117,472 research outputs found
Recognition of emotions from faces and voices in medial temporal lobe epilepsy
No full textPatients with chronic medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) can be impaired in different tasks that evaluate emotional or social abilities. In particular, the recognition of facial emotions can be affected (Meletti S, Benuzzi F, Rubboli G, et al. Neurology 2003;60:426-31. Meletti S, Benuzzi F, Cantalupo G, Rubboli G, Tassinari CA, Nichelli P. Epilepsia 2009;50:1547-59). To better understand the nature of emotion recognition deficits in MTLE we investigated the decoding of basic emotions in the visual (facial expression) and auditory (emotional prosody) domains in 41 patients. Results showed deficits in the recognition of both facial and vocal expression of emotions, with a strong correlation between performances across the two tasks. No correlation between emotion recognition and measures of IQ, quality of life (QOLIE-31), and depression (Beck Depression Inventory) was significant, except for a weak correlation between prosody recognition and IQ. These data suggest that emotion recognition impairment in MTLE is not dependent on the sensory channel through which the emotional stimulus is transmitted. Moreover, these findings support the notion that emotional processing is at least partly independent of measures of cognitive intelligence
Visual illusions and the control of children arm movements
No full textThe aim of the present study was to determine whether children like adults (Gentilucci M, Chieffi S, Daprati E, Saetti MC, Toni
I. Visual illusion and action. Neuropsychologia 1996;34:369–76; Gentilucci M, Daprati E, Gangitano M, Toni I. Eye position
tunes the contribution of allocentric and egocentric information to target localisation in human goal directed arm movements.
Neurosci Lett 1997;222:123–6) are influenced by visual illusions when they transform visual information in motor command.
Children and adults pointed to a shaft extremity of the Mu ̈ ller-Lyer configurations, as well as to an extremity of a control
configuration. Movements were executed in two experimental conditions. In the vision condition subjects saw both the stimulus
and their hand before and during movement. In the no vision (memory) condition subjects saw the stimulus and their hand before, but not during movement. Movement started 5 s after vision was precluded. The Mu ̈ ller-Lyer illusion affected pointing kinematics of both children and adults. As found previously (Gentilucci M, Chieffi S, Daprati E, Saetti MC, Toni I. Visual illusion and action. Neuropsychologia 1996;34:369–76; Gentilucci M, Daprati E, Gangitano M, Toni I. Eye position tunes the contribution
of allocentric and egocentric information to target localisation in human goal directed arm movements. Neurosci Lett
1997;222:123–6), subjects undershot and overshot the shaft extremity of the closed and of the open configuration, respectively.
The illusion effect was greater in the no vision than in the vision condition. These results show that in children like in adults the
system underlying visual perception in an object-centered frame of reference and that involved in motor control functionally
interact with each other. Although the processes of target localisation were the same, the transformation of target position
information in a sequence of motor patterns was different in children from that in adults. Even if both children and adults
lengthened duration of the deceleration phase in the vision condition, only adults shortened duration of the acceleration phase in order to maintain constant movement time (Viviani P, Schneider R. A developmental study of the relationship between geometry
and kinematics in drawing movements. J Exp Psychol 1991;17:198–218). This result suggests that children are yet unable to co-ordinate temporally acceleration with deceleration phase
The influence of stimulus color on the control of reaching-grasping movements
No full textThis kinematic study aimed to determine
whether color is a stimulus property involved in the control
of reaching-grasping movements. Subjects reached
and grasped a target-object, located either on the right or
on the left of the subject’s midline. A distractor, placed
along the subject’s midline, could be randomly presented.
The colors, i.e., both chromaticity (red and green
stimuli were presented) and lightness, of the target and
distractor were varied in experiment 1. Only stimulus
lightness and only stimulus chromaticity were varied in
experiments 2 and 3, respectively. In experiment 4 subjects
matched with their thumb and index finger the size
of the target-stimuli presented in experiment 1. Chromaticity
(experiments 1 and 3) of the target and distractor
influenced grasp, but not reach. Maximal finger aperture
was larger during grasping the red than the green target.
Data collected in the matching task (experiment 4) confirmed
a trend to overestimate the red target and to underestimate
the green one. During grasp, hand shaping
was influenced by distractor chromaticity when it was
different from target chromaticity. Distractor lightness
affected reach, but not grasp (experiments 1 and 2).
