Neural dynamics in human imitation revealed by ERP surface topography.
To clarify the neural dynamics in human motor imitation, we examined event-related potentials (ERP) for a reaction time task that required responses to an actor's finger motions with identical motions. Compared with a control task (reaction to an LED illumination), the ERP surface topography in the imitative reaction was differentiated at around 120-200 ms post-cueing, showing an early sensitivity to the response hand over the pre-central region. This result suggested that activities around the motor areas were facilitated in the imitative reaction, which is consistent with recent neuroimaging studies. However, taken together with that there were no differences in reaction times, the early ERP latency of conditional divergence indicated that neural activities related to imitation are visual responses and do not directly lead to motor acceleration.
Department of General Systems Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, c/o Dr. K Hiraki, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan. hirof@ardbeg.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Hirokata
H
Fukushima
Masahiro
M
Hirai
Akiko
A
Arita
Kazunori
K
Kamewari
Kazuo
K
Hiraki
D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors