivity responses for observed approach and avoidance proposer behaviors compared with control. Event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) results showed differential sensitivity within theta, alpha, and beta bands during observation of social interactions and offers that was associated with subsequent decision behaviors. Together, these results point to the impact of proposers' nonverbal behaviors on subsequent cooperation decisions at both behavioral and neural levels. The ERP and ERSP findings suggest modulated attention, monitoring, and processing of biological motion during the observed nonverbal social interactions, influencing the participants' responses to offers. These findings shed light on electrophysiological correlates of response to observed social interactions that predict subsequent social decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yuta Katsumi
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.,Northeastern University
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22
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Robust anticipation of continuous steering actions from electroencephalographic data during simulated driving. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23383. [PMID: 34862442 PMCID: PMC8642531 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02750-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Driving a car requires high cognitive demands, from sustained attention to perception and action planning. Recent research investigated the neural processes reflecting the planning of driving actions, aiming to better understand the factors leading to driving errors and to devise methodologies to anticipate and prevent such errors by monitoring the driver’s cognitive state and intention. While such anticipation was shown for discrete driving actions, such as emergency braking, there is no evidence for robust neural signatures of continuous action planning. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating continuous steering actions during a driving task in a car simulator with multimodal recordings of behavioural and electroencephalography (EEG) signals. System identification is used to assess whether robust neurophysiological signatures emerge before steering actions. Linear decoding models are then used to determine whether such cortical signals can predict continuous steering actions with progressively longer anticipation. Results point to significant EEG signatures of continuous action planning. Such neural signals show consistent dynamics across participants for anticipations up to 1 s, while individual-subject neural activity could reliably decode steering actions and predict future actions for anticipations up to 1.8 s. Finally, we use canonical correlation analysis to attempt disentangling brain and non-brain contributors to the EEG-based decoding. Our results suggest that low-frequency cortical dynamics are involved in the planning of steering actions and that EEG is sensitive to that neural activity. As a result, we propose a framework to investigate anticipatory neural activity in realistic continuous motor tasks.
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23
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Maÿe A, Wang T, Engel AK. Neuronal Oscillatory Signatures of Joint Attention and Intersubjectivity in Arrhythmic Coaction. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:767208. [PMID: 34803642 PMCID: PMC8603840 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.767208] [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: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Hyper-brain studies analyze the brain activity of two or more individuals during some form of interaction. Several studies found signs of inter-subject brain activity coordination, such as power and phase synchronization or information flow. This hyper-brain coordination is frequently studied in paradigms which induce rhythms or even synchronization, e.g., by mirroring movements, turn-based activity in card or economic games, or joint music making. It is therefore interesting to figure out in how far coordinated brain activity may be induced by a rhythmicity in the task and/or the sensory feedback that the partners receive. We therefore studied the EEG brain activity of dyads in a task that required the smooth pursuit of a target and did not involve any extrinsic rhythms. Partners controlled orthogonal axes of the two-dimensional motion of an object that had to be kept on the target. Using several methods for analyzing hyper-brain coupling, we could not detect signs of coordinated brain activity. However, we found several brain regions in which the frequency-specific activity significantly correlated with the objective task performance, the subjective experience thereof, and of the collaboration. Activity in these regions has been linked to motor control, sensorimotor integration, executive control and emotional processing. Our results suggest that neural correlates of intersubjectivity encompass large parts of brain areas that are considered to be involved in sensorimotor control without necessarily coordinating their activity across agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Maÿe
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Tiezhi Wang
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Andreas K Engel
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
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24
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Bekkali S, Youssef GJ, Donaldson PH, Hyde C, Do M, He JL, Barhoun P, Enticott PG. Is there a relationship between EEG and sTMS neurophysiological markers of the putative human mirror neuron system? J Neurosci Res 2021; 99:3238-3249. [PMID: 34747052 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2020] [Revised: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The mirror neuron system (MNS) has been theorized to play a neurobiological role in a number of social cognitive abilities and is commonly indexed putatively in humans via interpersonal motor resonance (IMR) and mu suppression. Although both indices are thought to measure similar neuronal populations (i.e., "mirror neurons"), it has been suggested that these methods are unrelated, and therefore, incompatible. However, prior studies reporting no relationships were typically conducted in small and underpowered samples. Thus, we aimed to investigate this potential association in a large sample of neurotypical adults (N = 116; 72 females). Participants underwent transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), electromyography (EMG), and electroencephalography (EEG) during the observation of videos of actors performing grasping actions in order to index IMR and mu suppression (in beta, lower alpha, and upper alpha bandwidths). A series of linear regressions revealed no associations between IMR and each of the mu suppression bandwidths. Supplementary Bayesian analyses provided further evidence in favor of the null (B01 = 8.85-8.93), providing further support for no association between the two indices of MNS activity. Our findings suggest that these two measures may indeed be unrelated indices that perhaps assess different neurophysiological aspects of the MNS. These results have important implications for future studies examining the MNS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soukayna Bekkali
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit (CNU), School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia
| | - George J Youssef
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit (CNU), School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia.,Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Peter H Donaldson
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit (CNU), School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia
| | - Christian Hyde
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit (CNU), School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia
| | - Michael Do
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit (CNU), School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia
| | - Jason L He
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Pamela Barhoun
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit (CNU), School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia
| | - Peter G Enticott
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit (CNU), School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia
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25
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Cracco E, Lee H, van Belle G, Quenon L, Haggard P, Rossion B, Orgs G. EEG Frequency Tagging Reveals the Integration of Form and Motion Cues into the Perception of Group Movement. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:2843-2857. [PMID: 34734972 PMCID: PMC9247417 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2021] [Revised: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The human brain has dedicated mechanisms for processing other people’s movements. Previous research has revealed how these mechanisms contribute to perceiving the movements of individuals but has left open how we perceive groups of people moving together. Across three experiments, we test whether movement perception depends on the spatiotemporal relationships among the movements of multiple agents. In Experiment 1, we combine EEG frequency tagging with apparent human motion and show that posture and movement perception can be dissociated at harmonically related frequencies of stimulus presentation. We then show that movement but not posture processing is enhanced when observing multiple agents move in synchrony. Movement processing was strongest for fluently moving synchronous groups (Experiment 2) and was perturbed by inversion (Experiment 3). Our findings suggest that processing group movement relies on binding body postures into movements and individual movements into groups. Enhanced perceptual processing of movement synchrony may form the basis for higher order social phenomena such as group alignment and its social consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emiel Cracco
