Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to explore how the human brain models gaze-object relations. During scanning participants observed a human model gazing towards or away a target object presented either in isolation or flanked by a distractor object. In two further conditions the model's gaze was shifted and subsequently maintained away from the stimulus/i. These four conditions were implemented within a factorial design in which the main factors were "type of observed behavior" (gaze vs. gaze-away) and "context" (target alone vs. target flanked by a distractor). Results revealed that premotor, parietal and temporal areas, known to sub-serve the understanding of other people actions, were significantly more activated by the observation of the model gazing towards rather than away from the stimulus/i. In addition, a significant interaction indicated that, when the target was presented in isolation, neural activity within the inferior frontal gyrus, another key area for action understanding, was influenced by gaze-object relations. Our findings suggest that this area is important for the establishment of intentional gaze-object relations and indicate that the presence of a distractor interferes with the representation of such relations.

Motor ontology in representing gaze-object relations

BECCHIO, Cristina;
2008-01-01

Abstract

Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to explore how the human brain models gaze-object relations. During scanning participants observed a human model gazing towards or away a target object presented either in isolation or flanked by a distractor object. In two further conditions the model's gaze was shifted and subsequently maintained away from the stimulus/i. These four conditions were implemented within a factorial design in which the main factors were "type of observed behavior" (gaze vs. gaze-away) and "context" (target alone vs. target flanked by a distractor). Results revealed that premotor, parietal and temporal areas, known to sub-serve the understanding of other people actions, were significantly more activated by the observation of the model gazing towards rather than away from the stimulus/i. In addition, a significant interaction indicated that, when the target was presented in isolation, neural activity within the inferior frontal gyrus, another key area for action understanding, was influenced by gaze-object relations. Our findings suggest that this area is important for the establishment of intentional gaze-object relations and indicate that the presence of a distractor interferes with the representation of such relations.
2008
430
246
251
PIERNO A.C.; BECCHIO C.; TURELLA L.; TUBALDI F.; CASTIELLO U.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
PiernoNL08.pdf

Accesso riservato

Tipo di file: POSTPRINT (VERSIONE FINALE DELL’AUTORE)
Dimensione 912.78 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
912.78 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/133570
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 4
  • Scopus 11
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 11
social impact