TY - JOUR

T1 - Moving Mirrors: a high density EEG study investigating the effect of camera movements on motor cortex activation during action observation

AU - Heimann, Katrin

AU - Umiltà, Alessandra

AU - Gallese, Vittorio

AU - Guerra, Michele

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Action execution–perception links (mirror mechanism) havebeen repeatedly suggested to play crucial roles in social cognition.Remarkably, the designs of most studies exploring thistopic so far excluded even the simplest traces of social interaction,such as a movement of the observer toward anotherindividual. This study introduces a new design by investigatingthe effects of camera movements, possibly simulating theobserverʼs own approaching movement toward the scene. Weconducted a combined high-density EEG and behavioral studyinvestigating motor cortex activation during action observationmeasured by event-related desynchronization and resynchronization(ERD/ERS) of the mu rhythm. Stimuli were videos showinga goal-related hand action filmed while using the camerain four different ways: filming from a fixed position, zoomingin on the scene, approaching the scene by means of a dolly,and approaching the scene by means of a steadycam. Resultsdemonstrated a consistently stronger ERD of the mu rhythmfor videos that were filmed while approaching the scene witha steadycam. Furthermore, videos in which the zoom was appliedreliably demonstrated a stronger rebound. A rating taskshowed that videos in which the camera approached thescene were felt as more involving and the steadycam wasmost able to produce a visual experience close to the one ofa human approaching the scene. These results suggest thatfilming technique predicts time course specifics of ERD/ERSduring action observation with only videos simulating the naturalvision of a walking human observer eliciting a strongerERD than videos filmed from a fixed position. This demonstratesthe utility of ecologically designed studies for exploringsocial cognition

AB - Action execution–perception links (mirror mechanism) havebeen repeatedly suggested to play crucial roles in social cognition.Remarkably, the designs of most studies exploring thistopic so far excluded even the simplest traces of social interaction,such as a movement of the observer toward anotherindividual. This study introduces a new design by investigatingthe effects of camera movements, possibly simulating theobserverʼs own approaching movement toward the scene. Weconducted a combined high-density EEG and behavioral studyinvestigating motor cortex activation during action observationmeasured by event-related desynchronization and resynchronization(ERD/ERS) of the mu rhythm. Stimuli were videos showinga goal-related hand action filmed while using the camerain four different ways: filming from a fixed position, zoomingin on the scene, approaching the scene by means of a dolly,and approaching the scene by means of a steadycam. Resultsdemonstrated a consistently stronger ERD of the mu rhythmfor videos that were filmed while approaching the scene witha steadycam. Furthermore, videos in which the zoom was appliedreliably demonstrated a stronger rebound. A rating taskshowed that videos in which the camera approached thescene were felt as more involving and the steadycam wasmost able to produce a visual experience close to the one ofa human approaching the scene. These results suggest thatfilming technique predicts time course specifics of ERD/ERSduring action observation with only videos simulating the naturalvision of a walking human observer eliciting a strongerERD than videos filmed from a fixed position. This demonstratesthe utility of ecologically designed studies for exploringsocial cognition

KW - Neuroscience of Film

KW - Cognitive Studies of Film

KW - Film Style

KW - EEG

KW - Embodied Cognition

M3 - Journal article

VL - 26

SP - 2087

EP - 2101

JO - Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (Online)

JF - Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (Online)

SN - 0898-929X

ER -