117,456 research outputs found
Equal kinematics and visual context but different purposes: Observer's moral rules modulate motor resonance
No full textMotor resonance is considered to be an index of the automatic under threshold motor replica of the observed action. Similar actions may be quite different in terms of long-term goals (e.g., grasp to eat vs grasp to throw) and, recently, it has been proposed that the distal goal subtly modulates movements execution, and that observers automatically use these differences in kinematics to discriminate between different intentions. This interpretation is in line with computational approaches proposing that in the agent the generative process causes that intention shapes the kinematics, and in the observer the recognition process causes that the kinematics cues the intention. Given the close entanglement between the two processes, here we investigated whether the mere knowledge of agent's intentions induces in the observer a generative process able to modulate motor resonance. We used transcranial magnetic stimulation to examine motor evoked potentials in the Opponens Pollicis muscle to verify if observer's knowledge of agent's positive, negative, or neutral intentions on a third person influences corticospinal excitability during observation of the same action performed with equal kinematics, and in the same visual context. Results showed that the observation of an action executed with the intention to induce negative effects determined a reduction of motor resonance, revealing the presence of a specific inhibition to reenact an action that results in unpleasant consequences in the other. These data suggest that the information at the intention level activates a generative process which overcomes the replica of kinematics at the goal level, and shapes motor resonance according with observer's mind and not with agent's intention, revealing the possibility of a mere cognitive influence on motor resonance based on individual's ethical values. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
The mirror-neuron system
No full textA category of stimuli of great importance for primates, humans in particular, is that formed by actions done by other individuals. If we want to survive, we must understand the actions of others. Furthermore, without action understanding, social organization is impossible. In the case of humans, there is another faculty that depends on the observation of others' actions: imitation learning. Unlike most species, we are able to learn by imitation, and this faculty is at the basis of human culture. In this review we present data on a neurophysiological mechanism--the mirror-neuron mechanism--that appears to play a fundamental role in both action understanding and imitation. We describe first the functional properties of mirror neurons in monkeys. We review next the characteristics of the mirror-neuron system in humans. We stress, in particular, those properties specific to the human mirror-neuron system that might explain the human capacity to learn by imitation. We conclude by discussing the relationship between the mirror-neuron system and language
Proactive gaze is present during biological and non-biological motion observation
No full textOthers' action observation activates in the observer a coordinated hand-eye motor program, covert for the hand (i.e. motor resonance), and overt for the eye (i.e. proactive gaze), similar to that of the observed agent. The biological motion hypothesis of action anticipation claims that proactive gaze occurs only in the presence of biological motion, and that kinematic information is sufficient to determine the anticipation process. The results of the present study did not support the biological motion hypothesis of action anticipation. Specifically, proactive gaze was present during observation of both a biological accelerated-decelerated motion and a non-biological constant velocity motion (Experiment 1), in the presence of a barrier able to restrict differences between the two kinematics to the motion profile of individual markers prior to contact (Experiment 2), but only if an object was present at the end point of the movement trajectory (Experiment 3). Furthermore, proactive gaze was found independently of the presence of end effects temporally congruent with the instant in which the movement stopped (Experiments 4, and 5). We propose that the involvement of the observer's motor system is not restricted to when the agent moves with natural kinematics, and it is mandatory whenever the presence of an agent or a goal is evident, regardless of physical appearance, natural kinematics, and the possibility to identify the action behind the stimulus
Motor resonance : Neurophysiological origin, functional role, and contribution of the motivational, moral, and social aspects of action
No full textOne of the most convincing results in support of embodied cognition is the evidence that when we observe another person performing an action, our sensorimotor system is activated up to the muscular level as if we were performing that same action (Fadiga et al. 1995). Taking its cue from physical acoustics, this phenomenon has been named motor resonance. In the case of acoustic resonance, a vibrating tuning-fork will cause a second identical tuning-fork to vibrate at the same frequency. Similarly, numerous studies have demonstrated that motor resonance follows somatotopic principles and happens in a muscle-specific manner (Alaerts et al. 2009; Borroni and Baldissera 2008; Brighina et al. 2000; Clark et al. 2004; Fadiga et al. 1995; Urgesi et al. 2006), and that it is coupled to the movement phases (Alaerts et al. 2012; Borroni et al. 2005; Gangitano et al. 2001; Montagna et al. 2005). Given that this automatically induced sensorimotor representation of the perceived action corresponds to what is spontaneously generated during actual action execution, the outcome of which would be known to the agent, embodied theories of cognition suggest that this motor replica may support action perception and understanding (Decety and Chaminade 2005; Gallese 2008, 2003; Keysers and Gazzola 2007). However, if the frequencies of the two tuning-forks differ, the acoustic resonance does not occur. It is sufficient to apply a clamp on the prongs of the second tuning-fork, thus changing the frequency of its oscillation, to interrupt the acoustic resonance phenomenon. Likewise, research described in this chapter shows how the clamp-like top-down influence of actor and observer intentions, values, and attitudes can affect motor resonance (Urgesi et al. 2020). The goal and, presumably, the final intention of the agent are cued by mapping other people’s actions onto one’s own sensorimotor representation, therefore motor resonance must necessarily encode additional information beyond the movement’s kinematics. For example, although a butcher understands exactly how to use a knife to slaughter a cow, this is not enough for him/her to resonate with another person using the same knife to inflict a deadly wound on a human being. The chapter will first describe the neurophysiological basis of motor resonance both in the monkey and in humans, then report evidence showing the role of sensorimotor activation in others’ action perception and prediction. Finally, it will show research aimed at assessing which cognitive processes and neural mechanisms are involved in exerting a top-down modulation of motor resonance according to stimulus features, task requirements, and actors’ and observers’ motivational states