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Haeeun Lee
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, SE14 6NW London, UK
| | - Goedele van Belle
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1340 Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Lisa Quenon
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, WC1N 3AZ London, UK
| | - Bruno Rossion
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, F-54000 Nancy, France.,CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, F-54000 Nancy, France
| | - Guido Orgs
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, SE14 6NW London, UK
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26
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Quandt LC, Kubicek E, Willis A, Lamberton J. Enhanced biological motion perception in deaf native signers. Neuropsychologia 2021; 161:107996. [PMID: 34425145 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2020] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
We conducted two studies to test how deaf signed language users perceive biological motions. We created 18 Biological Motion point-light displays (PLDs) depicting everyday human actions, and 18 Scrambled control PLDs. First, we conducted an online behavioral rating survey, in which deaf and hearing raters identified the biological motion PLDs and rated how easy it was for them to identify the actions. Then, we conducted an EEG study in which Deaf Signers and Hearing Non-Signers watched both the Biological Motion PLDs and the Scrambled PLDs, and we computed the time-frequency responses within the theta, alpha, and beta EEG rhythms. From the behavioral rating task, we show that the deaf raters reported significantly less effort required for identifying the Biological motion PLDs, across all stimuli. The EEG results showed that the Deaf Signers showed theta, mu, and beta differentiation between Scrambled and Biological PLDs earlier and more consistently than Hearing Non-Signers. We conclude that native ASL users exhibit experience-dependent neuroplasticity in the domain of biological human motion perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorna C Quandt
- Ph.D in Educational Neuroscience Program, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Ave NE, Washington, D.C. 20002, USA.
| | - Emily Kubicek
- Ph.D in Educational Neuroscience Program, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Ave NE, Washington, D.C. 20002, USA
| | - Athena Willis
- Ph.D in Educational Neuroscience Program, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Ave NE, Washington, D.C. 20002, USA
| | - Jason Lamberton
- VL2 Center, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Ave NE, Washington, D.C. 20002, USA
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Zarka D, Cebolla AM, Cheron G. [Mirror neurons, neural substrate of action understanding?]. Encephale 2021; 48:83-91. [PMID: 34625217 DOI: 10.1016/j.encep.2021.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/12/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
In 1992, the Laboratory of Human Physiology at the University of Parma (Italy) publish a study describing "mirror" neurons in the macaque that activate both when the monkey performs an action and when it observes an experimenter performing the same action. The research team behind this discovery postulates that the mirror neurons system is the neural basis of our ability to understand the actions of others, through the motor mapping of the observed action on the observer's motor repertory (direct-matching hypothesis). Nevertheless, this conception met serious criticism. These critics attempt to relativize their function by placing them within a network of neurocognitive and sensory interdependencies. In short, the essential characteristic of these neurons is to combine the processing of sensory information, especially visual, with that of motor information. Their elementary function would be to provide a motor simulation of the observed action, based on visual information from it. They can contribute, with other non-mirror areas, to the identification/prediction of the action goal and to the interpretation of the intention of the actor performing it. Studying the connectivity and high frequency synchronizations of the different brain areas involved in action observation would likely provide important information about the dynamic contribution of mirror neurons to "action understanding". The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date analysis of the scientific evidence related to mirror neurons and their elementary functions, as well as to shed light on the contribution of these neurons to our ability to interpret and understand others' actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Zarka
- Faculté des Sciences de la Motricité, laboratoire de neurophysiologie et de biomécanique du mouvement, université Libre de Bruxelles, CP640, 808, route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgique; Unité de Recherche en Sciences de l'Ostéopathie, faculté des Sciences de la Motricité, université Libre de Bruxelles, CP640, 808, route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgique.
| | - A M Cebolla
- Faculté des Sciences de la Motricité, laboratoire de neurophysiologie et de biomécanique du mouvement, université Libre de Bruxelles, CP640, 808, route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgique
| | - G Cheron
- Faculté des Sciences de la Motricité, laboratoire de neurophysiologie et de biomécanique du mouvement, université Libre de Bruxelles, CP640, 808, route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgique; Laboratoire d'électrophysiologie, université de Mons, 7000 Mons, Belgique
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Kim JC, Lee HM. EEG-Based Evidence of Mirror Neuron Activity from App-Mediated Stroke Patient Observation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2021; 57:medicina57090979. [PMID: 34577902 PMCID: PMC8471865 DOI: 10.3390/medicina57090979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The mirror neuron system in the sensorimotor region of the cerebral cortex is equally activated during both action observation and execution. Action observation training mimics the functioning of the mirror neuron system, requiring patients to watch and imitate the actions necessary to perform activities of daily living. StrokeCare is a user-friendly application based on the principles of action observation training, designed to assist people recovering from stroke. Therefore, when observing the daily life behavior provided in the StrokeCare app, whether the MNS is activated and mu inhibition appears. Materials and Methods: We performed electroencephalography (EEG) on 24 patients with chronic stroke (infarction: 11, hemorrhage: 13) during tasks closely related to daily activities, such as dressing, undressing, and walking. The StrokeCare app provided action videos for patients to watch. Landscape imagery observation facilitated comparison among tasks. We analyzed the mu rhythm from the C3, CZ, and C4 regions and calculated the mean log ratios for comparison of mu suppression values. Results: The EEG mu power log ratios were significantly suppressed during action observation in dressing, undressing, walking, and landscape conditions, in decreasing order. However, there were no significant activity differences in the C3, C4 and CZ regions. The dressing task showed maximum suppression after a color spectrum was used to map the relative power values of the mu rhythm for each task. Conclusions: These findings reveal that the human mirror neuron system was more strongly activated during observation of actions closely related to daily life activities than landscape images.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Cheol Kim
- Department of Physical Therapy, City Hospital, Seomun-daero 654, Gwangju 61710, Korea;
| | - Hyun-Min Lee
- Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health Science, Honam University, Honamdae-gil 100, Gwangju 62399, Korea
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +82-62-940-5559
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Kemmerer D. What modulates the Mirror Neuron System during action observation?: Multiple factors involving the action, the actor, the observer, the relationship between actor and observer, and the context. Prog Neurobiol 2021; 205:102128. [PMID: 34343630 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2021.102128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Revised: 06/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Seeing an agent perform an action typically triggers a motor simulation of that action in the observer's Mirror Neuron System (MNS). Over the past few years, it has become increasingly clear that during action observation the patterns and strengths of responses in the MNS are modulated by multiple factors. The first aim of this paper is therefore to provide the most comprehensive survey to date of these factors. To that end, 22 distinct factors are described, broken down into the following sets: six involving the action; two involving the actor; nine involving the observer; four involving the relationship between actor and observer; and one involving the context. The second aim is to consider the implications of these findings for four prominent theoretical models of the MNS: the Direct Matching Model; the Predictive Coding Model; the Value-Driven Model; and the Associative Model. These assessments suggest that although each model is supported by a wide range of findings, each one is also challenged by other findings and relatively unaffected by still others. Hence, there is now a pressing need for a richer, more inclusive model that is better able to account for all of the modulatory factors that have been identified so far.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Kemmerer
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Lyles-Porter Hall, Purdue University, 715 Clinic Drive, United States.
