Motor ontology in representing gaze-object relations.
Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to explore how the human brain models gaze-object relations. During scanning participants observed a human model gazing towards or away a target object presented either in isolation or flanked by a distractor object. In two further conditions the model's gaze was shifted and subsequently maintained away from the stimulus/i. These four conditions were implemented within a factorial design in which the main factors were "type of observed behavior" (gaze vs. gaze-away) and "context" (target alone vs. target flanked by a distractor). Results revealed that premotor, parietal and temporal areas, known to sub-serve the understanding of other people actions, were significantly more activated by the observation of the model gazing towards rather than away from the stimulus/i. In addition, a significant interaction indicated that, when the target was presented in isolation, neural activity within the inferior frontal gyrus, another key area for action understanding, was influenced by gaze-object relations. Our findings suggest that this area is important for the establishment of intentional gaze-object relations and indicate that the presence of a distractor interferes with the representation of such relations.
Pierno
Andrea C
AC
Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, Padua, Italy.
Becchio
Cristina
C
Tubaldi
Federico
F
Turella
Luca
L
Castiello
Umberto
U
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*