Reach was slower when the distractor was lighter and
arm trajectory veered away from it. The results of the
present study suggest that color, that is the ensemble of
chromaticity and lightness, is a stimulus property involved
in the control of reaching-grasping. The different
effects of target color on reach and grasp support the notion
that intrinsic object properties, such as color, affect
grasp more than reach. In addition, the different effects
of distractor chromaticity and lightness on reach and
grasp confirm that target-objects are visually extracted
from surrounding cues by means of different processes,
according to the required motor response
Impaired control of an action after supplementary motor area lesion: A case study
No full textThe kinematics of the action formed by reaching±grasping an object and placing it on a second target was studied in a patient
who su ered from an acute vascular left brain lesion, which a ected the Supplementary Motor Area proper (SMA-proper)
(Matelli M, Luppino G. Thalamic input to mesial and superior area 6 in the macaque monkey. Journal of Comparative
Neurology 1996;372:59±87, Matelli M, Luppino G, Fogassi L, Rizzolatti G. Thalamic input to inferior area 6 and area 4 in the
macaque monkey. Journal of Comparative Neurology 1989;280:468±488), and in ®ve healthy control subjects. The reach kinematics of the controls was a ected by the positions of both the reaching±grasping and the placing targets (Gentilucci M,
Negrotti A, Gangitano M. Planning an action. Experimental Brain Research 1997;115:116±28). In contrast, the reach kinematics
of the patient was a ected only by the position of the reaching±grasping target. By comparing these results with those
previously found in Parkinson's disease patients executing the same action (Gentilucci M, Negrotti A. Planning and executing an
action in Parkinson's disease patients. Movement Disorders 1999;1:69±79, Gentilucci M, Negrotti A. The control of an action in
Parkinson's disease. Experimental Brain Research 1999;129:269±277), we suggest that the anatomical ``motor'' circuit formed by SMA-proper (see above), Basal Ganglia (BG) and Thalamus (Alexander GE, Crutcher MD. Functional architecture of basal ganglia circuits: neural substrates of parallel processing. Trends in the Neurosciences 1990;13:266±271, Hoover JE, Strick PL.
Multiple output channels in the basal ganglia. Nature 1993;259:819±821) may be involved in the control of actions: SMA-proper assembles the sequence of the action, whereas BG updates its parameters and stores them
Recognising a hand by grasp
No full textThe present study aimed to demonstrate that motor representations are used to recognise biological stimuli. In three experiments subjects were required to judge laterality of hands and forearms presented by pictures. The postures of the hands were those assumed when holding a small, medium and large sphere. In experiment 1, the sphere held in hand was presented, whereas in experiment 2 it was absent. In experiment 3, the same images, showing holding-a-sphere hands, as in experiment 1 were presented, but without forearm. In all experiments one finger of each hand could be absent. In experiment 1 recognition time was longer for those hand postures for which the corresponding grasping motor acts required more accuracy. This was confirmed by a control experiment (experiment 4), in which subjects actually grasped the spheres. Absence of fingers did not influence right–left hand recognition. However, the absence of target object in experiment 2, and of forearm in experiment 3 reduced the effects of the type of holding on hand laterality recognition. The results of the present study indicate that grasp representations are used to recognise hand laterality. In particular, the visual description of how hand and object interact in space (the opposition space [M.A. Arbib, Programs, schemas and neural networks for control of hand movement: beyond the RS frameworks, in: M. Jeannerod (Ed.), Attention and Performance XIII: Motor Representation and Control, Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 1990, 111–138; M.A. Arbib, T. Iberall, D. Lyons, Coordinated control programs for movements of the hand, in: A.W. Goodman, I. Darian-Smith (Eds.), Hand function and the neocortex, Springer, Berlin, 1985, pp. 135–170]) and the anchoring of the hand to the agent are the features of the grasp representations used in hand-recognition processes. The data are discussed according to the more general notion that motor representations are automatically extracted in the process of intuiting situations, or people's intentions. These motor representations, which are compared with those of other people, contain concrete information on the actions (the motor program) by which a situation is created and on the aim of the agents executing those actions
Language and motor control
No full textWe investigated the possible influence of automatic word reading on processes of visuo-motor transformation. Subjects reached and grasped an object on which the following Italian words were printed: "VICINO" (near) or "LONTAN" (far) on an object either near or far from the agent (experiments 1, 2); PICCOLO (small) or "GRANDE" (large) on either a small or a large object (experiment 4); and "ALTO" (high) or "BASSO" (low) on either a high or a low object (experiment 5). The kinematics of the initial phase of reaching-grasping was affected by the meaning of the printed words. Namely, subjects automatically associated the meaning of the word with the corresponding property of the object and activated a reach and/or a grasp motor program influenced by the word. No effect on initial reach kinematics was observed for words related to object properties not directly involved in reach control (experiment 3). Moreover, in all the experiments, the presented words poorly influenced perceptual judgement of object properties. In experiments 5-7, the effects of the Italian adjectives "ALTO" (high) and "BASSO" (low) on reaching-grasping control were compared with those of the Italian adverbs "SOPRA" (up) and "SOTTO" (down). Adjectives influenced visual analysis of target-object properties, whereas adverbs more directly influenced the control of the action. We suggest that these effects resemble the structure of a sentence, where adjectives are commonly referred to nouns, and adverbs to verbs. In other words, class of words and, in a broad sense, grammar influenced motor control. The results of the present study show that cognitive functions such as language can affect visuo-motor transformation. They are discussed according to the notion that a strict relation between language and motor control exists, and that the frontal cortex can be involved in interactions between automatic word reading and visuo-motor transformation
Language and motor control
No full textWe investigated the possible influence of automatic word reading on processes of visuo-motor transformation. Subjects reached and grasped an object on which the following Italian words were printed: 'VICINO' (near) or 'LONTAN' (far) on an object either near or far from the agent (experiments 1, 2); PICCOLO (small) or 'GRANDE' (large) on either a small or a large object (experiment 4); and 'ALTO' (high) or 'BASSO' (low) on either a high or a low object (experiment 5). The kinematics of the initial phase of reaching-grasping was affected by the meaning of the printed words. Namely, subjects automatically associated the meaning of the word with the corresponding property of the object and activated a reach and/or a grasp motor program influenced by the word. No effect on initial reach kinematics was observed for words related to object properties not directly involved in reach control (experiment 3). Moreover, in all the experiments, the presented words poorly influenced perceptual judgement of object properties. In experiments 5-7, the effects of the Italian adjectives 'ALTO' (high) and 'BASSO' (low) on reaching-grasping control were compared with those of the Italian adverbs 'SOPRA' (up) and 'SOTTO' (down). Adjectives influenced visual analysis of target-object properties, whereas adverbs more directly influenced the control of the action. We suggest that these effects resemble the structure of a sentence, where adjectives are commonly referred to nouns, and adverbs to verbs. In other words, class of words and, in a broad sense, grammar influenced motor control. The results of the present study show that cognitive functions such as language can affect visuo-motor transformation. They are discussed according to the notion that a strict relation between language and motor control exists, and that the frontal cortex can be involved in interactions between automatic word reading and visuo-motor transformation
Recognising a hand by grasp
No full textThe present study aimed to demonstrate that motor representations are used to recognise biological stimuli. In three experiments subjects were required to judge laterality of hands and forearms presented by pictures. The postures of the hands were those assumed when holding a small, medium and large sphere. In experiment 1, the sphere held in hand was presented, whereas in experiment 2 it was absent. In experiment 3, the same images, showing holding-a-sphere hands, as in experiment 1 were presented, but without forearm. In all experiments one finger of each hand could be absent. In experiment 1 recognition time was longer for those hand postures for which the corresponding grasping motor acts required more accuracy. This was confirmed by a control experiment (experiment 4), in which subjects actually grasped the spheres. Absence of fingers did not influence right-left hand recognition. However, the absence of target object in experiment 2, and of forearm in experiment 3 reduced the effects of the type of holding on hand laterality recognition. The results of the present study indicate that grasp representations are used to recognise hand laterality. In particular, the visual description of how hand and object interact in space (the opposition space [M.A. Arbib, Programs, schemas and neural networks for control of hand movement: beyond the RS frameworks, in: M. Jeannerod (Ed.), Attention and Performance XIII: Motor Representation and Control, Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 1990, 111-138; M.A. Arbib, T. Iberall, D. Lyons, Coordinated control programs for movements of the hand, in: A.W. Goodman, I. Darian-Smith (Eds.), Hand function and the neocortex, Springer, Berlin, 1985, pp. 135-170]) and the anchoring of the hand to the agent are the features of the grasp representations used in hand-recognition processes. The data are discussed according to the more general notion that motor representations are automatically extracted in the process of intuiting situations, or people's intentions. These motor representations, which are compared with those of other people, contain concrete information on the actions (the motor program) by which a situation is created and on the aim of the agents executing those actions. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Impaired control of an action after supplementary motor area lesion: A case study
No full textThe kinematics of the action formed by reaching-grasping an object and placing it on a second target was studied in a patient who suffered from an acute vascular left brain lesion, which affected the Supplementary Motor Area proper (SMA-proper) (Matelli M, Luppino G. Thalamic input to mesial and superior area 6 in the macaque monkey. Journal of Comparative Neurology 1996;372:59-87, Matelli M, Luppino G, Fogassi L, Rizzolatti G. Thalamic input to inferior area 6 and area 4 in the macaque monkey. Journal of Comparative Neurology 1989;280:468-488), and in five healthy control subjects. The reach kinematics of the controls was affected by the positions of both the reaching-grasping and the placing targets (Gentilucci M, Negrotti A, Gangitano M. Planning an action. Experimental Brain Research 1997;115:116- 28). In contrast, the reach kinematics of the patient was affected only by the position of the reaching-grasping target. By comparing these results with those previously found in Parkinson's disease patients executing the same action (Gentilucci M, Negrotti A. Planning and executing an action in Parkinson's disease patients. Movement Disorders 1999;1:69-79, Gentilucci M, Negrotti A. The control of an action in Parkinson's disease. Experimental Brain Research 1999;129:269-277), we suggest that the anatomical 'motor' circuit formed by SMA-proper (see above), Basal Ganglia (BG) and Thalamus (Alexander GE, Crutcher MD. Functional architecture of basal ganglia circuits: neural substrates of parallel processing. Trends in the Neurosciences 1990;13:266-271, Hoover JE, Strick PL. Multiple output channels in the basal ganglia. Nature 1993;259:819-821) may be involved in the control of actions: SMA-proper assembles the sequence of the action, whereas BG updates its parameters and stores them. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd
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