Raos Vassilis, Evangeliou Mina N, Savaki Helen E
Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Crete, GR-71003, Iraklion, Crete, Greece.
Neuroimage. 2004 Sep;23(1):193-201. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.04.024.
Engagement of the primary motor cortex (MI) during the observation of actions has been debated for a long time. In the present study, we used the quantitative 14C-deoxyglucose method in monkeys that either grasped 3-D objects or observed the same movements executed by humans. We found that the forelimb regions of the MI and the primary somatosensory (SI) cortex were significantly activated in both cases. Our study resolves a debate in the literature, providing strong evidence for use of MI representations during the observation of actions. It demonstrates that the observation of an action is represented in the primary motor and somatosensory cortices as is its execution. It indicates that in terms of neural correlates, recognizing a motor behavior is like executing the same behavior, requiring the involvement of a distributed system encompassing not only the premotor but also the primary motor cortex. We suggest that movements and their proprioceptive components are stored as motor and somatosensory representations in motor and somatosensory cortices, respectively, and that these representations are recalled during observation of an action.
在观察动作时初级运动皮层（MI）是否参与一直存在长期争论。在本研究中，我们在猴子身上使用定量14C - 脱氧葡萄糖法，猴子要么抓取三维物体，要么观察人类执行的相同动作。我们发现，在这两种情况下，MI的前肢区域和初级体感（SI）皮层均被显著激活。我们的研究解决了文献中的一个争论，为在观察动作时使用MI表征提供了有力证据。它表明动作的观察在初级运动皮层和体感皮层中的表征方式与其执行相同。这表明就神经关联而言，识别一种运动行为类似于执行相同行为，需要一个分布式系统的参与，该系统不仅包括运动前区皮层，还包括初级运动皮层。我们认为，运动及其本体感觉成分分别作为运动表征和体感表征存储在运动皮层和体感皮层中，并且这些表征在观察动作时被唤起。
