Speaker
Description
Background:
Recognizing others’ intentions is pivotal for social interaction and involves the mirror neuron system (MNS) and the mentalizing system (MENT). Yet the organization and interaction of these systems during self- versus other-directed action observation are not fully understood. EEG research associates MNS activity with mu rhythms (alpha: 8–13 Hz; beta: 15–20 Hz) and has revealed distinct activations in key MNS and MENT regions across various EEG bands during self-involved social motor tasks. Using EEG source localization, this study explores MNS and MENT involvement during action observation, expecting mu suppression in MNS areas and greater MNS and MENT recruitment during self-directed communicative actions.
Methods: During 64-channel HD-EEG recordings, 35 participants watched video clips of communicative or private intentions as well as other-directed and self-directed intentions (task adapted from a previous fmri study). We used sLORETA to compute cortical 3D distribution of neuronal activity. Power spectral density (PSD) was averaged in five frequency bands: theta, lower and upper alpha/beta bands. We compared communicative and private intentions PSD values to obtain spectral activation maps.
Results: Activity elicited in theta and lower alpha bands revealed a different pattern of activation related to the kind of intention. Within self-directed perspective communicative actions showed significantly greater desynchronization in mentalizing regions than private intentions. Comparisons within communicative intentions (self-directed vs other-directed) revealed a larger desynchronization in MENT regions and in the anterior part of the MNS respectively (theta).
Conclusion:
Theta and lower alpha modulation suggest their implication during integration of socially salient information and intentions’ discrimination.
