Abstract
ABSTRACTPrevious studies have shown right parietal activation in response to observing irrational actions. Behavioral studies show that people sometimes imitate irrational actions, a phenomenon called overimitation. However, limitations on movement in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) mean that the neural basis of overimitation has not been studied. To address this, our study employed a less restrictive neuroimaging technique, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Measurements were taken while participants observed either rational or irrational movements before performing movements on a computerized puzzle task. Observing irrational actions produced greater activation in right anterior inferior parietal lobule (aIPL), replicating results from the fMRI literature. This is a proof of principle that fNIRS can be used as an alternative to fMRI in social cognition experiments, and that parietal cortex has a core role in responding to irrational actions.
Highlights
Imitation is an important human behavior, which allows us to learn new skills and to connect with others (Uzgiris, 1981)
There are many circumstances in which children and adults imitate other people’s actions with very high fidelity, even when this compromises the efficiency of their own actions (Horner & Whiten, 2005; Lyons, Young, & Keil, 2007), a phenomenon termed “overimitation.” This paper examines the neural mechanisms supporting imitation and overimitation in the adult parietal cortex, using a novel functional near-infrared spectroscopy method
Overimitation has typically been studied in young children, who are shown a sequence of actions including both rational actions and irrational actions that do not contribute to the goal
Summary
Imitation is an important human behavior, which allows us to learn new skills and to connect with others (Uzgiris, 1981). There are many circumstances in which children and adults imitate other people’s actions with very high fidelity, even when this compromises the efficiency of their own actions (Horner & Whiten, 2005; Lyons, Young, & Keil, 2007), a phenomenon termed “overimitation.” This paper examines the neural mechanisms supporting imitation and overimitation in the adult parietal cortex, using a novel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) method. Despite the explicit time constraints, children still imitated both the rational and irrational actions (e.g., the demonstrator stroking the box with a feather), even though the irrational actions were clearly unrelated to the goal (Horner & Whiten, 2005; Lyons et al, 2007)
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