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30
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Shibuya S, Unenaka S, Shimada S, Ohki Y. Distinct modulation of mu and beta rhythm desynchronization during observation of embodied fake hand rotation. Neuropsychologia 2021; 159:107952. [PMID: 34252417 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Revised: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The rubber hand illusion (RHI) is a phenomenon whereby participants recognize a fake hand as their own. Studies have examined the effects of observing fake hand movements after the RHI on brain sensorimotor activity, although results remain controversial. To address these discrepancies, we investigated the effects of observation of fake hand rotation after the RHI on sensorimotor mu (μ: 8-13 Hz) and beta (β: 15-25 Hz) rhythm event-related desynchronization (ERD) using electroencephalography (EEG). Questionnaire results and proprioceptive drift revealed that the RHI occurred in participants when their invisible hand and fake visible hand were stroked synchronously but not during asynchronous stroking. Independent component (IC) clustering from EEG data during movement observation identified three IC clusters, including the right sensorimotor, left sensorimotor, and left occipital cluster. In the right sensorimotor cluster, we observed distinct modulation of μ and β ERD during fake hand rotation. Illusory ownership over the fake hand enhanced μ ERD but inversely attenuated β ERD. Further, the extent of μ ERD correlated with proprioceptive drift, but not with questionnaire ratings, whereas the converse results were obtained for β ERD. No ownership-dependent ERD modulation was detected in the left sensorimotor cluster. Alpha (α: 8-13 Hz) rhythm ERD of the left occipital cluster was smaller in the synchronous condition than in the asynchronous condition, but α ERD was not correlated with questionnaire rating or drift. These findings suggest that observing embodied fake hand rotation induces distinct cortical processing in sensorimotor brain areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satoshi Shibuya
- Department of Integrative Physiology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Satoshi Unenaka
- Department of Sport Education, School of Lifelong Sport, Hokusho University, 23 Bunkyodai, Ebetsu, Hokkaido, Japan
| | - Sotaro Shimada
- Department of Electronics and Bioinformatics, School of Science and Technology, Meiji University, 1-1-1 Higashi-Mita, Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Yukari Ohki
- Department of Integrative Physiology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan
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Increasing self-other bodily overlap increases sensorimotor resonance to others' pain. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2021; 20:19-33. [PMID: 31190136 PMCID: PMC7012796 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-019-00724-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Empathy for another person’s pain and feeling pain oneself seem to be accompanied by similar or shared neural responses. Such shared responses could be achieved by mapping the bodily states of others onto our own bodily representations. We investigated whether sensorimotor neural responses to the pain of others are increased when experimentally reducing perceived bodily distinction between the self and the other. Healthy adult participants watched video clips of the hands of ethnic ingroup or outgroup members being painfully penetrated by a needle syringe or touched by a cotton swab. Manipulating the video presentation to create a visuospatial overlap between the observer’s and the target’s hand increased the perceived bodily self-attribution of the target’s hand. For both ingroup and outgroup targets, this resulted in increased neural responses to the painful injections (compared with nonpainful contacts), as indexed by desynchronizations of central mu and beta scalp rhythms recorded using electroencephalography. Furthermore, these empathy-related neural activations were stronger in participants who reported stronger bodily self-attribution of the other person’s hand. Our findings provide further evidence that empathy for pain engages sensorimotor resonance mechanisms. They also indicate that reducing bodily self-other distinction may increase such resonance for ingroup as well as outgroup targets.
