Department of Electronics and Bioinformatics, School of Science and Technology, Meiji University, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.
PLoS One. 2009 Nov 25;4(11):e8034. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008034.
Observing competitive games such as sports is a pervasive entertainment among humans. The inclination to watch others play may be based on our social-cognitive ability to understand the internal states of others. The mirror neuron system, which is activated when a subject observes the actions of others, as well as when they perform the same action themselves, seems to play a crucial role in this process. Our previous study showed that activity of the mirror neuron system was modulated by the outcome of the subject's favored player during observation of a simple competitive game (rock-paper-scissors). However, whether the mirror neuron system responds similarly in a more complex and naturalistic sports game has not yet been fully investigated.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present study, we measured the activity of motor areas when the subjects, who were amateur baseball field players (non-pitchers), watched short movie clips of scenes in professional baseball games. The subjects were instructed to support either a batter or a pitcher when observing the movie clip. The results showed that activity in the motor area exhibited a strong interaction between the subject's supported side (batter or pitcher) and the outcome (a hit or an out). When the subject supported the batter, motor area activity was significantly higher when the batter made an out than when he made a hit. However, such modulation was not apparent when the subject supported the pitcher.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This result indicates that mirror neuron system activity is modulated by the outcome for a particular player in a competitive game even when observing a complex and naturalistic sports game. We suggest that our inclination to watch competitive games is facilitated by this characteristic of the mirror neuron system.
观察竞技比赛，如体育运动，是人类普遍的娱乐方式。人们倾向于观看他人比赛，可能是基于我们理解他人内心状态的社会认知能力。当主体观察他人的动作或自己执行相同的动作时，被激活的镜像神经元系统似乎在这个过程中起着至关重要的作用。我们之前的研究表明，镜像神经元系统的活动在观察简单竞技游戏（石头剪刀布）时会被主体喜爱的选手的比赛结果所调节。然而，镜像神经元系统在更复杂和自然的运动比赛中是否有类似的反应尚未得到充分研究。
方法/主要发现：在本研究中，我们测量了运动区的活动，当主体（业余棒球外场手）观看职业棒球比赛的短片场景时，主体被指示支持击球手或投手。结果表明，运动区的活动表现出主体支持的一方（击球手或投手）和结果（安打或出局）之间的强烈交互作用。当主体支持击球手时，当击球手出局时，运动区的活动明显高于击球手安打时。然而，当主体支持投手时，这种调节并不明显。
结论/意义：这个结果表明，即使在观察复杂和自然的运动比赛时，镜像神经元系统的活动也会被特定选手在竞技比赛中的比赛结果所调节。我们认为，我们观看竞技比赛的倾向是由镜像神经元系统的这一特征所促进的。
