Neural correlates underlying action-intention and aim-intention

In this paper we present a theoretical analysis of recent neuroscientific evidence for different neural activations underlying “action-intention” and “aim-intention”. As regards action-intention, it is shown that recognizing the action-intentions of others is based, at least in part, on the same mechanisms that underlie one’s own action-intention. In contrast, a specific area of activation was found to correlate with social aim-intention, a special case of aim-intention related to acting together. This result suggests that the distinction between I-mode (viz. “private” mode) and we-mode (viz. “group” mode) intention is relevant also at the neuroscientific level of analysis.