title: Can we simulate an action that we temporarily cannot perform?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The scope of individuals' motor repertoire and expertise influences the way they perceive the actions of others. When observing skilled actions, experts recruit the cortical network subserving action perception (action observation network, AON) to a greater extent than non-experts. However, it remains unknown whether and how a temporary motor injury affects activation within the AON.
  
  
  METHODS
  To investigate this issue, brain hemodynamic activity was recorded twice in thirteen national female gymnasts suffering from a lower extremity injury at the onset of the experiment. The gymnasts were scanned one month after the injury and were shown gymnastics routines they were able and temporarily unable to perform. Six months later, after complete recovery, they were scanned again and shown the same routines they were now able to practice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed: first, that the level of activity within the inferior parietal lobule and MT/V5/EBA (extrastriate body area), areas constitutive of the AON, was independent of the gymnasts' physical condition. Second, when gymnasts were hurt (vs. when recovered), higher activity in the cerebellum was detected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The equal contribution of MT/V5/EBA and inferior parietal lobule during the observation of movements the gymnasts were able or unable to practice suggests respectively that physical provisional incapacity does not interfere with the perceptual processing of body shape and motion information, and that motor expertise may prevent the decay of sensorimotor representations. Higher activations in the cerebellum may suggest that this structure plays a role in dissociating perceived physically feasible movements from those that are provisionally unfeasible.
authors.affiliation: Institut national du sport, de l'expertise et de la performance, département recherche, laboratoire SEP, Paris, France. Electronic address: claire.calmels@insep.fr.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Calmels
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pichon
authors.affiliation: LNC, INSERM U960, IEC, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France; UMR-S975, Inserm U975, CNRS UMR7225, Centre de Neuroimagerie de Recherche - CENIR, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grèzes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006173:Gymnastics; D006801:Humans; D007869:Leg Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D059167:Mirror Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D014741:Video Recording; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Action observation network; Blessure; Experts en motricité; IRMf; Motor expert performers; Motor injury; Réseau de l’observation d’actions; fMRI