Abstract
Similar circuits in the brain are engaged during the performance and observation of identical actions. Such engagement manifests in priming effects, where observation of an action leads to faster production of that action and slower production of an action involving a different movement of the same effector (e.g. observed finger flexion vs. produced finger extension), or a completely different effector (e.g. observed hand action vs. produced leg action). Here, we asked whether priming occurs for actions involving identical muscle groups where the degree of muscle contraction in observed actions was the same or different to that underlying an instructed response and whether patterns of muscle activation were also affected. Participants held an unseen rubber ball between their forefinger and thumb and responded to colour cues instructing a hard or a soft squeeze, whilst EMG activity from the first dorsal interosseous and the abductor pollicis brevis was recorded. The colour cues were superimposed on videos depicting a hard or soft squeeze of an identical rubber ball. Thus, there were two congruent (observe hard, produce hard; observe soft, produce soft) and two incongruent (observe hard, produce soft; observe soft, produce hard) conditions. Results showed that reaction time was slowed and EMG activity was modulated in the direction of the difference between observed and instructed squeezing movements. Hence, neural circuits underlying action observation are sensitive not only to differences in the actual muscle groups underlying observed actions but also to different extents of activation of the same muscle groups.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnew ZK, Bhakoo KK, Puri BK (2007) The human mirror system: a motor resonance theory of mind-reading. Brain Res Rev 54(2):286–293. doi:10.1016/j.brainresrev.2007.04.003
Bach P, Tipper SP (2007) Implicit action encoding influences personal-trait judgments. Cognition 102(2):151–178. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2005.11.003
Bach P, Peatfield NA, Tipper SP (2007) Focusing on body sites: the role of spatial attention in action perception. Exp Brain Res 178(4):509–517. doi:10.1007/s00221-006-0756-4 Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Experimentation Cerebrale
Baldissera F, Cavallari P, Craighero L, Fadiga L (2001) Modulation of spinal excitability during observation of hand actions in humans. Eur J Neurosci 13(1):190–194
Bird G, Heyes C (2005) Effector-dependent learning by observation of a finger movement sequence. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 31(2):262–275. doi:10.1037/0096-1523.31.2.262
Bird G, Osman M, Saggerson A, Heyes C (2005) Sequence learning by action, observation and action observation. Br J Psychol 96(Pt 3):371–388. doi:10.1348/000712605X47440
Brass M, Bekkering H, Wohlschlager A, Prinz W (2000) Compatibility between observed and executed finger movements: comparing symbolic, spatial, and imitative cues. Brain Cogn 44(2):124–143. doi:10.1006/brcg.2000.1225
Brass M, Bekkering H, Prinz W (2001) Movement observation affects movement execution in a simple response task. Acta Psychol 106(1–2):3–22
Buccino G, Baumgaertner A, Colle L, Buechel C, Rizzolatti G, Binkofski F (2007) The neural basis for understanding non-intended actions. Neuroimage 36(Suppl 2):T119–T127. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.03.036
Calvo-Merino B, Glaser DE, Grezes J, Passingham RE, Haggard P (2005) Action observation and acquired motor skills: an FMRI study with expert dancers. Cereb Cortex 15(8):1243–1249. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhi007
Catmur C, Walsh V, Heyes C (2007) Sensorimotor learning configures the human mirror system. Curr Biol 17(17):1527–1531. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.08.006
Catmur C, Gillmeister H, Bird G, Liepelt R, Brass M, Heyes C (2008) Through the looking glass: counter-mirror activation following incompatible sensorimotor learning. Eur J Neurosci 28(6):1208–1215. doi:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2008.06419.x
Chartrand TL, Bargh JA (1999) The chameleon effect: the perception-behavior link and social interaction. J Pers Soc Psychol 76(6):893–910
Costantini M, Committeri G, Galati G (2008) Effector and target independent representation of observed actions: evidence from incidental repetition priming. Exp Brain Res 188:341–351
De Maeght S, Prinz W (2004) Action induction through action observation. Psychol Res 68(2–3):97–114. doi:10.1007/s00426-003-0148-3
di Pellegrino G, Fadiga L, Fogassi L, Gallese V, Rizzolatti G (1992) Understanding motor events: a neurophysiological study. Exp Brain Res 91(1):176–180 Experimentelle Hirnforschung Experimentation Cerebrale
Dushanova J, Donoghue J (2010) Neurons in primary motor cortex engaged during action observation. Eur J Neurosci 31(2):386–398. doi:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.07067.x
Fadiga L, Fogassi L, Pavesi G, Rizzolatti G (1995) Motor facilitation during action observation: a magnetic stimulation study. J Neurophysiol 73(6):2608–2611
