Intransitive gestures are expressive and symbolic, whereas pantomimes are object-related actions.... more Intransitive gestures are expressive and symbolic, whereas pantomimes are object-related actions. These gestures convey different meanings depending on whether they are directed toward (TB) or away from the body (AB). TB gestures express mental states (intransitive) or hygiene/nutritional activities (pantomime), while AB gestures modify the behavior of the observer (intransitive) or demonstrate tool use with an object (pantomime). A substantial body of literature suggests that females exhibit stronger social cue processing compared to males. Considering the social significance of gestures, this study aims to explore the physiological gender differences in the observation of AB and TB gestures. Pupil dilation and High Frequency Heart Rate Variability (HF-HRV) were measured in 54 participants (27 female) while observing TB and AB gestures. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Vicarious Distress Questionnaire (VDQ) were used to assess social-emotional processes. Results sho...
The representation of peripersonal space (PPS representation) and the selection of motor actions ... more The representation of peripersonal space (PPS representation) and the selection of motor actions within it (PPS exploitation) are influenced by action outcomes and reward prospects. The present study tested whether observing the outcome of others' actions altered the observer's PPS representation and exploitation. Participants (observers) performed a reachability-judgement task (assessing PPS representation) before and after having observed a confederate (actors) performing a stimuli-selection task on a touch-screen table. In the stimuli-selection task, the stimuli selected could either yield a reward or not, but the probability to select a reward-yielding stimulus was biased in space, being either 50%, 25% or 75% in the actor’s proximal or distal space. After the observation phase, participants performed the stimuli-selection task (assessing PPS exploitation), but with no spatial bias in the distribution of reward-yielding stimuli. Results revealed an effect of actors’ acti...
Resultat du travail collectif de scientifiques de renom, l'ouvrage presente une revue actuali... more Resultat du travail collectif de scientifiques de renom, l'ouvrage presente une revue actualisee et unique d'un sujet phare du domaine des neurosciences : les liens entre la motricite et le langage. Il permet d'explorer les bases neurologiques de ces liens, de comprendre le fonctionnement des reseaux cerebraux qui y sont associes et d'approfondir les connaissances necessaires a l'amelioration des pratiques en reeducation-education.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2020
This study aimed at comparing the time course of the activation of function and manipulation know... more This study aimed at comparing the time course of the activation of function and manipulation knowledge during object identification. The influence of visual similarity and context information was also assessed. In 3 eye-tracking experiments, conducted with the Visual-World-Paradigm, participants heard the name of an object and had to identify it among four pictures. The target object (e.g., "shopping cart") could be presented along with objects related by (a) function (e.g., "basket"), (b) manipulation (e.g., "lawnmower"), (c) context (e.g., "cash register"), (d) visual similarity (e.g., "toaster"), and (e) completely unrelated objects. Growth curve analyses were used to assess competition effects among semantically (a, b and c), visually related (d) and unrelated competitors (e). Results showed that manipulation-and functionrelated, but not context-related objects received more fixations than the unrelated ones, with a temporal advantage for the manipulation-related objects (Experiment 1). However, the visually similar objects faded the semantic competition effects, especially for function-related objects (Experiment 2). Finally, no temporal differences appeared when manipulation-and functionrelated objects were shown within the same visual array (Experiment 3). These results support the idea that both function and manipulation are relevant features of object semantic representations, but in the absence of other semantic competitors the activation of manipulation features appears prioritized during object identification.
