Objects automatically potentiate action: an fMRI study of implicit processing

Behavioural data have shown that the perception of an object automatically potentiates motor components (affordances) of possible actions toward that object, irrespective of the subject's intention. We carried out an event‐related fMRI study to investigate the influence of the intrinsic propert...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European journal of neuroscience 2003-06, Vol.17 (12), p.2735-2740
Main Authors: Grèzes, J., Tucker, M., Armony, J., Ellis, R., Passingham, R. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
affordances
Brain Mapping
Cerebral Cortex - anatomy & histology
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Cognitive science
fMRI
Functional Laterality
Hand Strength - physiology
Humans
implicit processing
Life Sciences
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Male
Motor Cortex - physiology
Neurons and Cognition
object manipulation
parietal cortex
Photic Stimulation
premotor cortex
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Reaction Time
Regression Analysis
Size Perception
Visual Perception - physiology
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Summary:Behavioural data have shown that the perception of an object automatically potentiates motor components (affordances) of possible actions toward that object, irrespective of the subject's intention. We carried out an event‐related fMRI study to investigate the influence of the intrinsic properties of an object on motor responses which were either compatible or incompatible with the action that the object affords. The subjects performed power or precision grip responses based on the categorization of objects into natural or man‐made. The objects were either ‘small’ (usually grasped with a precision grip) or ‘large’ (usually grasped with a power grip). As expected, the motor responses were fastest to objects that afforded the same grip (congruent) and slowest to objects that afforded the other grip (incongruent). Imaging revealed activations which covaried with compatibility in the parietal, dorsal premotor and inferior frontal cortex. We suggest that the greater the difference in reaction times between congruent and incongruent trials, the greater the competition between the action afforded by the object and the action specified by the task, and thus the greater the activation within this network.
ISSN:0953-816X
1460-9568
DOI:10.1046/j.1460-9568.2003.02695.x