Abstract
BackgroundAn increasing body of evidence has demonstrated that in contrast to the classic understanding the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) reflects merely seen touch (in the absence of any real touch on the own body). Based on these results it has been discussed that SI may play a role in understanding touch seen on other bodies. In order to further examine this understanding of observed touch, the current study aimed to test if mirror-like responses in SI are affected by the perspective of the seen touch. Thus, we presented touch on a hand and close to the hand either in first-person-perspective or in third-person-perspective.Principal FindingsResults of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) revealed stronger vicarious brain responses in SI/BA2 for touch seen in first-person-perspective. Surprisingly, the third-person viewpoint revealed activation in SI both when subjects viewed a hand being stimulated as well as when the space close to the hand was being touched.Conclusions/SignificanceBased on these results we conclude that vicarious somatosensory responses in SI/BA2 are affected by the viewpoint of the seen hand. Furthermore, we argue that mirror-like responses in SI do not only reflect seen touch, but also the peripersonal space surrounding this body (in third-person-perspective). We discuss these findings with recent studies on mirror responses for action observation in peripersonal space.
Highlights
In social situations, recognition and understanding of actions of the conspecific are extremely important for appropriate behaviour
An functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study by Blakemore et al [7] revealed that observation of touch to a face or a neck was associated with activity in SI, SII, superior temporal sulcus (STS), and premotor cortex
Since mirror-like responses during the observation of touch have been related to the understanding of touch and to social perception [4], we argue that events seen in the peripersonal space close to a body might be important to recognize and understand social situations
Summary
Recognition and understanding of actions of the conspecific are extremely important for appropriate behaviour. The premotor cortex has been shown to contain neurons that respond both to the execution and the observation of action [2] Based on these results the authors suggest an analogous mirror system for observation of touch [7]. An increasing body of evidence has demonstrated that in contrast to the classic understanding the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) reflects merely seen touch (in the absence of any real touch on the own body). Based on these results it has been discussed that SI may play a role in understanding touch seen on other bodies. We presented touch on a hand and close to the hand either in first-personperspective or in third-person-perspective
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