Fadiga L, Craighero L, Olivier E (2005) Human motor cortex excitability during the perception of others’ action. Curr Opin Neurobiol 15(2):213–218. doi:10.1016/j.conb.2005.03.013
Gallese V (2006) Intentional attunement: a neurophysiological perspective on social cognition and its disruption in autism. Brain Res 1079:15–24
Gallese V, Fadiga L, Fogassi L, Rizzolatti G (1996) Action recognition in the premotor cortex. Brain 119(Pt 2):593–609
Georgopoulos AP, Schwartz AB, Kettner RE (1986) Neuronal population coding of movement direction. Science 233(4771):1416–1419
Georgopoulos AP, Ashe J, Smyrnis N, Taira M (1992) The motor cortex and the coding of force. Science 256(5064):1692–1695
Grafton ST, Fadiga L, Arbib MA, Rizzolatti G (1997) Premotor cortex activation during observation and naming of familiar tools. NeuroImage 6(4):231–236. doi:10.1006/nimg.1997.0293
Greenwald AG (1970) A choice reaction time test of ideomotor theory. J Exp Psychol 86:20–25
Heyes C, Bird G, Johnson H, Haggard P (2005) Experience modulates automatic imitation. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res 22:233–240
Hommel B, Musseler J, Aschersleben G, Prinz W (2001) The theory of event coding (TEC): a framework for perception and action planning. Behav Brain Sci 24(5):849–878 discussion 878–937
Iacoboni M (2005) Neural mechanisms of imitation. Curr Opin Neurobiol 15(6):632–637. doi:10.1016/j.conb.2005.10.010
Iacoboni M (2009) Imitation, empathy and mirror neurons. Annu Review Psychol 60:653–670
Iacoboni M, Dapretto M (2006) The mirror neuron system and the consequences of its dysfunction. Nat Rev Neurosci 7(12):942–951. doi:10.1038/nrn2024
Iacoboni M, Mazziotta JC (2007) Mirror neuron system: basic findings and clinical applications. Ann Neurol 62(3):213–218. doi:10.1002/ana.21198
Iacoboni M, Woods RP, Brass M, Bekkering H, Mazziotta JC, Rizzolatti G (1999) Cortical mechanisms of human imitation. Science 286(5449):2526–2528
Iacoboni M, Molnar-Szakacs I, Gallese V, Buccino G, Mazziotta JC, Rizzolatti G (2005) Grasping the intentions of others with one’s own mirror neuron system. PLoS Biol 3:e79
James W (1890) The principles of psychology, reprinted 1913. Henry Holt and Company, NY
Jeannerod M, Arbib MA, Rizzolatti G, Sakata H (1995) Grasping objects: the cortical mechanisms of visuomotor transformation. Trends Neurosci 18(7):314–320
Kaplan JT, Iacoboni M (2006) Getting a grip on other minds: mirror neurons, intention understanding, and cognitive empathy. Social Neurosci 1(3–4):175–183. doi:10.1080/17470910600985605
Kilner J, Hamilton AF, Blakemore SJ (2007) Interference effect of observed human movement on action is due to velocity profile of biological motion. Social Neurosci 2(3–4):158–166. doi:10.1080/17470910701428190
Kilner JM, Neal A, Weiskopf N, Friston KJ, Frith CD (2009) Evidence of mirror neurons in human inferior frontal gyrus. J Neurosci 29(32):10153–10159. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2668-09.2009
Koski L, Wohlschlager A, Bekkering H, Woods RP, Dubeau MC, Mazziotta JC et al (2002) Modulation of motor and premotor activity during imitation of target-directed actions. Cereb Cortex 12(8):847–855
Liepelt R, Von Cramon DY, Brass M (2008) How do we infer others’ goals from non-stereotypic actions? The outcome of context-sensitive inferential processing in right inferior parietal and posterior temporal cortex. NeuroImage 43(4):784–792. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.08.007
Massen C, Prinz W (2009) Movements, actions and tool-use actions: an ideomotor approach to imitation. Philos Trans R Soc B-Biol Sci 364(1528):2349–2358. doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0059
Press C, Bird G, Flach R, Heyes C (2005) Robotic movement elicits automatic imitation. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res 25(3):632–640. doi:10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2005.08.020
Rizzolatti G, Camarda R, Fogassi L, Gentilucci M, Luppino G, Matelli M (1988) Functional organization of inferior area 6 in the macaque monkey. II. Area F5 and the control of distal movements. Exp Brain Res 71(3):491–507 Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Experimentation Cerebrale
Rizzolatti G, Fadiga L, Gallese V, Fogassi L (1996) Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res 3(2):131–141
Sebanz N, Knoblich G, Prinz W (2003) Representing others’ actions: just like one’s own? Cognition 88(3):B11–B21
Tai YF, Scherfler C, Brooks DJ, Sawamoto N, Castiello U (2004) The human premotor cortex is ‘mirror’ only for biological actions. Curr Biol 14(2):117–120
Uddin LQ, Iacoboni M, Lange C, Keenan JP (2007) The self and social cognition: the role of cortical midline structures and mirror neurons. Trends Cogn Sci 11(4):153–157. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2007.01.001
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council discovery grant and an Ontario Early Researcher Award held by SSO. We thank Guy Jennings for technical support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Obhi, S.S., Hogeveen, J. Incidental action observation modulates muscle activity. Exp Brain Res 203, 427–435 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-010-2253-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-010-2253-z