Psychological Research-psychologische Forschung, May 25, 2020
This study aimed to explore the relationship between action execution and mental rotation modalit... more This study aimed to explore the relationship between action execution and mental rotation modalities. To this end, pantomime gesture (i.e. the mime of the use of an object) was used as its execution relies on imagery processes. Specifically, we tried to clarify the role of visuo-spatial or motor and body-related mental imagery processes in pantomime gestures performed away (AB, e.g. drawing on a sheet) and towards the body (TB, e.g. brushing the teeth). We included an “actual use” condition in which participants were asked to use a toothbrush and make 3, 6, or 9 circular movements close to their mouth (as if they were brushing their teeth) or to use a pencil and make 3, 6, or 9 circular movements on a desk (as if they were drawing circles). Afterwards, participants were asked to pantomime the actual use of the same objects (“pantomime” condition). Finally, they were asked to mentally rotate three different stimuli: hands, faces, and abstract lines. Results showed that participants were faster in AB than TB pantomimes. Moreover, the more accurate and faster the mental rotation of body-related stimuli was, the more similar the temporal duration between both kinds of pantomimes and the actual use of the objects appeared. Instead, the temporal similarity between AB pantomimes and pencil actual use, as well as, the duration of AB pantomime and actual use, were associated with the ability to mentally rotate abstract lines. This was not true for TB movements. These results suggest that the execution of AB and TB pantomimes may involve different mental imagery modalities. Specifically, AB pantomimes would not only require to mentally manipulate images of body-parts in movement but also represent the spatial relations of the object with the external world.
The praxic semantic system comprises a conceptual knowledge system, which stores functional infor... more The praxic semantic system comprises a conceptual knowledge system, which stores functional information about objects, and an action knowledge system, which stores information about the correct manipulation of objects. Moreover, mechanical problem solving abilities permit to take advantages from objects structure to use unfamiliar tools or discover alternative ways of using familiar tools. This study aims at investigating whether conceptual knowledge, action knowledge and mechanical problem solving abilities intervene in the production of gestures with objects (i.e. pantomimes and object use) by testing a group of brain damaged patients. Results showed that the mechanical problem solving abilities are not sufficient to produce pantomimes and that only severe deficits in the praxic semantic system would affect the production of these gestures. Furthermore, a double dissociation was observed between mechanical problem solving abilities and the capacity to use multiple objects. Overall, the results indicate that the praxic semantic system can be disrupted at different levels, suggesting that the semantic system for object has to be conceived as fractionated in different entities.
An action with an object can be accomplished only if we encode the position of the object with re... more An action with an object can be accomplished only if we encode the position of the object with respect to our body (i.e. egocentrically) and/or to another element in the environment (i.e. allocentrically). However, some actions with the objects are directed towards our body, such as brushing our teeth, and others away from the body, such as writing. Objects can be near the body, that is within arm reaching, or far from the body, that is outside arm reaching. The aim of this study was to verify if the direction of use of the objects influences the way we represent their position in both near and far space. Objects typically used towards (TB) or away from the body (AB) were presented in near or far space and participants had to judge whether an object was closer to them (i.e. egocentric judgment) or closer to another object (i.e. allocentric judgment). Results showed that egocentric judgments on TB objects were more accurate in near than in far space. Moreover, allocentric judgments o...
Background: Since decades, human functional neuroimaging studies have investigated the functional... more Background: Since decades, human functional neuroimaging studies have investigated the functional equivalence between execution, observation and mental simulation of upper limb movements such as grasping, reaching and performing meaningful actions. Although these tasks have showed recognizably differential areas of activation (e.g. M1 and S1 for execution, STS for observation), numerous fMRI studies have reported widespread overlapping activations over a fronto-parietal network, known as action observation network and including mirror neurons. Nevertheless, the focus of the majority of these studies was on the representation of transitive object-related actions, while the analysis of intransitive ones provoked relatively less attention. Aims: The aim of the present study is to investigate patterns of cerebral hemodynamic activity during execution, observation and mental simulation of transitive gesture (object use, e.g. manipulating a brush) and intransitive gesture (only with communicative content, e.g. waving goodbye). Method: Healthy subject (N = 18) were asked either to execute, observe or mentally simulate transitive and intransitive right upper limb gestures. During the three conditions, NIRS event-related signals were recorded over the frontal, parietal and temporal cortex using eight infrared optode emitters and eight optode detectors. Results: Preliminary data analysis conducted on oxy-hemoglobin changes revealed similar activations within motor tasks (M1) but also differential patterns of hemodynamic activity (parietal areas). Moreover, transitive versus intransitive gestures showed different hemodynamic modulation, with increased M1 activity for transitive gestures. Conclusions: These results were discussed taking into consideration the role of semantic information in gesture representation
Intransitive gestures are expressive and symbolic, whereas pantomimes are object-related actions.... more Intransitive gestures are expressive and symbolic, whereas pantomimes are object-related actions. These gestures convey different meanings depending on whether they are directed toward (TB) or away from the body (AB). TB gestures express mental states (intransitive) or hygiene/nutritional activities (pantomime), while AB gestures modify the behavior of the observer (intransitive) or demonstrate tool use with an object (pantomime). A substantial body of literature suggests that females exhibit stronger social cue processing compared to males. Considering the social significance of gestures, this study aims to explore the physiological gender differences in the observation of AB and TB gestures. Pupil dilation and High Frequency Heart Rate Variability (HF-HRV) were measured in 54 participants (27 female) while observing TB and AB gestures. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Vicarious Distress Questionnaire (VDQ) were used to assess social-emotional processes. Results sho...
