PA 8 & 9 Action Flashcards
Perception-action mapping
We can seamlessly map visual representations
of actions onto our motor systems (crossmodal
transfer) to produce a copy of the action
= innate
developmental evidence for innate PAM
infants imitate facial expressions
Active Intermodal Matching
(AIM)
- Neonates recognise
equivalences between body
transformations they see and
those of their own body that
they ‘feel’ themselves make
AIM involves:
* perception and action having independent
coding/representation
* A “specialist” module for imitation
AIM vs other theories
AIM involves:
* perception and action having independent
coding/representation
* A “specialist” module for imitation
Other theories (IM and ASL) posit:
* Common coding for perception and action
* Imitation part of “generalist” processes for
motor control and learning
Dual route model of imitation
input action
visual analysis
- Semantic –
meaningful actions,
stored in repetoire - Visuomotor/direct –
meaningless actions –
mirror neurones
output action
Mirror neurones
Same neurones
found to be
active when the
monkey
performed and
watched an
action
MNs - General properties
Bimodal, visuo-motor
neurons (i.e., respond
to both visual and
motor stimuli)
* Discharge when
individual performs an
action and when they
observe the same
action performed by
another individual
F5 contains 3-types of neurons (direct
evidence from monkeys):
– ‘action observation-related’ visuomotor
neurons (mirror neurons)
– motor neurons
– Canonical visuomotor neurons (also
called ‘object observation-related’
neurons)
indirect evidence for human mirror neurons
- close link between perception and action
- behavioural
- brain imaging
- TMS
direct evidence in humans for mirror neurons
Recording from neurons
behavioural evidence for MNs
faster response when there is compatibility between observed and executed movements
Human MNs – Brain Imaging
evidence
Somatotopic activation of premotor and parietal cortex
(Buccino et al, 2001)
areas correspond to
observations of actions of
different body parts
Perception action overlap human MN evidence
Overlap in brain
activity between
imagined, observed
and executed
movements
Human MNs - TMS EVIDENCE
Use motor evoked potentials to show that observing an
action produces increased motor excitability
Human MNs – Direct recording
- Recorded from 1177 neurons in 21 patients
undergoing surgery for intractable epilepsy - They observed and executed grasping actions
and facial gestures - Action observation-related (‘mirror’) neurons
found in medial frontal lobe (supplementary
motor area; SMA) and medial temporal lobe
(hippocampus)
