Research Interests:
—Action observation is known to enhance sensorimotor system activation, and such effect has been linked to neural priming and response facilitation mechanisms. This facilitation effect, however, has been primarily studied by focusing on... more
—Action observation is known to enhance sensorimotor system activation, and such effect has been linked to neural priming and response facilitation mechanisms. This facilitation effect, however, has been primarily studied by focusing on high-level motor proficiency, whereas evidence on the effect of observing poorly performed actions is still lacking. We then devised a study to investigate neural correlates of the observation of suboptimal motor acts as mirrored by corticospinal activation (via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), Experiment 1) and by modulation of cortical oscillatory activity (via electroencephalography (EEG), Experiment 2). 40 participants were presented with four randomly reiterated videos. Videos depicted a healthy confederate, a minimally impaired multiple sclerosis (MS) patient, a mildly impaired MS patient, or a confederate trying to simulate mild motor difficulties performing a test concerning fine motor abilities. In Experiment 1 we analyzed TMS-induced motor-evoked potentials during the observation of videos. In Experiment 2 EEG data were analyzed in the frequency-domain. Analyses highlighted both increased corticospinal excitability and desynchronized alpha-beta oscillations during the observation of poorly performed motor acts performed by the mildly impaired MS patient. Further, we observed gradually increasing beta activity across videos reiterations, specifically for the minimally impaired patient's video. Reported findings corroborate the hypotheses that the action-observation network and the motor system might be involved in processes evoked in the attempt to understand and predict observed actions which do not belong to the onlookers' motor repertoire, reflecting in an increased sensorimotor activity.
Research Interests:
The present work aimed at exploring functional correlates of motor and linguistic representations of everyday actions, with a specific interest in potential sensorimotor activation effects induced by the use of related action sentences.... more
The present work aimed at exploring functional correlates of motor and linguistic representations of everyday actions, with a specific interest in potential sensorimotor activation effects induced by the use of related action sentences. While it is indeed known that observing simple motor acts (e.g., precision grasping) and listening to the sound of specific actions (e.g., walking) activate sensorimotor structures, less is known when we move to more complex behaviors and more abstract linguistic representations (e.g., verbal descriptions). Again, the potential of linguistic representations to facilitate the activation of specific sensorimotor structures during action execution or observation is yet unexplored. We then aimed at investigating hemodynamic activation patterns (via functional near-infrared spectroscopy, fNIRS) within the sensorimotor network during different tasks based on everyday activities. Twenty volunteers were asked to execute (EXE), observe (OBS), or listen (LIS) to brief verbal descriptions of transitive actions, to observe them while listening to their description (OBS–LIS), or to execute them while listening to their description (EXE–LIS). Analyses highlighted that, in the left hemisphere, hemo-dynamic responses were the lowest during observation of complex actions and observation coupled with listening, greater during simple listening to verbal description of actions, and maximal when participants actually executed complex actions or executed them while listening to their verbal descriptions. The present results suggest that processing verbal descriptions of actions might keep the sensorimotor network more active than simply observing them. Such first pieces of evidence hint at potential implications for novel procedures for rehabilitation of movement and action deficits.
Research Interests:
Similarities between action observation and action execution processes – as well as action imagination and simulation ones – have been consistently reported to date by electrophysiological, neuroimaging and brain stimulation studies.... more
Similarities between action observation and action execution processes – as well as action imagination and simulation ones – have been consistently reported to date by electrophysiological, neuroimaging and brain stimulation studies. According to the common coding hypothesis, perceptual and motor representations are associated and ground on a common computational code. Observing an action, then, would prime the relative action representation, and executing an action would facilitate relative representations of its perceivable effects. Furthermore, a link has been suggested between motor and conceptual-linguistic representations of actions and supported, for example, by behavioural evidences on the action-sentence compatibility effect. The present study aims at extending existing observations on simple actions and at investigating electrophysiological (EEG) and hemodynamic (functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, fNIRS) correlates of the execution and observation of complex common actions. So to explore potentially shared encoding processes with respect to conceptual-linguistic representations of those actions, we also looked at cortical correlates of listening to their relative verbal descriptions. Twenty healthy young adults took part in the study and were asked to: observe realistic complex actions (e.g. to pour some wine), actually execute them, or listen to their verbal description (brief verb and object phrases, e.g. " pour some wine "). We also included two combined tasks (observation and listening; execution and listening) so to investigate potential cross-facilitation effects. The integrated recording setup included 15 evenly distributed EEG electrodes and 16 fNIRS channels (over bilateral prefrontal and pre-motor regions). The analysis of EEG data highlighted the role of contralateral sensorimotor areas in all experimental tasks, as marked by a modulation of the upper-alpha band, and task-specific modulations of oscillatory activity over midline electrodes. Conversely, fNIRS prefrontal and pre-motor hemodynamic responses mainly highlighted task-specific peculiarities, with greater contralateral activity during action execution, lower activation during action observation, and no relevant hemispheric asymmetries during the listening conditions. To sum up, electrophysiological findings pointed out interesting similarities in motor and somatosensory cortical activity during observation, execution and listening conditions even when focusing on realistic actions, in line with common coding theories. Task specificities revealed by fNIRS measures might instead mirror the differential role of anterior cortical structures.
