Where and how our brain represents the temporal structure of observed action

R M Thomas; T De Sanctis; V Gazzola; C Keysers

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.056

Where and how our brain represents the temporal structure of observed action

R M Thomas, T De Sanctis, V Gazzola, C Keysers

Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN)

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

303 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Reacting faster to the behaviour of others provides evolutionary advantages. Reacting to unpredictable events takes hundreds of milliseconds. Understanding where and how the brain represents what actions are likely to follow one another is, therefore, important. Everyday actions occur in predictable sequences, yet neuroscientists focus on how brains respond to unexpected, individual motor acts. Using fMRI, we show the brain encodes sequence-related information in the motor system. Using EEG, we show visual responses are faster and smaller for predictable sequences. We hope this paradigm encourages the field to shift its focus from single acts to motor sequences. It sheds light on how we adapt to the actions of others and suggests that the motor system may implement perceptual predictive coding.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	677-697
Journal	NeuroImage
Volume	183
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.056
Publication status	Published - 2018

Keywords

Journal Article

Access to Document

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.056

Thomas2018Final published version, 4.23 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

@article{ffeedeab0e2543198999af5be73a64ab,

title = "Where and how our brain represents the temporal structure of observed action",

abstract = "Reacting faster to the behaviour of others provides evolutionary advantages. Reacting to unpredictable events takes hundreds of milliseconds. Understanding where and how the brain represents what actions are likely to follow one another is, therefore, important. Everyday actions occur in predictable sequences, yet neuroscientists focus on how brains respond to unexpected, individual motor acts. Using fMRI, we show the brain encodes sequence-related information in the motor system. Using EEG, we show visual responses are faster and smaller for predictable sequences. We hope this paradigm encourages the field to shift its focus from single acts to motor sequences. It sheds light on how we adapt to the actions of others and suggests that the motor system may implement perceptual predictive coding.",

keywords = "Journal Article",

author = "Thomas, {R M} and {De Sanctis}, T and V Gazzola and C Keysers",

note = "Copyright {\textcopyright} 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2018",

doi = "10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.056",

language = "English",

volume = "183",

pages = "677--697",

journal = "NeuroImage",

issn = "1053-8119",

publisher = "Academic Press",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Where and how our brain represents the temporal structure of observed action

AU - Thomas, R M

AU - De Sanctis, T

AU - Gazzola, V

AU - Keysers, C

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Reacting faster to the behaviour of others provides evolutionary advantages. Reacting to unpredictable events takes hundreds of milliseconds. Understanding where and how the brain represents what actions are likely to follow one another is, therefore, important. Everyday actions occur in predictable sequences, yet neuroscientists focus on how brains respond to unexpected, individual motor acts. Using fMRI, we show the brain encodes sequence-related information in the motor system. Using EEG, we show visual responses are faster and smaller for predictable sequences. We hope this paradigm encourages the field to shift its focus from single acts to motor sequences. It sheds light on how we adapt to the actions of others and suggests that the motor system may implement perceptual predictive coding.

AB - Reacting faster to the behaviour of others provides evolutionary advantages. Reacting to unpredictable events takes hundreds of milliseconds. Understanding where and how the brain represents what actions are likely to follow one another is, therefore, important. Everyday actions occur in predictable sequences, yet neuroscientists focus on how brains respond to unexpected, individual motor acts. Using fMRI, we show the brain encodes sequence-related information in the motor system. Using EEG, we show visual responses are faster and smaller for predictable sequences. We hope this paradigm encourages the field to shift its focus from single acts to motor sequences. It sheds light on how we adapt to the actions of others and suggests that the motor system may implement perceptual predictive coding.

KW - Journal Article

U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.056

DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.056

M3 - Article

C2 - 30165253

SN - 1053-8119

VL - 183

SP - 677

EP - 697

JO - NeuroImage

JF - NeuroImage

ER -

Where and how our brain represents the temporal structure of observed action

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this