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32
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Simon JC, Gutsell JN. Recognizing humanity: dehumanization predicts neural mirroring and empathic accuracy in face-to-face interactions. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 16:463-473. [PMID: 33515023 PMCID: PMC8094996 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2020] [Revised: 01/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Dehumanization is the failure to recognize the cognitive and emotional complexities of the people around us. While its presence has been well documented in horrific acts of violence, it is also theorized to play a role in everyday life. We measured its presence and effects in face-to-face dyadic interactions between strangers and found that not only was there variance in the extent to which they perceived one another as human, but this variance predicted neural processing and behavior. Specifically, participants showed stronger neural mirroring, indexed by electroencephalography (EEG) mu-suppression, in response to partners they evaluated as more human, suggesting their brains neurally simulated those targets' actions more. Participants were also marginally more empathically accurate about the emotions of partners deemed more human and performed better with them on a cooperative task. These results suggest that there are indeed differences in our recognition of the humanity of people we meet-demonstrated for the first time in a real, face-to-face interaction-and that this mundane variation affects our ability to neurally simulate, cooperate and empathize.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy C Simon
- Department of Psychology, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA
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Festante F, Rayson H, Paukner A, Kaburu SSK, Toschi G, Fox NA, Ferrari PF. Oxytocin promotes prosocial behavior and related neural responses in infant macaques at-risk for compromised social development. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2021; 48:100950. [PMID: 33831822 PMCID: PMC8042434 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2020] [Revised: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Although positive effects of oxytocin (OT) on social functioning are well-demonstrated, little is known about the mechanisms through which OT may drive early social development, or its therapeutic efficacy in infancy. To address these critical issues, we investigated the effects of exogenous OT on neural (EEG) and behavioral responses during observation of live facial gestures in infant macaques with limited social exposure (i.e. nursery-reared). Three key findings were revealed. First, OT increased alpha suppression over posterior scalp regions during observation of facial gestures but not non-biological movement, suggesting that OT targets self-other matching and attentional cortical networks involved in social perception from very early infancy. Second, OT increased infant production of matching facial gestures and attention towards the most socially-relevant facial stimuli, both behaviors typically silenced by early social deprivation. Third, infants with higher cortisol levels appeared to benefit the most from OT, displaying greater improvements in prosocial behaviors after OT administration. Altogether, these findings suggest that OT promotes prosocial behaviors and associated neural responses likely impacted by early social adversity, and demonstrate the potential of OT administration to ameliorate social difficulties in the context of neurodevelopmental and early-emerging psychiatric disorders, at a developmental stage when brain plasticity is greatest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabrizia Festante
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, 56128, Pisa, Italy; Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126, Pisa, Italy
| | - Holly Rayson
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS/Université Claude Bernard Lyon, Bron, Cedex, 69675, France
| | - Annika Paukner
- Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, NG1 4FQ, UK
| | - Stefano S K Kaburu
- Department of Biomedical Science & Physiology, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LY, UK
| | - Giulia Toschi
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, 43125, Parma, Italy
| | - Nathan A Fox
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20740, USA
| | - Pier Francesco Ferrari
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS/Université Claude Bernard Lyon, Bron, Cedex, 69675, France; Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, 43125, Parma, Italy.
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Phase-coupling of neural oscillations contributes to individual differences in peripersonal space. Neuropsychologia 2021; 156:107823. [PMID: 33705822 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The peripersonal space (PPS) is a multisensory and sensorimotor interface between our body and the environment. The location of PPS boundary is not fixed. Rather, it adapts to the environmental context and differs greatly across individuals. Recent studies have started to unveil the neural correlates of individual differences in PPS extension; however, this picture is not clear yet. Here, we used approaching auditory stimuli and magnetoencephalography to capture the individual boundary of PPS and examine its neural underpinnings. In particular, building upon previous studies from our own group, we investigated the possible contribution of an intrinsic feature of the brain, that is the "resting state" functional connectivity, to the individual differences in PPS extension and the frequency specificity of this contribution. Specifically, we focused on the activity synchronized to the premotor cortex, where multisensory neurons encoding PPS have been described. Results showed that the stronger the connectivity between left premotor cortex (lPM) and a set of fronto-parietal, sensorimotor regions in the right and left hemisphere, the wider the extension of the PPS. Strikingly, such a correlation was observed only in the beta-frequency band. Overall, our results suggest that the individual extension of the PPS is coded in spatially- and spectrally-specific resting state functional links.
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35
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Catrambone V, Averta G, Bianchi M, Valenza G. Toward brain-heart computer interfaces: a study on the classification of upper limb movements using multisystem directional estimates. J Neural Eng 2021; 18. [PMID: 33601354 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/abe7b9] [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: 10/12/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) exploit computational features from brain signals to perform a given task. Despite recent neurophysiology and clinical findings indicating the crucial role of functional interplay between brain and cardiovascular dynamics in locomotion, heartbeat information remains to be included in common BCI systems. In this study, we exploit the multidimensional features of directional and functional interplay between electroencephalographic and heartbeat spectra to classify upper limb movements into three classes. APPROACH We gathered data from 26 healthy volunteers that performed 90 movements; the data were processed using a recently proposed framework for brain-heart interplay (BHI) assessment based on synthetic physiological data generation. Extracted BHI features were employed to classify, through sequential forward selection scheme and k-nearest neighbors algorithm, among resting state and three classes of movements according to the kind of interaction with objects. MAIN RESULTS The results demonstrated that the proposed brain-heart computer interface (BHCI) system could distinguish between rest and movement classes automatically with an average 90% of accuracy. SIGNIFICANCE Further, this study provides neurophysiology insights indicating the crucial role of functional interplay originating at the cortical level onto the heart in the upper limb neural control. The inclusion of functional BHI insights might substantially improve the neuroscientific knowledge about motor control, and this may lead to advanced BHCI systems performances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincenzo Catrambone
- Research Center E. Piaggio, Information Engineering, University of Pisa School of Engineering, Largo L. Lazzarino,1, Pisa, Italy, 56126, ITALY
| | - Giuseppe Averta
- Research Center E. Piaggio, Information Engineering, University of Pisa School of Engineering, Largo L. Lazzarino, 1, Pisa, Italy, 56126, ITALY
| | - Matteo Bianchi
- Research Center E. Piaggio, Information Engineering, University of Pisa School of Engineering, Largo L. Lazzarino, 1, Pisa, Toscana, 56126, ITALY
| | - Gaetano Valenza
- Research Center E. Piaggio, Information Engineering, University of Pisa School of Engineering, Largo L. Lazzarino, 1, Pisa, Toscana, 56126, ITALY
