Broken affordances, broken objects: A TMS study

It is well known that specific components of motor programs are automatically activated when they are afforded by object related pragmatic features. Among these features the handle appears to be particularly salient for interacting with an object. The aim of this study was to test the modulation of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuropsychologia 2009-12, Vol.47 (14), p.3074-3078
Main Authors: Buccino, Giovanni, Sato, Marc, Cattaneo, Luigi, Rodà, Francesca, Riggio, Lucia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Anatomical correlates of behavior
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain Mapping
Cognitive science
Dorsal stream
Electromyography - methods
Evoked Potentials, Motor - physiology
Female
Functional Laterality - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Linguistics
Male
Movement - physiology
Neuroscience
Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology
Photic Stimulation - methods
Pragmatic features
Premotor cortex
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
TMS
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Young Adult
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Summary:It is well known that specific components of motor programs are automatically activated when they are afforded by object related pragmatic features. Among these features the handle appears to be particularly salient for interacting with an object. The aim of this study was to test the modulation of the motor system when object features, particularly relevant for the action, like the object's handle, are violated. In order to address this issue a TMS paradigm was used in which familiar objects with a whole or broken handle, positioned to the right or to the left, were centrally presented. A control condition was also included in which a symbol (‘#’ character) was shown in the right or in the left visual field. Participants had to watch stimuli carefully. The left hemisphere hand motor area was magnetically stimulated 200ms after stimulus presentation. Results showed that MEP areas were larger when the handle was located to the right side consistent with the visuomotor role of this feature, but only when the handle was complete. The present data (1) suggest a more active role of the dorsal stream in building up object knowledge and (2) allow one to rule out the role of any asymmetrical aspect of an object in motor coding.
ISSN:0028-3932
1873-3514
DOI:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.07.003