Abstract
The spatial location and viewpoint of observed actions are closely linked in natural social settings. For example, actions observed from a subjective viewpoint necessarily occur within the observer’s peripersonal space. Neurophysiological studies have shown that mirror neurons (MNs) of the monkey ventral premotor area F5 can code the spatial location of live observed actions. Furthermore, F5 MN discharge can also be modulated by the viewpoint from which filmed actions are seen. Nonetheless, whether and to what extent MNs can integrate viewpoint and spatial location of live observed actions remains unknown. We addressed this issue by comparing the activity of 148 F5 MNs while macaque monkeys observed an experimenter grasping in three different combinations of viewpoint and spatial location, namely, lateral view in the (1) extrapersonal and (2) peripersonal space and (3) subjective view in the peripersonal space. We found that the majority of MNs were space-selective (60.8%): those selective for the peripersonal space exhibited a preference for the subjective viewpoint both at the single-neuron and population level, whereas space-unselective neurons were view invariant. These findings reveal the existence of a previously neglected link between spatial and viewpoint selectivity in MN activity during live-action observation.
Highlights
The most widely known and distinctive feature of mirror neurons (MNs) is their capacity to become active when the subject performs an action as well as when he/she observes a similar action performed by another agent[1]
It is interesting to note that even disregarding MNs discharging only for the subjective viewpoint, a greater number of the remaining neurons showed a preference for the peripersonal (36/108, 33.3%) relative to the extrapersonal (17/108, 15.7%) space
The findings revealed a stronger tuning of MN activity for the peripersonal relative to the extrapersonal space and, within the peripersonal space, a preference for actions observed from a subjective viewpoint, suggesting the existence of a functional link between the processing of spatial location and viewpoint of observed actions
Summary
The most widely known and distinctive feature of mirror neurons (MNs) is their capacity to become active when the subject performs an action as well as when he/she observes a similar action performed by another agent[1]. All these factors are usually combined in different ways: for example, if we are observing another’s action from a subjective viewpoint, such as when someone shows us how to play a piano chord, this action necessarily occurs within our peripersonal space. An action observed from an allocentric viewpoint can occur either within or outside our peripersonal space, with different implications for the possibility of interacting with the observed agent.
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