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Representation of body identity and body actions in extrastriate body area and ventral premotor cortex

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Abstract

Although inherently linked, body form and body action may be represented in separate neural substrates. Using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in healthy individuals, we show that interference with the extrastriate body area impairs the discrimination of bodily forms, and interference with the ventral premotor cortex impairs the discrimination of bodily actions. This double dissociation suggests that whereas extrastriate body area mainly processes actors' body identity, premotor cortex is crucial for visual discriminations of actions.

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Figure 1: Experimental design and results.
Figure 2: Absence of modulation by hemisphere stimulated.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by Ministero Italiano Università e Ricerca and Fondo Investimenti per la Ricerca di Base Italy.

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Author notes

  1. Silvio Ionta

    Present address: Department of Clinical Science and Bioimaging, Institute of Advanced Biomedical Techniques, University of Chieti 'G. D'Annunzio', I-66013, Chieti Scalo, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico 'E. Medea', Polo Regionale Friuli Venezia Giulia, San Vito al Tagliamento, I-33078, Pordenone, Italy

    Cosimo Urgesi

  2. Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', I-00185 Roma, Italy and Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma, I-00179, Italy

    Matteo Candidi, Silvio Ionta & Salvatore M Aglioti

Authors
  1. Cosimo Urgesi
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  2. Matteo Candidi
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  3. Silvio Ionta
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  4. Salvatore M Aglioti
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Contributions

C.U. and M.C. designed and performed research, analyzed data and wrote the paper. S.I. performed research. S.M.A. designed research, supervised the project and wrote the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Cosimo Urgesi or Salvatore M Aglioti.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Urgesi, C., Candidi, M., Ionta, S. et al. Representation of body identity and body actions in extrastriate body area and ventral premotor cortex. Nat Neurosci 10, 30–31 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1815

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1815

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