Research article summary (published 17 Jun 2007):

Recognition of point-light biological motion: mu rhythms and mirror neuron activity.

Full Abstract

Changes in power in the mu frequency band (8-13Hz) of the electroencephalogram (EEG) is thought to indirectly reflect the activity of mirror neurons in premotor cortex. Activation of these neurons by self-performed, observed or imagined motor actions is assumed to produce asynchronous firing and a reduction in mu rhythm oscillation (referred to as mu suppression) in sensorimotor cortex. A recent fMRI study by Saygin et al. [Saygin AP, Wilson SM, Hagler Jr DJ, Bates E, Sereno MI. Point-light biological motion perception activates human premotor cortex. J Neurosci 2004;24:6181-8] revealed that the premotor brain regions containing mirror-neurons are also activated in response to point-light human motion. The perceived movement of these light cues are integrated into one percept of a complete human action (e.g. jumping jacks), rather than seen as individual moving lights. The present study examined whether recruitment of the mirror neuron system, as reflected in mu rhythm suppression, mediates recognition of point-light biological motion. Changes in mu power were recorded while subjects viewed point-light biological motion videos, matched scrambled versions of these animations, and visual white-noise (baseline). The results revealed that point-light biological animations produced mu suppression relative to baseline, while scrambled versions of these animations did not. This supports the hypothesis that the mirror neuron system is involved in inferring human actions by recovering object information from sparse input.

Author information

Author/s: Ulloa, Erlinda R (ER); Pineda, Jaime A (JA);

Affiliation: Department of Biology, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0346, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Behavioural brain research (Behav Brain Res), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Nov; vol 183 (issue 2) : pp 188-94

Dates: Created 2007/09/10; Completed 2007/12/06;

PMID: 17658625, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent Adult Alpha Rhythm Analysis of Variance Cues Female Form Perception - physiology Humans

Humans Imitative Behavior - physiology Male Motion Perception - physiology Motor Cortex - cytology; physiology Neurons - physiology Photic Stimulation Reaction Time - physiology

Related articles

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

• Mirror neurons responding to observation of actions made with tools in monkey ventral premotor cortex. 30 Jan 2005
• Neuronal responses in MST reflect the post-saccadic enhancement of short-latency ocular following responses. 27 Jun 2006
• Neural responses during interception of real and apparent circularly moving stimuli in motor cortex and area 7a. 28 Feb 2004
• Activity in ventral and dorsal premotor cortex in response to predictable force-pulse perturbations in a precision grip task. 30 Aug 2001
• The mirror-neuron system. 30 Dec 2003
• Mirror neurons and motor intentionality. 29 Sep 2007
• Experience modulates automatic imitation. 30 Jan 2005
• Neuronal clusters in the primate motor cortex during interception of moving targets. 30 Mar 2001
• Role of arcuate frontal cortex of monkeys in smooth pursuit eye movements. I. Basic response properties to retinal image motion and position. 30 May 2002
• [The functional significance of alpha activity in the visual cortex for the recognition of images and movement] 29 Sep 1996

See 100+ related articles.

Related Article Map

Legend: - FREE Full text Article. - Abstract only. - Title only. More help.

See a large map of 100+ related articles.