Kislinger Leopold
Independent Researcher, Cranachstraße 39/3, 4060 Leonding, Austria.
Brain Sci. 2021 Oct 22;11(11):1382. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11111382.
I have reviewed studies on neural responses to pictured actions in the action observation network (AON) and the cognitive functions of these responses. Based on this review, I have analyzed the specific representational characteristics of action photographs. There has been consensus that AON responses provide viewers with knowledge of observed or pictured actions, but there has been controversy about the properties of this knowledge. Is this knowledge causally provided by AON activities or is it dependent on conceptual processing? What elements of actions does it refer to, and how generalized or specific is it? The answers to these questions have come from studies that used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to stimulate motor or somatosensory cortices. In conjunction with electromyography (EMG), TMS allows researchers to examine changes of the excitability in the corticospinal tract and muscles of people viewing pictured actions. The timing of these changes and muscle specificity enable inferences to be drawn about the cognitive products of processing pictured actions in the AON. Based on a review of studies using TMS and other neuroscience methods, I have proposed a novel hypothetical account that describes the characteristics of action photographs that make them effective cues to social perception. This account includes predictions that can be tested experimentally.
我回顾了关于动作观察网络（AON）中对图片动作的神经反应及其认知功能的研究。基于这一回顾，我分析了动作照片的具体表征特征。人们已达成共识，即AON反应为观者提供了关于所观察或图片动作的知识，但对于这种知识的属性存在争议。这种知识是由AON活动因果性地提供的，还是依赖于概念加工？它涉及动作的哪些元素，其普遍性或特异性如何？这些问题的答案来自于使用经颅磁刺激（TMS）刺激运动或体感皮层的研究。结合肌电图（EMG），TMS使研究人员能够检查观看图片动作的人的皮质脊髓束和肌肉兴奋性的变化。这些变化的时间和肌肉特异性使得能够推断出在AON中处理图片动作的认知产物。基于对使用TMS和其他神经科学方法的研究的回顾，我提出了一种新颖的假设性解释，描述了使动作照片成为社会感知有效线索的特征。这一解释包括可以通过实验进行检验的预测。