Implicit Associations between Adverbs of Place and Actions in the Physical and Digital Space
No full textNeuropsychological, behavioral, and neurophysiological evidence indicates that the coding of space as near and far depends on the involvement of different neuronal circuits. These circuits are recruited on the basis of functional parameters, not of metrical ones, reflecting a general distinction of human behavior, which alternatively attributes to the individual the role of agent or observer. Although much research in cognitive psychology was devoted to demonstrating that language and concepts are rooted in the sensorimotor system, no study has investigated the presence of implicit associations between different adverbs of place (far vs. near) and actions with different functional characteristics. Using a series of Implicit Association Test (IAT) experiments, we tested this possibility for both actions performed in physical space (grasp vs. look at) and those performed when using digital technology (content generation vs. content consumption). For both the physical and digital environments, the results showed an association between the adverb near and actions related to the role of agent, and between the adverb far and actions related to the role of observer. Present findings are the first experimental evidence of an implicit association between different adverbs of place and different actions and of the fact that adverbs of place also apply to the digital environment
Phonological and lexical motor facilitation during speech listening: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study.
No full textIn the present study, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the influence of phonological and lexical properties of verbal items on the excitability of the tongue's cortical motor representation during passive listening. In particular, we aimed to clarify if the difference in tongue motor excitability found during listening to words and pseudo-words [Fadiga, L., Craighero, L., Buccino, G., Rizzolatti, G., 2002. Speech listening specifically modulates the excitability of tongue muscles: a TMS study. European Journal of Neuroscience 15, 399-402] is due to lexical frequency or to the presence of a meaning per se. In order to do this, we investigated the time-course of tongue motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) during listening to frequent words, rare words, and pseudo-words embedded with a double consonant requiring relevant tongue movements for its pronunciation. Results showed that at the later stimulation intervals (200 and 300 ms from the double consonant) listening to rare words evoked much larger MEPs than listening to frequent words. Moreover, by comparing pseudo-words embedded with a double consonant requiring or not tongue movements, we found that a pure phonological motor resonance was present only 100 ms after the double consonant. Thus, while the phonological motor resonance appears very early, the lexical-dependent motor facilitation takes more time to appear and depends on the frequency of the stimuli. The present results indicate that the motor system responsible for phonoarticulatory movements during speech production is also involved during speech listening in a strictly specific way. This motor facilitation reflects both the difference in the phonoarticulatory characteristics and the difference in the frequency of occurrence of the verbal material
Data for: Proactive gaze is driven by the translational movement reaching an object regardless of the type of kinematics
No full textThe file Data proactive.xlsx reports the latency of participants' gaze shifts towards the end of a dots configuration translational movement, calculated from the time of dots configuration movement onset, in five different Experiments. The total duration of dots configuration movement was 1600 ms. Each sheet separately reports gaze latency in milliseconds recorded from each participant, during each trial, in each Experiment.The folder Stimuli contains 9 videos used as stimuli in Experiment 1 (Video 1, and 2), Experiment 2 (Video 3, and 4), Experiment 3 (Video 5, and 6), Experiment 4 (Video 7, and 8), and Experiment 5 (Video 9). The file Videos legends.docx describes each video
Digital Intentions in the Fingers: I Know What You Are Doing with Your Smartphone
No full textEvery day, we make thousands of finger movements on the touchscreen of our smartphones. The same movements might be directed at various distal goals. We can type "What is the weather in Rome?" in Google to acquire information from a weather site, or we may type it on WhatsApp to decide whether to visit Rome with a friend. In this study, we show that by watching an agent's typing hands, an observer can infer whether the agent is typing on the smartphone to obtain information or to share it with others. The probability of answering correctly varies with age and typing style. According to embodied cognition, we propose that the recognition process relies on detecting subtle differences in the agent's movement, a skill that grows with sensorimotor competence. We expect that this preliminary work will serve as a starting point for further research on sensorimotor representations of digital actions
Editorial: How Do Motivational States Influence Motor Resonance?
No full textsponsorship: CU was supported by the Italian Ministry of University, Research and Education (PRIN 2017, no. 2017N7WCLP) and by the Italian Ministry of Health Bando Ricerca Finalizzata 2016, no. GR-2016-02363640). (Italian Ministry of University, Research and Education (PRIN 2017)|2017N7WCLP, Italian Ministry of Health Bando Ricerca Finalizzata 2016|GR-2016-02363640)status: Publishe
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