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Condy EE, Miguel HO, Millerhagen J, Harrison D, Khaksari K, Fox N, Gandjbakhche A. Characterizing the Action-Observation Network Through Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy: A Review. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:627983. [PMID: 33679349 PMCID: PMC7930074 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.627983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a neuroimaging technique that has undergone tremendous growth over the last decade due to methodological advantages over other measures of brain activation. The action-observation network (AON), a system of brain structures proposed to have “mirroring” abilities (e.g., active when an individual completes an action or when they observe another complete that action), has been studied in humans through neural measures such as fMRI and electroencephalogram (EEG); however, limitations of these methods are problematic for AON paradigms. For this reason, fNIRS is proposed as a solution to investigating the AON in humans. The present review article briefly summarizes previous neural findings in the AON and examines the state of AON research using fNIRS in adults. A total of 14 fNIRS articles are discussed, paying particular attention to methodological choices and considerations while summarizing the general findings to aid in developing better protocols to study the AON through fNIRS. Additionally, future directions of this work are discussed, specifically in relation to researching AON development and potential multimodal imaging applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma E Condy
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Helga O Miguel
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - John Millerhagen
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Doug Harrison
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Kosar Khaksari
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Nathan Fox
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| | - Amir Gandjbakhche
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
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Tanaka S. Mirror Neuron Activity During Audiovisual Appreciation of Opera Performance. Front Psychol 2021; 11:563031. [PMID: 33584402 PMCID: PMC7873040 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.563031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Opera is a performing art in which music plays the leading role, and the acting of singers has a synergistic effect with the music. The mirror neuron system represents the neurophysiological mechanism underlying the coupling of perception and action. Mirror neuron activity is modulated by the appropriateness of actions and clarity of intentions, as well as emotional expression and aesthetic values. Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that an opera performance induces mirror neuron activity in the audience so that the performer effectively shares an embodied performance with the audience. However, it is uncertain which aspect of opera performance induces mirror neuron activity. It is hypothesized that although auditory stimuli could induce mirror neuron activity, audiovisual perception of stage performance is the primary inducer of mirror neuron activity. To test this hypothesis, this study sought to correlate opera performance with brain activity as measured by electroencephalography (EEG) in singers while watching an opera performance with sounds or while listening to an aria without visual stimulus. We detected mirror neuron activity by observing that the EEG power in the alpha frequency band (8-13 Hz) was selectively decreased in the frontal-central-parietal area when watching an opera performance. In the auditory condition, however, the alpha-band power did not change relative to the resting condition. This study illustrates that the audiovisual perception of an opera performance engages the mirror neuron system in its audience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shoji Tanaka
- Department of Information and Communication Sciences, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan
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38
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Bolt NK, Loehr JD. The motor-related brain activity that supports joint action: A review. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2021; 212:103218. [PMID: 33307297 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Revised: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent years have seen a rapid increase in research investigating the motor-related brain activity that supports joint action. This research has employed a variety of joint action tasks and an array of neuroimaging techniques, including fMRI, fNIRS, EEG, and TMS. In this review, we provide an overview of this research to delineate what is known about the motor-related brain activity that contributes to joint action and to highlight key questions for future research. Taken together, the surveyed research supports three major conclusions. First, the mere presence of a joint action context is sufficient to modulate motor activity elicited by observing others' actions. Second, joint action is supported by dissociable motor activity associated with a person's own actions, their partner's actions, and the joint action, and by between-brain coupling of motor-related oscillatory activity. Third, the structure of a joint action modulates the motor activity involved: Unique motor activity is associated with performing joint actions comprised of complementary actions and with holding the roles of leader and follower within a joint action. We conclude the review by highlighting overarching themes and key questions for future research.
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Kubicek E, Quandt LC. A Positive Relationship Between Sign Language Comprehension and Mental Rotation Abilities. JOURNAL OF DEAF STUDIES AND DEAF EDUCATION 2021; 26:1-12. [PMID: 32978623 DOI: 10.1093/deafed/enaa030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Revised: 06/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Past work investigating spatial cognition suggests better mental rotation abilities for those who are fluent in a signed language. However, no prior work has assessed whether fluency is needed to achieve this performance benefit or what it may look like on the neurobiological level. We conducted an electroencephalography experiment and assessed accuracy on a classic mental rotation task given to deaf fluent signers, hearing fluent signers, hearing non-fluent signers, and hearing non-signers. Two of the main findings of the study are as follows: (1) Sign language comprehension and mental rotation abilities are positively correlated and (2) Behavioral performance differences between signers and non-signers are not clearly reflected in brain activity typically associated with mental rotation. In addition, we propose that the robust impact sign language appears to have on mental rotation abilities strongly suggests that "sign language use" should be added to future measures of spatial experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Kubicek
- Educational Neuroscience Program, Gallaudet University
| | - Lorna C Quandt
- Educational Neuroscience Program, Gallaudet University
- Department of Psychology, Gallaudet University
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Enhanced mirroring upon mutual gaze: multimodal evidence from TMS-assessed corticospinal excitability and the EEG mu rhythm. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20449. [PMID: 33235329 PMCID: PMC7687883 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77508-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous research has demonstrated that eye contact between actor and observer specifically enhances the 'mirroring' of others' actions, as measured by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-induced motor evoked potentials (MEPs). However, it remains unknown whether other markers of mirror system activation, such as suppression of the EEG mu rhythm (8-13 Hz) over the sensorimotor strip, are also susceptible to perceived eye contact. Here, both TMS-induced MEPs and EEG mu suppression indices were assessed (in separate sessions) while 32 participants (mean age: 24y; 8m) observed a simple hand movement combined with direct or averted gaze from the actor. Both measures were significantly modulated by perceived eye gaze during action observation; showing an increase in MEP amplitude and an attenuation of the mu rhythm during direct vs. averted gaze. Importantly, while absolute MEP and mu suppression scores were not related, a significant association was identified between gaze-related changes in MEPs and mu suppression, indicating that both measures are similarly affected by the modulatory impact of gaze cues. Our results suggest that although the neural substrates underlying TMS-induced MEPs and the EEG mu rhythm may differ, both are sensitive to the social relevance of the observed actions, which might reflect a similar neural gating mechanism.