Research Interests:
Objective The present work aimed at exploring potential associations and similarities of perceptual, motor and linguistic representations of complex real-life actions, with a specific interest in potential sensorimotor activation... more
Objective
The present work aimed at exploring potential associations and similarities of perceptual, motor and linguistic representations of complex real-life actions, with a specific interest in potential sensorimotor activation effects induced by the observation of such behaviors or the use of relative action verbs. While it is indeed known that observing simple motor acts (e.g. precision grasping) and listening to the sound of specific actions (e.g. walking) activate sensorimotor structures, less is known when we move to more complex behaviors and more abstract representations (e.g. verbal description, action verbs). We then aimed at investigating hemodynamic activation patterns of the sensorimotor network during different action-related tasks based on complex every-day activities.
Participants and methods
20 volunteers were asked to actually execute, observe, or listen to brief verbal descriptions of complex goal-directed real-life actions, or, again, to observe them while listening to their description or to execute them while listening to their description. Cortical functional data have been collected via optical imaging (functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy - fNIRS).
Results
The analysis of fNIRS data highlighted that, in the left hemisphere (contralateral to target actions), hemodynamic responses were the lowest during observation of complex actions and observation coupled with listening of consistent simple verbal description of actions, greater during simple listening of verbal description of actions, and maximal when participants actually executed complex actions and when they executed them while listening to consistent simple verbal descriptions.
Conclusion
Present results suggest that listening to verbal description of actions might keep the sensorimotor network more active than simply observing them, and that coupling execution of complex action with listening of their description similarly recruit sensorimotor regions with respect to simple action execution. Such first evidences hint at potential implication for novel rehabilitation procedures of movement and action deficits.
The present work aimed at exploring potential associations and similarities of perceptual, motor and linguistic representations of complex real-life actions, with a specific interest in potential sensorimotor activation effects induced by the observation of such behaviors or the use of relative action verbs. While it is indeed known that observing simple motor acts (e.g. precision grasping) and listening to the sound of specific actions (e.g. walking) activate sensorimotor structures, less is known when we move to more complex behaviors and more abstract representations (e.g. verbal description, action verbs). We then aimed at investigating hemodynamic activation patterns of the sensorimotor network during different action-related tasks based on complex every-day activities.
Participants and methods
20 volunteers were asked to actually execute, observe, or listen to brief verbal descriptions of complex goal-directed real-life actions, or, again, to observe them while listening to their description or to execute them while listening to their description. Cortical functional data have been collected via optical imaging (functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy - fNIRS).
Results
The analysis of fNIRS data highlighted that, in the left hemisphere (contralateral to target actions), hemodynamic responses were the lowest during observation of complex actions and observation coupled with listening of consistent simple verbal description of actions, greater during simple listening of verbal description of actions, and maximal when participants actually executed complex actions and when they executed them while listening to consistent simple verbal descriptions.
Conclusion
Present results suggest that listening to verbal description of actions might keep the sensorimotor network more active than simply observing them, and that coupling execution of complex action with listening of their description similarly recruit sensorimotor regions with respect to simple action execution. Such first evidences hint at potential implication for novel rehabilitation procedures of movement and action deficits.