Mou Hong, Liu Likai, Zhou Ting, Yan Zhurui, Wang Yingying
School of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China; Center for Exercise and Brain Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China.
School of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China; Center for Exercise and Brain Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China.
Neuroimage. 2024 Oct 15;300:120876. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120876. Epub 2024 Sep 27.
Action understanding involves two distinct processing levels that engage separate neural mechanisms: perception of concrete kinematic information and recognition of abstract action intentions. The mirror neuron system and the mentalizing system have both been linked to concrete action and abstract information processing, but their specific roles remain debatable. Here, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study with 26 participants who passively observed expected and unexpected actions. We performed whole-brain activation, region of interest, and effective connectivity analyses to investigate the neural correlates of these actions. Whole-brain activation analyses revealed that expected actions were associated with increased activation in the left medial superior frontal gyrus, while unexpected actions were linked to heightened activity in the left supramarginal gyrus, left superior parietal lobule, right inferior temporal gyrus, and left middle frontal gyrus. Region of interest analyses demonstrated that the left ventral premotor cortex exhibited greater activation during the observation of expected actions compared to unexpected actions, while the left inferior frontal gyrus, left superior parietal lobule, and left precuneus showed stronger activation during the observation of unexpected actions. Effective connectivity was observed between the left ventral premotor cortex and the left angular gyrus, left intraparietal sulcus, left dorsal premotor cortex, and left ventromedial prefrontal cortex with the middle frontal gyrus when observing unexpected, but not expected, actions. These findings suggest that expected actions are primarily processed by the mirror neuron system, whereas unexpected actions engage both the mirror neuron system and the mentalizing system, with these systems playing complementary roles in the understanding of unexpected actions.
动作理解涉及两个不同的处理层次，它们采用不同的神经机制：对具体运动信息的感知和对抽象动作意图的识别。镜像神经元系统和心理化系统都与具体动作和抽象信息处理有关，但其具体作用仍存在争议。在此，我们对26名参与者进行了一项功能磁共振成像研究，这些参与者被动观察预期和意外动作。我们进行了全脑激活、感兴趣区域和有效连接性分析，以研究这些动作的神经关联。全脑激活分析显示，预期动作与左侧额上回内侧激活增加有关，而意外动作则与左侧缘上回、左侧顶上小叶、右侧颞下回和左侧额中回的活动增强有关。感兴趣区域分析表明，与意外动作相比，在观察预期动作时，左侧腹侧运动前皮质表现出更大的激活，而在观察意外动作时，左侧额下回、左侧顶上小叶和左侧楔前叶表现出更强的激活。在观察意外动作而非预期动作时，观察到左侧腹侧运动前皮质与左侧角回、左侧顶内沟、左侧背侧运动前皮质以及左侧腹内侧前额叶皮质与额中回之间存在有效连接。这些发现表明，预期动作主要由镜像神经元系统处理，而意外动作则同时涉及镜像神经元系统和心理化系统，这些系统在理解意外动作中发挥互补作用。