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41
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Su S, Chai G, Sheng X, Meng J, Zhu X. Contra-lateral desynchronized alpha oscillations linearly correlate with discrimination performance of tactile acuity. J Neural Eng 2020; 17:046041. [PMID: 32659752 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/aba55f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We used EEG to investigate cortical oscillatory activities during the tactile discrimination task and characterize the correlation between the EEG features and subjects' discrimination performance. APPROACH Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) was applied on two finger areas (thumb and index for healthy hands, thumb and index-projected areas for disabled hands) to evoke two kinds of tactile sensations (vibration and pressure) with three levels of intensities (low, medium and high). Four forearm amputees and thirteen able-bodied subjects were recruited to discriminate the specific intensity and area of the applied stimulation. We assessed the discrimination performance [discrimination accuracy rate (AR) and response time (RT)] to quantify the tactile acuity. During the stimulation, EEG signals were recorded and the evoked cortical oscillatory activities were analyzed. Linear regression analyses were performed between EEG features and tactile discrimination performance. MAIN RESULTS Spectral analysis revealed that alpha ERD over somatosensory regions persisted the whole task period and was related to the sensory information processing. Alpha ERD over prefrontal regions was only found during the stimulation judgement period and might reflect advanced cognitive process. There was no linear correlation between prefrontal alpha ERD and tactile discrimination performance. While contralateral somatosensory alpha ERDs exhibited significantly negative correlations with ARs ([Formula: see text]) and positive correlations with RTs ([Formula: see text]). Specifically, the fitting results of higher alpha band (10-13 Hz) were superior to lower alpha band (8-10 Hz). SIGNIFICANCE Alpha ERD over contralateral somatosensory cortex could be used as an objective index for the evaluation of tactile acuity and might have the potential to be applied in sensory rehabilitation for amputees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiyong Su
- State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
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42
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Cracco E, Keysers C, Clauwaert A, Brass M. Representing Multiple Observed Actions in the Motor System. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:3631-3641. [PMID: 30295709 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2018] [Revised: 08/27/2018] [Accepted: 08/31/2018] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
There is now converging evidence that others' actions are represented in the motor system. However, social cognition requires us to represent not only the actions but also the interactions of others. To do so, it is imperative that the motor system can represent multiple observed actions. The current fMRI study investigated whether this is possible by measuring brain activity from 29 participants while they observed 2 right hands performing sign language gestures. Three key results were obtained. First, brain activity in the premotor and parietal motor cortex was stronger when 2 hands performed 2 different gestures than when 1 hand performed a single gesture. Second, both individual observed gestures could be decoded from brain activity in the same 2 regions. Third, observing 2 different gestures compared with 2 identical gestures activated brain areas related to motor conflict, and this activity was correlated with parietal motor activity. Together, these results show that the motor system is able to represent multiple observed actions, and as such reveal a potential mechanism by which third-party social encounters could be processed in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emiel Cracco
- Ghent University, Department of Experimental Psychology, Gent, Belgium
| | - Christian Keysers
- Royal Netherlands Academy of Art and Sciences (KNAW), Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, BA Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Amanda Clauwaert
- Ghent University, Department of Experimental Psychology, Gent, Belgium
| | - Marcel Brass
- Ghent University, Department of Experimental Psychology, Gent, Belgium
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43
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Abdelgabar AR, Suttrup J, Broersen R, Bhandari R, Picard S, Keysers C, De Zeeuw CI, Gazzola V. Action perception recruits the cerebellum and is impaired in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia. Brain 2020; 142:3791-3805. [PMID: 31747689 PMCID: PMC7409410 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awz337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Revised: 09/02/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Our cerebellum has been proposed to generate prediction signals that may help us plan and execute our motor programmes. However, to what extent our cerebellum is also actively involved in perceiving the action of others remains to be elucidated. Using functional MRI, we show here that observing goal-directed hand actions of others bilaterally recruits lobules VI, VIIb and VIIIa in the cerebellar hemispheres. Moreover, whereas healthy subjects (n = 31) were found to be able to discriminate subtle differences in the kinematics of observed limb movements of others, patients suffering from spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6; n = 21) were severely impaired in performing such tasks. Our data suggest that the human cerebellum is actively involved in perceiving the kinematics of the hand actions of others and that SCA6 patients’ deficits include a difficulty in perceiving the actions of other individuals. This finding alerts us to the fact that cerebellar disorders can alter social cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdel R Abdelgabar
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Judith Suttrup
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Robin Broersen
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ritu Bhandari
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Samuel Picard
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Christian Keysers
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Chris I De Zeeuw
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Valeria Gazzola
- Social Brain Lab and Cerebellar Coordination and Cognition Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, A Research Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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44
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Zhang JJ, Fong KNK. Enhancing mirror visual feedback with intermittent theta burst stimulation in healthy adults. Restor Neurol Neurosci 2020; 37:483-495. [PMID: 31424421 DOI: 10.3233/rnn-190927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Excitatory brain stimulation, in the form of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), combined with mirror visual feedback (MVF), is hypothesized to promote neuroplasticity and motor performance. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the combined effects of iTBS with mirror training (MT) on the MVF-induced sensorimotor event-related desynchronization (ERD) and the non-dominant hand motor performance in healthy adults. METHODS Eighteen healthy right-handed subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups (Group 1: iTBS plus MT, Group 2: iTBS plus sham MT, or Group 3: sham iTBS plus MT). For participants in Groups 1 and 3, motor training was performed for 15 minutes for the right hand over four consecutive days, with MVF superimposing on their inactive left hand behind a mirror. Participants in Group 2 received the same right-hand motor training, but the mirror was covered without MVF. iTBS or sham iTBS was applied daily over the right primary motor cortex prior to the training. Electroencephalography at pre/post-training was recorded while participants performed right-hand movement under mirror and direct view. Motor performance was assessed at baseline and post-training. RESULTS Baseline comparisons demonstrated that a shift in sensorimotor ERD towards the right hemisphere was induced by MVF, in mu-1 (8-10 Hz) (p = 0.002), mu-2 (10-12 Hz) (p = 0.004) and beta-1 (12-16 Hz) (p = 0.049) bands. After the training, participants in Group 1 showed a stronger MVF-induced sensorimotor ERD in mu-1 (p = 0.017) and mu-2 (p = 0.009) bands than those in Group 3. No significant between-group difference in motor outcomes was observed. CONCLUSIONS iTBS appears to prime subjects' brain to be more receptive to MVF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack Jiaqi Zhang
