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  4. Virtual lesion of ventral premotor cortex impairs visual perception of biomechanically possible but not impossible actions
 
research article

Virtual lesion of ventral premotor cortex impairs visual perception of biomechanically possible but not impossible actions

Candidi, Matteo
•
Urgesi, Cosimo
•
Ionta, Silvio
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2008
Social neuroscience

Single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies show that action observation facilitates the onlooker's cortico-spinal system supporting the notion of motor mirroring. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over ventral premotor cortex (vPMc) impairs visual discrimination of body actions. Although studies suggest that the action observation-execution matching system may map only actions that belong to the observer's motor repertoire, we demonstrated comparable motor and premotor facilitation during observation of biomechanically possible as well as impossible actions. It has also been shown that seeing impossible body movements activates the extrastriate body area (EBA). Using event-related rTMS, we sought to determine whether vPMc and EBA are actively involved in the visual discrimination of actions performed through biomechanically possible or impossible kinematics and of their biomechanical plausibility. Stimulation of vPMc impaired discrimination of possible actions while leaving intact the discrimination of biomechanically impossible actions and of biomechanical plausibility. No effect of EBA rTMS on any type of action processing was found. Thus, vPMc is crucial for discrimination of the goal of actions that can be actually performed suggesting that this area is involved in the visual processing of goal-directed actions.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1080/17470910701676269
Author(s)
Candidi, Matteo
Urgesi, Cosimo
Ionta, Silvio
Aglioti, Salvatore M.
Date Issued

2008

Published in
Social neuroscience
Volume

3

Issue

3-4

Start page

388

End page

400

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

OTHER

EPFL units
BMI  
Available on Infoscience
May 31, 2011
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/68057
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