Selective attention modulates inferior frontal gyrus activity during action observation
Abstract
Our ability to recognize the actions of others is subserved by a complex network of brain areas, including the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), inferior parietal lobe (IPL) and superior temporal sulcus (STS). An unresolved issue is whether the activity within these regions requires top-down control or whether it arises relatively automatically during passive action observation. Here we used fMRI to determine whether cortical activity associated with action observation is modulated by the strategic allocation of selective attention. Participants observed moving and stationary images of reach-to-grasp hand actions, while they performed an attentionally demanding task at the fovea. We first defined regions-of-interest (ROIs) in the IFG, IPL and STS which responded to the perception of these actions. We then probed these ROIs while participants observed the identical, but now task-irrelevant, actions and instead performed an easy (low attentional load) or difficult (high attentional load) visual discrimination task. Our data indicate that the activity of the left IFG was consistently attenuated under conditions of high attentional load, while the remaining action observation areas remained relatively unaffected by attentional manipulations. The suppression of the left IFG was unique to the observation of hand actions, and did not occur during the observation of non-biological control stimuli, in the form of coherent dot motion. We propose that the left IFG is the site at which descending inhibitory processes affect the processing of observed actions, and that the attentional modulation of this region is responsible for filtering task-irrelevant actions during ongoing behavior.
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Mirror neuron system activity and imitative compatibility effects can be modulated by attention and contextual factors.
“While there is accumulating evidence that both mirror neuron system activity (Newman Norlund 2007; Catmur 2007; Chong 2008; Molenberghs 2012) and imitative compatibility effects (Van Baaren 2003; Likowski 2008; Chong 2009; Liepelt 2009; Leighton 2010) can be modulated by attention and contextual factors”
From To imitate or not: Avoiding imitation involves preparatory inhibition of motor resonance (2014) · cites this paper as Chong 2008
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“While there is accumulating evidence that both mirror neuron system activity (Catmur et al., 2007; Chong et al., 2008; Molenberghs et al., 2012; Newman-Norlund et al., 2007) and imitative compatibility effects (Chong et al., 2009; Leighton et al., 2010; Liepelt et al., 2009; Likowski et al., 2008;…”
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Chong, T. T.-J., Williams, M. A., Cunnington, R., & Mattingley, J. B.
- Affiliations
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Macquarie University (AU)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Chong, Trevor T.-J.
- Venue
- NeuroImage
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2008-03-01
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 298-307
- ISSN
- 1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1978623467
- Cited by
- 118
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 10.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Melbourne
- Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Keywords
- action observation, inferior frontal gyrus, selective attention, attentional load, top-down control, inferior parietal lobule, superior temporal sulcus, descending inhibition, visual discrimination task
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attention, Female, Frontal Lobe, Hand, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Nerve Net, Photic Stimulation, Psychomotor Performance, Space Perception, Visual Perception, Hand Strength
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