Journal
NEUROIMAGE
Volume 53, Issue 1, Pages 291-302Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.05.080
Keywords
Animacy; Insula; Mentalizing; Mirror neuron system (MNS); Social neural network (SNN); Superior temporal sulcus; Orbitofrontal cortex; Ventromedial prefrontal cortex
Funding
- German Volkswagen-Stiftung
- Portuguese scientific foundation Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT)
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Previous research used animated geometric figures to investigate social cognitive processes involved in ascribing mental states to others (e.g. mentalizing). The relationship between animacy perception and brain areas commonly involved in social cognition, as well as the influence of particular motion patterns on animacy experience, however, remains to be further elucidated. We used a recently introduced paradigm for the systematic variation of motion properties, and employed functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify the neural mechanisms underlying animacy experience. Based on individual ratings of increased animacy experience the following brain regions of the social neural network (SNN), known to be involved in social cognitive processes, were recruited: insula, superior temporal gyros, fusiform gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex bilaterally. Decreased animacy experience was associated with increased neural activity in the inferior parietal and inferior frontal gyrus, key constituents of the human mirror neuron system (hMNS). These findings were corroborated when analyses were based on movement patterns alone, irrespective of subjective experience. Additionally to the areas found for increased animacy experience, an increase in interactive movements elicited activity in the amygdala and the temporal pole. In conclusion, the results suggest that the hMNS is recruited during a low-level stage of animacy judgment representing a basic disposition to detect the salience of movements, whereas the SNN appears to be a high-level processing component serving evaluation in social and mental inference. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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