Weaving the fabric of social interaction: articulating developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience in the domain of motor cognition.

Full Abstract

In this article, we bring together recent findings from developmental science and cognitive neuroscience to argue that perception-action coupling constitutes the fundamental mechanism of motor cognition. A variety of empirical evidence suggests that observed and executed actions are coded in a common cognitive and neural framework, enabling individuals to construct shared representations of self and other actions. We review work to suggest that such shared representations support action anticipation, organization, and imitation. These processes, along with additional computational mechanisms for determining a sense of agency and behavioral regulation, form the fabric of socialinteraction. In addition, humans possess the capacity to move beyond these basic aspects of action analysis to interpret behavior at a deeper level, an ability that may be outside the scope of the mirror system. Understanding the nature of shared representations from the vantage point of developmental and cognitive science and neuroscience has the potential to inform a range of motor and social processes. This perspective also elucidates intriguing new directions and research questions and generates specific hypotheses regarding the impact of early disorders (e.g., developmental movement disorders) on subsequent action processing.

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Author information

Author/s: Sommerville, Jessica A (JA); Decety, Jean (J);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology and Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Campus Box 357988, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA. sommej(-atsign-)u.washington.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Review

Journal: Psychonomic bulletin & review (Psychon Bull Rev), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Apr; vol 13 (issue 2) : pp 179-200

Dates: Created 2006/08/08; Completed 2006/11/30;

PMID: 16892982, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Awareness - physiology
Cognition
Cognitive Science - methods
Developmental Biology - methods
Humans

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