The representation of peripersonal space (PPS representation) and the selection of motor actions ... more The representation of peripersonal space (PPS representation) and the selection of motor actions within it (PPS exploitation) are influenced by action outcomes and reward prospects. The present study tested whether observing the outcome of others' actions altered the observer's PPS representation and exploitation. Participants (observers) performed a reachability-judgement task (assessing PPS representation) before and after having observed a confederate (actors) performing a stimuli-selection task on a touch-screen table. In the stimuli-selection task, the stimuli selected could either yield a reward or not, but the probability to select a reward-yielding stimulus was biased in space, being either 50%, 25% or 75% in the actor’s proximal or distal space. After the observation phase, participants performed the stimuli-selection task (assessing PPS exploitation), but with no spatial bias in the distribution of reward-yielding stimuli. Results revealed an effect of actors’ acti...
Resultat du travail collectif de scientifiques de renom, l'ouvrage presente une revue actuali... more Resultat du travail collectif de scientifiques de renom, l'ouvrage presente une revue actualisee et unique d'un sujet phare du domaine des neurosciences : les liens entre la motricite et le langage. Il permet d'explorer les bases neurologiques de ces liens, de comprendre le fonctionnement des reseaux cerebraux qui y sont associes et d'approfondir les connaissances necessaires a l'amelioration des pratiques en reeducation-education.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2020
This study aimed at comparing the time course of the activation of function and manipulation know... more This study aimed at comparing the time course of the activation of function and manipulation knowledge during object identification. The influence of visual similarity and context information was also assessed. In 3 eye-tracking experiments, conducted with the Visual-World-Paradigm, participants heard the name of an object and had to identify it among four pictures. The target object (e.g., "shopping cart") could be presented along with objects related by (a) function (e.g., "basket"), (b) manipulation (e.g., "lawnmower"), (c) context (e.g., "cash register"), (d) visual similarity (e.g., "toaster"), and (e) completely unrelated objects. Growth curve analyses were used to assess competition effects among semantically (a, b and c), visually related (d) and unrelated competitors (e). Results showed that manipulation-and functionrelated, but not context-related objects received more fixations than the unrelated ones, with a temporal advantage for the manipulation-related objects (Experiment 1). However, the visually similar objects faded the semantic competition effects, especially for function-related objects (Experiment 2). Finally, no temporal differences appeared when manipulation-and functionrelated objects were shown within the same visual array (Experiment 3). These results support the idea that both function and manipulation are relevant features of object semantic representations, but in the absence of other semantic competitors the activation of manipulation features appears prioritized during object identification.
