Movement Imitation via an Abstract Trajectory Representation in Dorsal Premotor Cortex
| Autor: | Aaron L. Wong, Steven A. Jax, Laurel J. Buxbaum, John W. Krakauer, Louisa L. Smith |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Dissociation (neuropsychology) Computer science Movement media_common.quotation_subject Posterior parietal cortex Apraxia Functional Laterality 050105 experimental psychology Lateralization of brain function Premotor cortex 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Perception medicine Humans Imitation (music) 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Research Articles Aged media_common Aged 80 and over Cued speech General Neuroscience 05 social sciences Representation (systemics) Motor Cortex Middle Aged medicine.disease Imitative Behavior Stroke medicine.anatomical_structure Trajectory Female Imitation Psychology Neuroscience Psychomotor Performance 030217 neurology & neurosurgery Gesture |
| Zdroj: | The Journal of Neuroscience. 39:3320-3331 |
| ISSN: | 1529-2401 0270-6474 |
| Popis: | Humans are particularly good at copying novel and meaningless gestures. The mechanistic and anatomical basis for this specialized imitation ability remains largely unknown. One idea is that imitation occurs by matching body configurations. Here we propose an alternative route to imitation that depends on a body-independent representation of the trajectory path of the end-effector. We studied a group of patients with strokes in the left frontoparietal cortices. We found that they were equally impaired at imitating movement trajectories using the ipsilesional limb (i.e., the non-paretic side) that were cued either by an actor using their whole arm or just by a cursor, suggesting that body configuration is not always critical for imitation and that a representation of abstract trajectory shape may suffice. In addition, imitation ability was uncorrelated to the ability to identify the trajectory shape, suggesting a dissociation between producing trajectory shapes and perceiving their paths. Finally, a lesion-symptom mapping analysis found that imitation deficits were associated with lesions in left dorsal premotor but not parietal cortex. Together, these findings suggest a novel body-independent route to imitation that relies on the ability to plan abstract movement trajectories within dorsal premotor cortex.Significance StatementThe ability to imitate is critical for rapidly learning to produce new gestures and actions, but how the brain translates observed movements into motor commands is poorly understood. Examining the ability of patients with strokes affecting the left hemisphere revealed that meaningless gestures can be imitated by succinctly representing only the motion of the hand in space, rather than the posture of the entire arm. Moreover, performance deficits correlated with lesions in dorsal premotor cortex, an area not previously associated with impaired imitation of arm postures. These findings thus describe a novel route to imitation that may also be impaired in some patients with apraxia. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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