: Hierarchical models have been proposed to explain how the brain encodes actions, whereby different areas represent different features, such as gesture kinematics, target object, action goal, and meaning. The visual processing of action-related information is distributed over a well-known network of brain regions spanning separate anatomical areas, attuned to specific stimulus properties, and referred to as action observation network (AON). To determine the brain organization of these features, we measured representational geometries during the observation of a large set of transitive and intransitive gestures in two independent functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments. We provided evidence for a partial dissociation between kinematics, object characteristics, and action meaning in the occipito-parietal, ventro-temporal, and lateral occipito-temporal cortex, respectively. Importantly, most of the AON showed low specificity to all the explored features, and representational spaces sharing similar information content were spread across the cortex without being anatomically adjacent. Overall, our results support the notion that the AON relies on overlapping and distributed coding and may act as a unique representational space instead of mapping features in a modular and segregated manner.

Sensitivity and specificity of the action observation network to kinematics, target object, and gesture meaning / Simonelli, Francesca; Handjaras, Giacomo; Benuzzi, Francesca; Bernardi, Giulio; Leo, Andrea; Duzzi, Davide; Cecchetti, Luca; Nichelli, Paolo F.; Porro, Carlo A.; Pietrini, Pietro; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Lui, Fausta. - In: HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING. - ISSN 1065-9471. - 45:11(2024), pp. 1-14. [10.1002/hbm.26762]

Sensitivity and specificity of the action observation network to kinematics, target object, and gesture meaning

Benuzzi, Francesca;Bernardi, Giulio;Duzzi, Davide;Nichelli, Paolo F.;Porro, Carlo A.;Pietrini, Pietro;Lui, Fausta
2024

Abstract

: Hierarchical models have been proposed to explain how the brain encodes actions, whereby different areas represent different features, such as gesture kinematics, target object, action goal, and meaning. The visual processing of action-related information is distributed over a well-known network of brain regions spanning separate anatomical areas, attuned to specific stimulus properties, and referred to as action observation network (AON). To determine the brain organization of these features, we measured representational geometries during the observation of a large set of transitive and intransitive gestures in two independent functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments. We provided evidence for a partial dissociation between kinematics, object characteristics, and action meaning in the occipito-parietal, ventro-temporal, and lateral occipito-temporal cortex, respectively. Importantly, most of the AON showed low specificity to all the explored features, and representational spaces sharing similar information content were spread across the cortex without being anatomically adjacent. Overall, our results support the notion that the AON relies on overlapping and distributed coding and may act as a unique representational space instead of mapping features in a modular and segregated manner.
2024
45
11
1
14
Sensitivity and specificity of the action observation network to kinematics, target object, and gesture meaning / Simonelli, Francesca; Handjaras, Giacomo; Benuzzi, Francesca; Bernardi, Giulio; Leo, Andrea; Duzzi, Davide; Cecchetti, Luca; Nichelli, Paolo F.; Porro, Carlo A.; Pietrini, Pietro; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Lui, Fausta. - In: HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING. - ISSN 1065-9471. - 45:11(2024), pp. 1-14. [10.1002/hbm.26762]
Simonelli, Francesca; Handjaras, Giacomo; Benuzzi, Francesca; Bernardi, Giulio; Leo, Andrea; Duzzi, Davide; Cecchetti, Luca; Nichelli, Paolo F.; Porro...espandi
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11380/1352926
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