title: Direct eye contact enhances mirroring of others' movements: A transcranial magnetic stimulation study.
abstract: Direct eye contact is a powerful social cue to regulate interpersonal interactions. Previous behavioral studies showed a link between eye contact and motor mimicry, indicating that the automatic mimicry of observed hand movements is significantly enhanced when direct eye contact exists between the observer and the observed model. In the present study, we aim to investigate the neurophysiological basis of the previously reported behavioral enhancements. Here, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied to assess changes in cortico-motor excitability at the level of the primary motor cortex (M1) to explore whether and how the motor system is facilitated from observing others' hand movements and, in particular, how this process is modulated by eye contact. To do so, motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were collected from two hand muscles while participants received single-pulse TMS and naturally observed video clips of an actor showing hand opening movements or static hands. During the observation, either direct or averted eye gaze was established between the subject and the observed actor. Our findings show a clear effect of eye gaze on observation-induced motor facilitation. This indicates that the mapping or 'mirroring' of others' movements is significantly enhanced when movement observation is accompanied by direct eye gaze compared to averted eye gaze. Our results support the notion that eye contact is a powerful social signal with the ability to direct human non-verbal social behavior. Furthermore, our findings are important for understanding the role of the mirror motor system in the mapping of socially relevant actions.
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Neuromotor Rehabilitation, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Tervuursevest 101, 3001 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: jellina.prinsen@kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Jellina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prinsen
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Neuromotor Rehabilitation, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Tervuursevest 101, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bernaerts
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, United States.
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven, Tervuursevest 101, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Toon T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: de Beukelaar
authors.affiliation: Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven, Tervuursevest 101, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; REVAL Rehabilitation Research Centre, Biomedical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium.
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cuypers
authors.affiliation: Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven, Tervuursevest 101, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stephan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Swinnen
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Neuromotor Rehabilitation, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Tervuursevest 101, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kaat
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alaerts
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004576:Electromyography; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor; D053483:Eye Movement Measurements; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012919:Social Behavior; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Eye contact; Gaze processing; Mirror-motor system; Movement observation; Transcranial magnetic stimulation