Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2012;7(5):e36450. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036450. Epub 2012 May 11.
Detecting errors in other's actions is of pivotal importance for joint action, competitive behavior and observational learning. Although many studies have focused on the neural mechanisms involved in detecting low-level errors, relatively little is known about error-detection in everyday situations. The present study aimed to identify the functional and neural mechanisms whereby we understand the correctness of other's actions involving well-known objects (e.g. pouring coffee in a cup). Participants observed action sequences in which the correctness of the object grasped and the grip applied to a pair of objects were independently manipulated. Observation of object violations (e.g. grasping the empty cup instead of the coffee pot) resulted in a stronger P3-effect than observation of grip errors (e.g. grasping the coffee pot at the upper part instead of the handle), likely reflecting a reorienting response, directing attention to the relevant location. Following the P3-effect, a parietal slow wave positivity was observed that persisted for grip-errors, likely reflecting the detection of an incorrect hand-object interaction. These findings provide new insight in the functional significance of the neurophysiological markers associated with the observation of incorrect actions and suggest that the P3-effect and the subsequent parietal slow wave positivity may reflect the detection of errors at different levels in the action hierarchy. Thereby this study elucidates the cognitive processes that support the detection of action violations in the selection of objects and grips.
检测他人行为中的错误对于联合行动、竞争行为和观察学习至关重要。尽管许多研究都集中在涉及检测低水平错误的神经机制上，但对于日常生活情境中的错误检测知之甚少。本研究旨在确定我们理解涉及知名物体（例如将咖啡倒入杯子中）的他人行为正确性的功能和神经机制。参与者观察了动作序列，其中独立操纵了所抓物体的正确性和对一对物体施加的抓握力。观察到物体违规（例如，抓空杯子而不是咖啡壶）比观察到抓握错误（例如，从上部抓咖啡壶而不是手柄）产生更强的 P3 效应，可能反映了一种重新定向反应，将注意力引向相关位置。在 P3 效应之后，观察到顶叶慢波正性，这种正性持续存在于抓握错误中，可能反映了对不正确的手-物体相互作用的检测。这些发现为与观察不正确动作相关的神经生理标记的功能意义提供了新的见解，并表明 P3 效应和随后的顶叶慢波正性可能反映了在动作层次结构的不同级别检测到错误。因此，这项研究阐明了支持在选择物体和抓握时检测动作违规的认知过程。
