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Abstract
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies have shown that observing an action induces muscle-specific changes in corticospinal excitability. From a signal detection theory standpoint, this pattern can be related to sensitivity, which here would measure the capacity to distinguish between two action observation conditions. In parallel to these TMS studies, action observation has also been linked to behavioral effects such as motor priming and interference. It has been hypothesized that behavioral markers of action observation could be related to TMS markers and thus represent a potentially cost-effective mean of assessing the functioning of the action-perception system. However, very few studies have looked at possible relationships between these two measures. The aim of this study was to investigate if individual differences in sensitivity to action observation could be related to the behavioral motor priming and interference effects produced by action observation. To this end, 14 healthy participants observed index and little finger movements during a TMS task and a stimulus–response compatibility task. Index muscle displayed sensitivity to action observation, and action observation resulted in significant motor priming+interference, while no significant effect was observed for the little finger in both task. Nevertheless, our results indicate that the sensitivity measured in TMS was not related to the behavioral changes measured in the stimulus–response compatibility task. Contrary to a widespread assumption, the current results indicate that individual differences in physiological and behavioral markers of action observation may be unrelated. This could have important impacts on the potential use of behavioral markers in place of more costly physiological markers of action observation in clinical settings.
Highlights
Our brain is astonishingly efficient at transforming movements we perceive into motor commands we can use
The Movement times (MT) during the congruent condition was on average 8.25 ms (SD = 7.04) shorter than in the incongruent condition and the ANCOVA revealed that this difference was statistically significant [F(1,12) = 11.579, p = 0.005, η2 = 0.491] suggesting a motor priming+interference effect of action observation (Figure 2B)
Assessing the relation between the physiological and behavioral markers of action observation in the First Dorsal Interosseus (FDI)/index, we found that the correlation was non-significant (r = −0.432, p = 0.122)
Summary
Our brain is astonishingly efficient at transforming movements we perceive into motor commands we can use. 2014; Rizzolatti and Fogassi, 2014; Simpson et al, 2014) This perspective has fueled fundamental (see, Keysers and Fadiga, 2008; Caspers et al, 2010; Naish et al, 2014, for reviews and overviews) and clinical research (see, Rizzolatti et al, 2009; Buccino, 2014; Eisen et al, 2015; Burzi et al, 2016, for reviews and overviews) on the neuronal processes involved in action observation and their effects on behavior. The relationship between these markers has very seldom been studied directly and the lack of data supporting or disproving this relationship remains an important gap in the field (Naish et al, 2014)
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