Beyond balance: The role of the Vestibular system in action recognition

Action recognition is a fundamental aspect of human interaction. This process is mediated by the activation of shared sensorimotor representations during action execution and observation. Although complex movements involving balance or head and trunk rotations require vestibular signals for effectiv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Heliyon 2024-09, Vol.10 (18), p.e38019, Article e38019
Main Authors: Gammeri, Roberto, Villa, Maria-Chiara, Ciorli, Tommaso, Berti, Anna, Ricci, Raffaella
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action recognition
cognition
dissociation
Galvanic Vestibular stimulation
head
humans
Mirror processing
Motor familiarity
Vestibular system
Visual sensitivity
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Summary:Action recognition is a fundamental aspect of human interaction. This process is mediated by the activation of shared sensorimotor representations during action execution and observation. Although complex movements involving balance or head and trunk rotations require vestibular signals for effective execution, their role in the recognition of others' actions is still unknown. To investigate the causal involvement of the vestibular system in the discrimination of actions performed by others and whether this is influenced by motor familiarity. In a single-blind design involving 25 healthy participants, Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) was administered during an Action Discrimination Task (ADT), in which videos of actions categorized as vestibular/non-vestibular and familiar/unfamiliar were presented. Following each video, participants were required to identify the climax of the previously viewed action between two image options, using a two-alternative forced choice paradigm. The ADT was performed in active and sham GVS conditions, with left or right anodal montages. Response Times (RTs), Accuracy, and subjective motor familiarity were recorded for each action category. In sham GVS condition, an overall familiarity effect was observed, where RTs for familiar actions were faster than RTs for unfamiliar ones, regardless of vestibular engagement (p 
ISSN:2405-8440
2405-8440
DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e38019