The neural correlates of 'vitality form' recognition: an fMRI study: this work is dedicated to Daniel Stern, whose immeasurable contribution to science has inspired our research

Giuseppe Di Cesare; Cinzia Di Dio; Magali J Rochat; Corrado Sinigaglia; Nadia Bruschweiler-Stern; Daniel N Stern; Giacomo Rizzolatti

doi:10.1093/scan/nst068

The neural correlates of 'vitality form' recognition: an fMRI study: this work is dedicated to Daniel Stern, whose immeasurable contribution to science has inspired our research

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2014 Jul;9(7):951-60. doi: 10.1093/scan/nst068. Epub 2013 Jun 5.

Authors

Giuseppe Di Cesare¹, Cinzia Di Dio¹, Magali J Rochat¹, Corrado Sinigaglia¹, Nadia Bruschweiler-Stern¹, Daniel N Stern², Giacomo Rizzolatti³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, via Volturno 39/E, 43100 Parma, Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, via Festa del Perdono 7, I-20122 Milano, Italy, Centre Brazelton Suisse, Clinique des Grangettes, 1224 Chêne-Bourg (GE), Section of Psychology, University of Geneva, Bld du Pont d'Arve 40 Geneva, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical School, New York Hospital, USA, and IIT (Italian Institute of Technology) Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition, via Volturno 39, 43100 Parma, Italy.
² Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, via Volturno 39/E, 43100 Parma, Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, via Festa del Perdono 7, I-20122 Milano, Italy, Centre Brazelton Suisse, Clinique des Grangettes, 1224 Chêne-Bourg (GE), Section of Psychology, University of Geneva, Bld du Pont d'Arve 40 Geneva, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical School, New York Hospital, USA, and IIT (Italian Institute of Technology) Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition, via Volturno 39, 43100 Parma, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Parma, via Volturno 39/E, 43100 Parma, Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, via Festa del Perdono 7, I-20122 Milano, Italy, Centre Brazelton Suisse, Clinique des Grangettes, 1224 Chêne-Bourg (GE), Section of Psychology, University of Geneva, Bld du Pont d'Arve 40 Geneva, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical School, New York Hospital, USA, and IIT (Italian Institute of Technology) Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition, via Volturno 39, 43100 Parma, Italy.
³ Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, via Volturno 39/E, 43100 Parma, Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, via Festa del Perdono 7, I-20122 Milano, Italy, Centre Brazelton Suisse, Clinique des Grangettes, 1224 Chêne-Bourg (GE), Section of Psychology, University of Geneva, Bld du Pont d'Arve 40 Geneva, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical School, New York Hospital, USA, and IIT (Italian Institute of Technology) Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition, via Volturno 39, 43100 Parma, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Parma, via Volturno 39/E, 43100 Parma, Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, via Festa del Perdono 7, I-20122 Milano, Italy, Centre Brazelton Suisse, Clinique des Grangettes, 1224 Chêne-Bourg (GE), Section of Psychology, University of Geneva, Bld du Pont d'Arve 40 Geneva, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical School, New York Hospital, USA, and IIT (Italian Institute of Technology) Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition, via Volturno 39, 43100 Parma, Italy giacomo.rizzolatti@unipr.it.

Abstract

The observation of goal-directed actions performed by another individual allows one to understand what that individual is doing and why he/she is doing it. Important information about others' behaviour is also carried out by the dynamics of the observed action. Action dynamics characterize the 'vitality form' of an action describing the cognitive and affective relation between the performing agent and the action recipient. Here, using the fMRI technique, we assessed the neural correlates of vitality form recognition presenting participants with videos showing two actors executing actions with different vitality forms: energetic and gentle. The participants viewed the actions in two tasks. In one task (what), they had to focus on the goal of the presented action; in the other task (how), they had to focus on the vitality form. For both tasks, activations were found in the action observation/execution circuit. Most interestingly, the contrast how vs what revealed activation in right dorso-central insula, highlighting the involvement, in the recognition of vitality form, of an anatomical region connecting somatosensory areas with the medial temporal region and, in particular, with the hippocampus. This somatosensory-insular-limbic circuit could underlie the observers' capacity to understand the vitality forms conveyed by the observed action.

Keywords: action observation; fMRI; insula; social cognition; vitality form.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Biomechanical Phenomena
Brain / physiology
Brain Mapping
Female
Goals
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Motion Perception / physiology*
Neural Pathways / physiology
Recognition, Psychology / physiology*
Social Perception*
Video Recording
Young Adult