Motor resonance during action observation is gaze-contingent: A TMS study

NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA

卷:103

Article

D'Innocenzo, Giorgia¹  Gonzalez, Claudia C.¹  Nowicky, Alexander V.²  Williains, A. Mark^3,4  Bishop, Daniel T.³ 

[1] Brunel Univ London, Coll Hlth & Life Sci, Dept Life Sci, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, Middx, England

[2] Brunel Univ London, Coll Hlth & Life Sci, Dept Clin Sci, Ctr Cognit Neurosci, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, Middx, England

[3] Brunel Univ London, Coll Hlth & Life Sci, Dept Life Sci, Ctr Cognit Neurosci, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, Middx, England

[4] Univ Utah, Coll Hlth, Dept Hlth Kinesiol & Recreat, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 USA

关键词: Eye movements;    Gaze behaviour;    MEPs;    Observational learning;    TMS;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.07.017

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

When we observe others performing an action, visual input to our mirror neuron system is reflected in the facilitation of primary motor cortex (M1), a phenomenon known as 'motor resonance'. However, it is unclear whether this motor resonance is contingent upon our point-of-gaze. In order to address this issue, we collected gaze data from participants as they viewed an intransitive action thumb abduction/adduction under four conditions: with natural gaze behaviour (free viewing) and with their gaze fixated on each of three predetermined loci at various distances from the prime mover. In a control condition, participants viewed little finger movements, also with a fixated gaze. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was delivered to M1 and motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the right abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and right abductor digiti minimi (ADM). Results showed that, relative to a free viewing condition, a fixated point-of-gaze which maximized transfoveal motion facilitated MEPs in APB. Moreover, during free viewing, saccade amplitudes and APB MEP amplitudes were negatively correlated. These findings indicate that motor resonance is contingent on the observer's gaze behaviour and that, for simple movements, action observation effects may be enhanced by employing a fixed point-of-gaze.

【 授权许可】

Free