Humans can recombine thousands of different facial expressions. This variability is due to the ab... more Humans can recombine thousands of different facial expressions. This variability is due to the ability to voluntarily or involuntarily modulate emotional expressions, which, in turn, depends on the existence of two anatomically separate pathways. The Voluntary (VP) and Involuntary (IP) pathways mediate the production of posed and spontaneous facial expressions, respectively, and might also affect the left and right sides of the face differently. This is a neglected aspect in the emotion literature, where posed expressions instead of genuine expressions are often used as stimuli. Two experiments with different induction methods were specifically designed to inves-tigate the unfolding of spontaneous and posed facial expressions of happiness along the facial vertical axis (left, right) with a high-definition 3D optoelectronic system. The results showed that spontaneous expressions were distinguished from posed facial movements as revealed by relia-ble spatial and speed key kinematic pa...
Every day, we make thousands of finger movements on the touchscreen of our smartphones. The same ... more Every 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.
ABSTRACT Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies have shown that the observation of an ac... more ABSTRACT Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies have shown that the observation of an action causes subliminal activation within the motor system. However, the issue of whether such an effect is modulated by the match between the observed action and that the observer would have exhibited if acting under similar circumstances remains unclear. We address this issue by recording motor potentials evoked by single-pulse TMS from the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscles during the observation of video-clips representing prehensile actions towards small or large objects. In a separate behavioral study, participants were asked to evaluate which type of grasp would be the most appropriate for the tested objects. The TMS data revealed a selective motor facilitation during the observation of movements recruiting the targeted digits. We contend that, in action observation tasks, the human corticospinal system mediating action observation effects codes merely for the visual aspects of the observed action.
While approaching celebrations for the 150 years of “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and An... more While approaching celebrations for the 150 years of “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals”, scientists’ conclusions on emotion expression are still debated. Emotion expression has been traditionally anchored to prototypical and mutually exclusive facial expressions (e.g., anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise). However, people express emotions in nuanced patterns and – crucially – not everything is in the face. In recent decades considerable work has critiqued this classical view, calling for a more fluid and flexible approach that considers how humans dynamically perform genuine expressions with their bodies in context. A growing body of evidence suggests that each emotional display is a complex, multi-component, motoric event. The human face is never static, but continuously acts and reacts to internal and environmental stimuli, with the coordinated action of muscles throughout the body. Moreover, two anatomically and functionally different neural pat...
Humans can recombine thousands of different facial expressions. This variability is due to the ab... more Humans can recombine thousands of different facial expressions. This variability is due to the ability to voluntarily or involuntarily modulate emotional expressions, which, in turn, depends on the existence of two anatomically separate pathways. The Voluntary (VP) and Involuntary (IP) pathways mediate the production of posed and spontaneous facial expressions, respectively, and might also affect the left and right sides of the face differently. This is a neglected aspect in the emotion literature, where posed expressions instead of genuine expressions are often used as stimuli. Two experiments with different induction methods were specifically designed to inves-tigate the unfolding of spontaneous and posed facial expressions of happiness along the facial vertical axis (left, right) with a high-definition 3D optoelectronic system. The results showed that spontaneous expressions were distinguished from posed facial movements as revealed by relia-ble spatial and speed key kinematic pa...
Every day, we make thousands of finger movements on the touchscreen of our smartphones. The same ... more Every 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.
ABSTRACT Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies have shown that the observation of an ac... more ABSTRACT Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies have shown that the observation of an action causes subliminal activation within the motor system. However, the issue of whether such an effect is modulated by the match between the observed action and that the observer would have exhibited if acting under similar circumstances remains unclear. We address this issue by recording motor potentials evoked by single-pulse TMS from the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscles during the observation of video-clips representing prehensile actions towards small or large objects. In a separate behavioral study, participants were asked to evaluate which type of grasp would be the most appropriate for the tested objects. The TMS data revealed a selective motor facilitation during the observation of movements recruiting the targeted digits. We contend that, in action observation tasks, the human corticospinal system mediating action observation effects codes merely for the visual aspects of the observed action.
While approaching celebrations for the 150 years of “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and An... more While approaching celebrations for the 150 years of “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals”, scientists’ conclusions on emotion expression are still debated. Emotion expression has been traditionally anchored to prototypical and mutually exclusive facial expressions (e.g., anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise). However, people express emotions in nuanced patterns and – crucially – not everything is in the face. In recent decades considerable work has critiqued this classical view, calling for a more fluid and flexible approach that considers how humans dynamically perform genuine expressions with their bodies in context. A growing body of evidence suggests that each emotional display is a complex, multi-component, motoric event. The human face is never static, but continuously acts and reacts to internal and environmental stimuli, with the coordinated action of muscles throughout the body. Moreover, two anatomically and functionally different neural pat...
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Papers by Luisa Sartori