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Action Goal Representation and Action Understanding in the Cerebral Cortex

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Causality, Meaningful Complexity and Embodied Cognition

Part of the book series: Theory and Decision Library A: ((TDLA,volume 46))

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Abstract

Classically it has been assumed that the sector of frontal cortex devoted to motor control has the main aim of coding movements, that is the parameters necessary to accomplish joints displacements such as amplitude and direction. More recently, another view has been proposed, that maintains that the main function of the motor cortex is that of coding goal directed actions (see Rizzolatti et al. 2000, 2004). According to this view, motor neurons would define a limited number of motor goals, instead of computing an exponential number of movements. Once these goals are coded, their implementation, including movement parameters, would be performed by areas with more executive functions, such as MI. The neurophysiological data of the last twenty years show that the goal interpretation can be applied to many areas of the motor cortex. Actions are indeed coded in several premotor areas and, more extensively, in the parieto-frontal circuits linking specific premotor and parietal areas (see Rizzolatti et al. 1988, 1998, 2000, see also below). In particular, several studies carried out in the ventral premotor cortex of the macaque monkey (areas F4 and F5) showed that area F4 code axial and proximal actions toward three-dimensional objects in space (Gentilucci et al. 1988; Fogassi et al. 1996), while area F5 code different types of hand and mouth actions (Gentilucci et al. 1988; Rizzolatti et al. 1988; Ferrari et al. 2003).

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  1. Department of Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University of Parma, V.Volturno 39, B.go Carissimi 10, 43100, Parma, Italy

    Leonardo Fogassi

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  1. Leonardo Fogassi
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Correspondence to Leonardo Fogassi .

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  1. Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Università di Roma - Tor Vergata, Via Columbia 1, Roma, 00133, Italy

    A. Carsetti

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Fogassi, L. (2009). Action Goal Representation and Action Understanding in the Cerebral Cortex. In: Carsetti, A. (eds) Causality, Meaningful Complexity and Embodied Cognition. Theory and Decision Library A:, vol 46. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3529-5_3

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