Psychological Research-psychologische Forschung, May 25, 2020
This study aimed to explore the relationship between action execution and mental rotation modalit... more This study aimed to explore the relationship between action execution and mental rotation modalities. To this end, pantomime gesture (i.e. the mime of the use of an object) was used as its execution relies on imagery processes. Specifically, we tried to clarify the role of visuo-spatial or motor and body-related mental imagery processes in pantomime gestures performed away (AB, e.g. drawing on a sheet) and towards the body (TB, e.g. brushing the teeth). We included an “actual use” condition in which participants were asked to use a toothbrush and make 3, 6, or 9 circular movements close to their mouth (as if they were brushing their teeth) or to use a pencil and make 3, 6, or 9 circular movements on a desk (as if they were drawing circles). Afterwards, participants were asked to pantomime the actual use of the same objects (“pantomime” condition). Finally, they were asked to mentally rotate three different stimuli: hands, faces, and abstract lines. Results showed that participants were faster in AB than TB pantomimes. Moreover, the more accurate and faster the mental rotation of body-related stimuli was, the more similar the temporal duration between both kinds of pantomimes and the actual use of the objects appeared. Instead, the temporal similarity between AB pantomimes and pencil actual use, as well as, the duration of AB pantomime and actual use, were associated with the ability to mentally rotate abstract lines. This was not true for TB movements. These results suggest that the execution of AB and TB pantomimes may involve different mental imagery modalities. Specifically, AB pantomimes would not only require to mentally manipulate images of body-parts in movement but also represent the spatial relations of the object with the external world.
The praxic semantic system comprises a conceptual knowledge system, which stores functional infor... more The praxic semantic system comprises a conceptual knowledge system, which stores functional information about objects, and an action knowledge system, which stores information about the correct manipulation of objects. Moreover, mechanical problem solving abilities permit to take advantages from objects structure to use unfamiliar tools or discover alternative ways of using familiar tools. This study aims at investigating whether conceptual knowledge, action knowledge and mechanical problem solving abilities intervene in the production of gestures with objects (i.e. pantomimes and object use) by testing a group of brain damaged patients. Results showed that the mechanical problem solving abilities are not sufficient to produce pantomimes and that only severe deficits in the praxic semantic system would affect the production of these gestures. Furthermore, a double dissociation was observed between mechanical problem solving abilities and the capacity to use multiple objects. Overall, the results indicate that the praxic semantic system can be disrupted at different levels, suggesting that the semantic system for object has to be conceived as fractionated in different entities.
An action with an object can be accomplished only if we encode the position of the object with re... more An action with an object can be accomplished only if we encode the position of the object with respect to our body (i.e. egocentrically) and/or to another element in the environment (i.e. allocentrically). However, some actions with the objects are directed towards our body, such as brushing our teeth, and others away from the body, such as writing. Objects can be near the body, that is within arm reaching, or far from the body, that is outside arm reaching. The aim of this study was to verify if the direction of use of the objects influences the way we represent their position in both near and far space. Objects typically used towards (TB) or away from the body (AB) were presented in near or far space and participants had to judge whether an object was closer to them (i.e. egocentric judgment) or closer to another object (i.e. allocentric judgment). Results showed that egocentric judgments on TB objects were more accurate in near than in far space. Moreover, allocentric judgments o...
Background: Since decades, human functional neuroimaging studies have investigated the functional... more Background: Since decades, human functional neuroimaging studies have investigated the functional equivalence between execution, observation and mental simulation of upper limb movements such as grasping, reaching and performing meaningful actions. Although these tasks have showed recognizably differential areas of activation (e.g. M1 and S1 for execution, STS for observation), numerous fMRI studies have reported widespread overlapping activations over a fronto-parietal network, known as action observation network and including mirror neurons. Nevertheless, the focus of the majority of these studies was on the representation of transitive object-related actions, while the analysis of intransitive ones provoked relatively less attention. Aims: The aim of the present study is to investigate patterns of cerebral hemodynamic activity during execution, observation and mental simulation of transitive gesture (object use, e.g. manipulating a brush) and intransitive gesture (only with communicative content, e.g. waving goodbye). Method: Healthy subject (N = 18) were asked either to execute, observe or mentally simulate transitive and intransitive right upper limb gestures. During the three conditions, NIRS event-related signals were recorded over the frontal, parietal and temporal cortex using eight infrared optode emitters and eight optode detectors. Results: Preliminary data analysis conducted on oxy-hemoglobin changes revealed similar activations within motor tasks (M1) but also differential patterns of hemodynamic activity (parietal areas). Moreover, transitive versus intransitive gestures showed different hemodynamic modulation, with increased M1 activity for transitive gestures. Conclusions: These results were discussed taking into consideration the role of semantic information in gesture representation
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