The mirror neuron system also rests

Plata-Bello, Julio; Modroño, Cristián; Hernández-Martín, Estefanía; Pérez-Martín, Yaiza; Fariña, Helga; Castañón-Pérez, Abril; Marcano, Francisco; González-Mora, José Luis

doi:10.1007/s00429-016-1335-5

Original Article
Published: 12 November 2016

The mirror neuron system also rests

Julio Plata-Bello^1,2,
Cristián Modroño¹,
Estefanía Hernández-Martín¹,
Yaiza Pérez-Martín³,
Helga Fariña¹,
Abril Castañón-Pérez¹,
Francisco Marcano¹ &
José Luis González-Mora¹

Brain Structure and Function volume 222, pages 2193–2202 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

The mirror neuron system (MNS) is a brain network that has been associated with the understanding of the actions performed by others. The main areas of the brain that are considered as belonging to the MNS are the rostral part of the inferior parietal lobe (IPL) and the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Many studies have tried to focus on the relationship between the regions belonging to the MNS, but a little consideration has been given to the study of the MNS in resting conditions. In the present experiment, the MNS has been studied by two fMRI modalities (task-based fMRI and resting-fMRI) and three analytical procedures [task-block comparison, functional connectivity (FC), and independent component analysis (ICA)]. The task-fMRI with block design showed a mirror activity located in the rostral IPL. The coordinates of this local maximum voxel were defined as a region of interest (ROI) for an FC analysis of the resting-fMRI. This analysis revealed the existence of a functional connectivity within regions forming the core of MNS network and also with other regions with mirror properties. Finally, resting-state fMRI ICA showed the same functional network, although it was more restricted to the core MNS regions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that approaches the MNS using the resting-state fMRI analysis using independent component analysis and functional connectivity at the same time.

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Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of La Laguna, CP 38320, La Laguna, Spain
Julio Plata-Bello, Cristián Modroño, Estefanía Hernández-Martín, Helga Fariña, Abril Castañón-Pérez, Francisco Marcano & José Luis González-Mora
Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, S/C de Tenerife, CP 38320, La Laguna, Spain
Julio Plata-Bello
Department of Neurology, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, S/C de Tenerife, CP 38320, La Laguna, Spain
Yaiza Pérez-Martín

Authors

Julio Plata-Bello
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Cristián Modroño
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Estefanía Hernández-Martín
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Yaiza Pérez-Martín
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Helga Fariña
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Abril Castañón-Pérez
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Francisco Marcano
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José Luis González-Mora
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Correspondence to Julio Plata-Bello.

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The study was approved by the University of La Laguna Ethics Committee, according to the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Plata-Bello, J., Modroño, C., Hernández-Martín, E. et al. The mirror neuron system also rests. Brain Struct Funct 222, 2193–2202 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-016-1335-5

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Received: 22 April 2016
Accepted: 04 November 2016
Published: 12 November 2016
Issue Date: July 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-016-1335-5

Keywords

Mirror neuron system
Resting state
Functional connectivity
Independent component analysis