Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Neuroimage. 2011 Jan 15;54(2):1634-42. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.08.077. Epub 2010 Sep 9.
Because we are a cooperative species, understanding the goals and intentions of others is critical for human survival. In this fMRI study, participants viewed reaching behaviors in which one of four animated characters moved a hand towards one of two objects and either (a) picked up the object, (b) missed the object, or (c) changed his path halfway to lift the other object. The characters included a human, a humanoid robot, stacked boxes with an arm, and a mechanical claw. The first three moved in an identical, human-like biological pattern. Right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) activity increased when the human or humanoid robot shifted goals or missed the target relative to obtaining the original goal. This suggests that the pSTS was engaged differentially for figures that appeared more human-like rather than for all human-like motion. Medial frontal areas that are part of a protagonist-monitoring network with the right pSTS (e.g., Mason and Just, 2006) were most engaged for the human character, followed by the robot character. The current data suggest that goal-directed action and intention understanding require this network and it is used similarly for the two processes. Moreover, it is modulated by character identity rather than only the presence of biological motion. We discuss the implications for behavioral theories of goal-directed action and intention understanding.
因为我们是一种合作的物种，理解他人的目标和意图对人类的生存至关重要。在这项 fMRI 研究中，参与者观察了四种动画角色的伸手行为，其中一个角色的手伸向两个物体中的一个，并（a）拿起物体，（b）错过物体，或（c）在中途改变路径去拿起另一个物体。这些角色包括一个人、一个类人机器人、一个带有手臂的堆叠盒子和一个机械爪。前三个以相同的、类人生物模式移动。当人类或类人机器人改变目标或错过目标相对于获得原始目标时，后上颞叶皮质（pSTS）的右侧活动增加。这表明，pSTS 对于看起来更像人类的人物有不同的参与，而不仅仅是所有类人运动。与右侧 pSTS 一起构成主角监测网络的额内侧区域（例如，Mason 和 Just，2006）对于人类角色最为活跃，其次是机器人角色。当前的数据表明，目标导向的动作和意图理解需要这个网络，并且它对这两个过程的使用是相似的。此外，它还受到角色身份的调节，而不仅仅是生物运动的存在。我们讨论了这对目标导向动作和意图理解的行为理论的影响。
