Abstract
Mirror neurons have been proposed to underlie humans’ ability to understand others’ actions and intentions. Despite 2 decades of research, however, the exact computational and neuronal mechanisms implied in this ability remain unclear. In the current study, we investigated whether, in the absence of contextual cues, regions considered to be part of the human mirror neuron system represent intention from movement kinematics. A total of 21 participants observed reach-to-grasp movements, performed with either the intention to drink or to pour while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. Multivoxel pattern analysis revealed successful decoding of intentions from distributed patterns of activity in a network of structures comprising the inferior parietal lobule, the superior parietal lobule, the inferior frontal gyrus, and the middle frontal gyrus. Consistent with the proposal that parietal regions play a key role in intention understanding, classifier weights were higher in the inferior parietal region. These results provide the first demonstration that putative mirror neuron regions represent subtle differences in movement kinematics to read the intention of an observed motor act.
Highlights
How do people so effortlessly detect others’ intentions by observing their movements? Mirror neurons have been proposed to be the neural substrate that enables understanding of others’ actions and intentions, by transforming visual information into motor knowledge (Rizzolatti and Craighero 2004)
These results provide the first demonstration that putative mirror neuron regions represent subtle differences in movement kinematics to read the intention of an observed motor act
The question, remains as to whether mirror neuron regions encode intention-specifying information conveyed by visual kinematics
Summary
How do people so effortlessly detect others’ intentions by observing their movements? Mirror neurons have been proposed to be the neural substrate that enables understanding of others’ actions and intentions, by transforming visual information into motor knowledge (Rizzolatti and Craighero 2004). Observers are sensitive to this information and can use it to discriminate the intention of an observed motor act in the absence of contextual information (Cavallo et al 2016). This suggests that, contrary to widely held assumptions of nonspecificity, kinematics is specific to intentions (Jacob and Jeannerod 2005; Kilner et al 2007a; Naish et al 2013). The question, remains as to whether mirror neuron regions encode intention-specifying information conveyed by visual kinematics
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