Kaplan Jonas T, Iacoboni Marco
Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Soc Neurosci. 2006;1(3-4):175-83. doi: 10.1080/17470910600985605.
We have previously shown that a right inferior frontal mirror neuron area for grasping responds differently to observed grasping actions embedded in contexts that suggest different intentions, such as drinking and cleaning (Iacoboni, Molnar-Szakacs, Gallese, Buccino, Mazziotta, & Rizzolatti, 2005). Information about intentions, however, may be conveyed also by the grasping action itself: for instance, people typically drink by grasping the handle of a cup with a precision grip. In this fMRI experiment, subjects watched precision grips and whole-hand prehensions embedded in a drinking or an eating context. Indeed, in the right inferior frontal mirror neuron area there was higher activity for observed precision grips in the drinking context. Signal changes in the right inferior frontal mirror neuron area were also significantly correlated with scores on Empathic Concern subscale of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, a measure of emotional empathy. These data suggest that human mirror neuron areas use both contextual and grasping type information to predict the intentions of others. They also suggest that mirror neuron activity is strongly linked to social competence.
我们之前已经表明，用于抓握的右下额叶镜像神经元区域，对嵌入在暗示不同意图（如喝水和清洁）的情境中的观察到的抓握动作，会有不同的反应（Iacoboni、Molnar-Szakacs、Gallese、Buccino、Mazziotta和Rizzolatti，2005年）。然而，关于意图的信息也可能由抓握动作本身传达：例如，人们通常通过精确抓握杯子的把手来喝水。在这个功能磁共振成像实验中，受试者观看了嵌入在喝水或进食情境中的精确抓握和全手抓握。事实上，在右下额叶镜像神经元区域，在喝水情境中观察到的精确抓握有更高的活动。右下额叶镜像神经元区域的信号变化也与人际反应指数的移情关注子量表得分显著相关，该量表是一种情感移情的测量方法。这些数据表明，人类镜像神经元区域利用情境和抓握类型信息来预测他人的意图。它们还表明，镜像神经元活动与社交能力密切相关。
