Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Cognitive Neurology, Leipzig, Germany.
Soc Neurosci. 2010;5(4):401-16. doi: 10.1080/17470911003687905. Epub 2010 Apr 15.
Perception and execution of actions share a common representational and neural substrate and thereby facilitate unintentional motor mimicry. Controlling automatic imitation is therefore a crucial requirement of such a "shared representational" system. Based on previous findings from neuroimaging, we suggest that resisting motor mimicry recruits the same underlying computational mechanisms also involved in higher-level social cognitive processing, such as self - other differentiation and the representation of mental states. The aim of the present study was to investigate on a behavioral level whether there is a functional association between the inhibition of imitation and tasks, assessing the understanding of mental states and of different perspectives of self and other. In a sample of neuropsychological patients with frontal lesions, a correlation between the ability for mental state attribution and the control of imitation was found, with a similar effect in the control group. Temporo-parietal lesioned patients showed a highly significant correlation between imitative control and visual and cognitive perspective-taking. Even after controlling for executive functions, the results remained significant, indicating the functional specificity of this relationship. These findings provide new insight into the functional processes underlying the control of shared representations and suggest a novel link between embodied and higher-level social cognition.
动作的感知和执行共享一个共同的表示和神经基础，从而促进无意识的运动模仿。因此，控制自动模仿是这种“共享表示”系统的关键要求。基于神经影像学的先前发现，我们假设抵抗运动模仿会招募相同的基础计算机制，这些机制也参与了更高层次的社会认知处理，例如自我与他人的区分以及心理状态的表示。本研究的目的是在行为水平上调查模仿抑制与评估心理状态理解以及自我和他人不同视角的任务之间是否存在功能关联。在一组额部病变的神经心理学患者中，发现心理状态归因能力与模仿控制之间存在相关性，对照组也存在类似的影响。颞顶叶病变患者的模仿控制与视觉和认知视角-taking 之间存在高度显著的相关性。即使在控制执行功能后，结果仍然显著，表明这种关系具有功能特异性。这些发现为共享表示控制的功能过程提供了新的见解，并在具身和更高层次的社会认知之间建立了新的联系。
