title: An intact action-perception coupling depends on the integrity of the cerebellum.
abstract: It is widely accepted that action and perception in humans functionally interact on multiple levels. Moreover, areas originally suggested to be predominantly motor-related, as the cerebellum, are also involved in action observation. However, as yet, few studies provided unequivocal evidence that the cerebellum is involved in the action perception coupling (APC), specifically in the integration of motor and multisensory information for perception. We addressed this question studying patients with focal cerebellar lesions in a virtual-reality paradigm measuring the effect of action execution on action perception presenting self-generated movements as point lights. We measured the visual sensitivity to the point light stimuli based on signal detection theory. Compared with healthy controls cerebellar patients showed no beneficial influence of action execution on perception indicating deficits in APC. Applying lesion symptom mapping, we identified distinct areas in the dentate nucleus and the lateral cerebellum of both hemispheres that are causally involved in APC. Lesions of the right ventral dentate, the ipsilateral motor representations (lobules V/VI), and most interestingly the contralateral posterior cerebellum (lobule VII) impede the benefits of motor execution on perception. We conclude that the cerebellum establishes time-dependent multisensory representations on different levels, relevant for motor control as well as supporting action perception. Ipsilateral cerebellar motor representations are thought to support the somatosensory state estimate of ongoing movements, whereas the ventral dentate and the contralateral posterior cerebellum likely support sensorimotor integration in the cerebellar-parietal loops. Both the correct somatosensory as well as the multisensory state representations are vital for an intact APC.
authors.affiliation: Section Computational Sensomotorics, Department of Cognitive Neurology, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, and Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, MRI Laboratory, Department of Cognitive Neurology, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University Clinic Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany, and Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, and Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Martin A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Giese
authors.forename: Fahad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sultan
authors.forename: Oliver M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Sophia L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Goericke
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ilg
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Timmann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009039:Motion Perception; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: action perception coupling; biological motion; cerebellum; lesion symptom mapping