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Kenneth N K Fong
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR
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45
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Park T, Lee M, Jeong T, Shin YI, Park SM. Quantitative Analysis of EEG Power Spectrum and EMG Median Power Frequency Changes after Continuous Passive Motion Mirror Therapy System. SENSORS 2020; 20:s20082354. [PMID: 32326195 PMCID: PMC7219252 DOI: 10.3390/s20082354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Revised: 04/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Robotic mirror therapy (MT), which allows movement of the affected limb, is proposed as a more effective method than conventional MT (CMT). To improve the rehabilitation effectiveness of post-stroke patients, we developed a sensory stimulation-based continuous passive motion (CPM)-MT system with two different operating protocols, that is, asynchronous and synchronous modes. To evaluate their effectiveness, we measured brain activation through relative and absolute power spectral density (PSD) changes of electroencephalogram (EEG) mu rhythm in three cases with CMT and CPM-MT with asynchronous and synchronous modes. We also monitored changes in muscle fatigue, which is one of the negative effects of the CPM device, based on median power frequency (MPF) and root mean square (RMS). Relative PSD was most suppressed when subjects used the CPM-MT system under synchronous control: 22.11%, 15.31%, and 16.48% on Cz, C3, and C4, respectively. The absolute average changes in MPF and RMS were 1.59% and 9.78%, respectively, with CPM-MT. Synchronous mode CPM-MT is the most effective method for brain activation, and muscle fatigue caused by the CPM-MT system was negligible. This study suggests the more effective combination rehabilitation system for MT by utilizing CPM and magnetic-based MT task to add action execution and sensory stimulation compared with CMT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taewoong Park
- Department of Creative IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang 37673, Korea; (T.P.); (M.L.); (T.J.)
| | - Mina Lee
- Department of Creative IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang 37673, Korea; (T.P.); (M.L.); (T.J.)
| | - Taejong Jeong
- Department of Creative IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang 37673, Korea; (T.P.); (M.L.); (T.J.)
| | - Yong-Il Shin
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, Korea;
| | - Sung-Min Park
- Department of Creative IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang 37673, Korea; (T.P.); (M.L.); (T.J.)
- Correspondence:
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46
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Ikeda Y, Nishimura Y, Shin N, Higuchi S. A study of EEG mu neurofeedback during action observation. Exp Brain Res 2020; 238:1277-1284. [PMID: 32303811 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-020-05808-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Accepted: 04/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The mirror system is a brain network that gets activated during action performance and observation. Brain mu waves have been used as a mirror system activity index; however, mu rhythm is prone to contamination by occipital alpha wave activity, thus raising a concern regarding its reliability as an index of the mirror system activity. In this study, we investigated whether mu suppression can be used as an index of neurofeedback training, which influences mirror system activities. Participants observed videos of hand movement under three different conditions: central mu feedback (muFB), occipital alpha feedback (aFB), and simple observation without any feedback (OBS). Results showed that at the 4-5 min mark, mu wave was most significantly suppressed in the central site at muFB. We thus demonstrated the possibility of increasing mu wave suppression in feedback training using a specific stimulus such as motion observation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuki Ikeda
- Graduate School of Integrated Frontier Sciences, Kyushu University, 4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-Ku, Fukuoka, Japan. .,Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Kojimachi Business Center Building, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Yuki Nishimura
- Graduate School of Integrated Frontier Sciences, Kyushu University, 4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-Ku, Fukuoka, Japan.,Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Kojimachi Business Center Building, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan.,National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Nagao 6-21-1, Tama-ku, Kawasaki, 214-8585, Japan
| | - Nakyeong Shin
- Graduate School of Integrated Frontier Sciences, Kyushu University, 4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-Ku, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Shigekazu Higuchi
- Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, 4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-Ku, Fukuoka, Japan
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47
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Orlandi A, D'Incà S, Proverbio AM. Muscular effort coding in action representation in ballet dancers and controls: Electrophysiological evidence. Brain Res 2020; 1733:146712. [PMID: 32044337 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2020.146712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Revised: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The present electrophysiological (EEG) study investigated the neural correlates of perceiving effortful vs. effortless movements belonging to a specific repertoire (ballet). Previous evidence has shown an increased heart and respiratory rate during the observation and imagination of human actions that require a great muscular effort. In addition, TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) and EEG studies have evidenced a greater muscle-specific cortical excitability and an increase in late event-related potentials during the observation of effortful actions. In this investigation, fifteen professional female ballet dancers and 15 controls with no experience whatsoever with dance, gymnastics, or martial arts were recruited. They were shown 326 short videos displaying a male dancer performing standard ballet steps that could be either effortful or relatively effortless. Participants were instructed to observe each clip and imagine themselves physically executing the same movement. Importantly, they were blinded to the stimuli properties. The observation of effortful compared with effortless movements resulted in a larger P300 over frontal sites in dancers only, likely because of their visuomotor expertise with the specific steps. Moreover, an enhanced Late Positivity was identified over posterior sites in response to effortful stimuli in both groups, possibly reflecting the processing of larger quantities of visual kinematic information. The source reconstruction swLORETA performed on the Late Positivity component showed greater engagement of frontoparietal regions in dancers, while task-related frontal and occipitotemporal visual regions were more active in controls. It, therefore, appears that, in dancers, effort information was encoded in a more refined manner during action observation and in the absence of explicit instruction. Acquired motor knowledge seems to result in visuomotor resonance processes, which, in turn, underlies enhanced action representation of the observed movements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Orlandi
- Neuro-MI, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Dept. of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
| | - Silvia D'Incà
- Neuro-MI, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Dept. of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
| | - Alice Mado Proverbio
- Neuro-MI, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Dept. of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
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48
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Bhandari R, Kirilina E, Caan M, Suttrup J, De Sanctis T, De Angelis L, Keysers C, Gazzola V. Does higher sampling rate (multiband + SENSE) improve group statistics - An example from social neuroscience block design at 3T. Neuroimage 2020; 213:116731. [PMID: 32173409 PMCID: PMC7181191 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Revised: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Multiband (MB) or Simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) acquisition schemes allow the acquisition of MRI signals from more than one spatial coordinate at a time. Commercial availability has brought this technique within the reach of many neuroscientists and psychologists. Most early evaluation of the performance of MB acquisition employed resting state fMRI or the most basic tasks. In this study, we tested whether the advantages of using MB acquisition schemes generalize to group analyses using a cognitive task more representative of typical cognitive neuroscience applications. Twenty-three subjects were scanned on a Philips 3 T scanner using five sequences, up to eight-fold acceleration with MB-factors 1 to 4, SENSE factors up to 2 and corresponding TRs of 2.45s down to 0.63s, while they viewed (i) movie blocks showing complex actions with hand object interactions and (ii) control movie blocks without hand object interaction. Data were processed using a widely used analysis pipeline implemented in SPM12 including the unified segmentation and canonical HRF modelling. Using random effects group-level, voxel-wise analysis we found that all sequences were able to detect the basic action observation network known to be recruited by our task. The highest t-values were found for sequences with MB4 acceleration. For the MB1 sequence, a 50% bigger voxel volume was needed to reach comparable t-statistics. The group-level t-values for resting state networks (RSNs) were also highest for MB4 sequences. Here the MB1 sequence with larger voxel size did not perform comparable to the MB4 sequence. Altogether, we can thus recommend the use of MB4 (and SENSE 1.5 or 2) on a Philips scanner when aiming to perform group-level analyses using cognitive block design fMRI tasks and voxel sizes in the range of cortical thickness (e.g. 2.7 mm isotropic). While results will not be dramatically changed by the use of multiband, our results suggest that MB will bring a moderate but significant benefit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ritu Bhandari
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Evgeniya Kirilina
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Free University, Berlin, Germany; Max Plank Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Matthan Caan
- Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Biomedical Engineering & Physics, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Judith Suttrup
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Teresa De Sanctis
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Lorenzo De Angelis
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Christian Keysers
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Valeria Gazzola
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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49
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Quadrelli E, Anzani A, Ferri M, Bolognini N, Maravita A, Zambonin F, Turati C. Electrophysiological correlates of action observation treatment in children with cerebral palsy: A pilot study. Dev Neurobiol 2020; 79:934-948. [PMID: 31981294 DOI: 10.1002/dneu.22734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Revised: 01/17/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Action Observation Treatment (AOT) has been shown to be effective in the functional recovery of several clinical populations. However, little is known about the neural underpinnings of the clinical efficacy of AOT in children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). Using electroencephalography (EEG), we recorded µ rhythm desynchronization as an index of sensorimotor cortex modulation during a passive action observation task before and after AOT. The relationship between sensorimotor modulation and clinical outcomes was also assessed. Eight children with CP entered the present randomized controlled crossover pilot study in which the experimental AOT preceded or followed a control Videogame Observation Treatment (VOT). Results provide further evidence of the clinical efficacy of AOT for improving hand motor function in CP, as assessed with the Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA) and Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function Scale (MUUL). The novel finding is that AOT increases µ rhythm desynchronization at scalp locations corresponding to the hand representation areas. This effect is associated to functional improvement assessed with the MUUL. These preliminary findings, although referred to as a small sample, suggest that AOT may affect upper limb motor recovery in children with CP and modulate the activation of sensorimotor areas, offering a potential neurophysiological correlate to support the clinical utility of AOT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ermanno Quadrelli
- Department of Psychology, Milan Center for Neuroscience, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - Anna Anzani
- Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, ASST dei Sette Laghi, Varese, Italy
| | - Matteo Ferri
- Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, ASST dei Sette Laghi, Varese, Italy
| | - Nadia Bolognini
- Department of Psychology, Milan Center for Neuroscience, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy.,Laboratory of Neuropsychology, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milano, Italy
| | - Angelo Maravita
- Department of Psychology, Milan Center for Neuroscience, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - Fabio Zambonin
- Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, ASST dei Sette Laghi, Varese, Italy
| | - Chiara Turati
- Department of Psychology, Milan Center for Neuroscience, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy.,Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, ASST dei Sette Laghi, Varese, Italy
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50
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Lübke KT, Sachse C, Hoenen M, Pause BM. Mu-Suppression as an Indicator of Empathic Processes in Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Adults. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2020; 49:635-644. [PMID: 31602582 PMCID: PMC7031183 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-019-01491-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2018] [Revised: 05/02/2019] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Self-reported empathy differs with gender and sexual orientation. The current study investigated whether mu-suppression, reflecting brain activity especially related to state empathy, also is modulated by gender and sexual orientation. Pictures of painful and non-painful actions were presented to 20 lesbians, 20 gay men, 20 heterosexual men and 20 heterosexual women, while EEG was recorded. Individual peak frequencies of mu-activity (electrodes C3, C4) were detected within the 6-11 Hz band for each participant, and mu-suppression indices were calculated. Further, verbal indicators of state empathy (pain ratings) and compassion were assessed. Only heterosexual individuals showed the typical pattern of enhanced mu-suppression in response to painful relative to non-painful pictures. Lesbian women and gay men did not show a differential mu-response. Moreover, they felt less compassion compared to heterosexual individuals. In line with this finding, the more compassion the participants reported, the stronger the mu-suppression in response to painful relative to non-painful pictures was. Pain ratings did not vary with sexual orientation. The lesser compassion reported by lesbian women and gay men is discussed as a mediator of their non-differential mu-suppression response. It is hypothesized that this pattern might relate to gay men and lesbian women tending to perceive the anonymous depicted actors as outgroup members, hence showing less compassion and reduced mu-suppression. As empathy is often related to negative feelings (empathic stress), a clear distinction between individuals to empathize with versus individuals not to emphasize with may well be an adaptive feature in same-sex oriented individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrin T Lübke
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Charlotte Sachse
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Matthias Hoenen
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Bettina M Pause
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
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