Mirroring multiple agents: Motor resonance during action observation is modulated by the number of agents
Open accessAbstract
Although social situations regularly involve multiple persons acting together, research on the mirror neuron system has focused on situations in which a single agent is observed. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to explore the role of the mirror mechanism in situations involving multiple agents. Specifically, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate whether mirror activation is modulated by the number of observed agents. Based on group contagion research, we hypothesized that multiple agents would provide a stronger trigger to the motor system and would therefore produce a stronger mirror response than a single agent. Participants observed movements performed by a single hand or by two hands while TMS was applied to the primary motor cortex. The results confirmed that activation in the motor system was stronger for two hands. This suggests that input to the motor system increases as the number of agents grows. Relating back to group contagion, our study suggests that groups may be more contagious simply because their actions resonate louder. Given that the mirror mechanism has been linked to a variety of social skills, our findings additionally have important implications for the understanding of social interaction at the group level.
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Seeing two hands performing the same action produces stronger corticospinal excitability and stronger imitation than seeing one hand performing a single action.
“research looking at automatic imitation of multiple agents has shown that seeing two hands performing the same action elicits stronger corticospinal excitability (Cracco, De Coster, Andres, & Brass, 2016) and therefore stronger imitation (Cracco & Brass, 2018a;Cracco, De Coster, Andres, & Brass, 2015) than seeing one hand performing a single action.”
From Automatic imitation of multiple agents: A computational model (2019) · cites this paper as Cracco, De Coster, Andres, & Brass, 2016
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Automatic imitation of multiple agents: A computational model
Cracco, E., & Cooper, R. P. (2019) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2019.101224 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Cracco, E., De Coster, L., Andres, M., & Brass, M.
- Affiliations
- Ghent University (BE)
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
- Venue
- Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2016-04-25
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1422-1427
- ISSN
- 1749-5016 (ISSN-L)
- 1749-5024
- PMC
- PMC5015808
- OpenAlex
- W2343268769
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 4.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
- Digital Access to Libraries (Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), l'Université de Namur (UNamur) and the Université Saint-Louis (USL-B)) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO14/ASP/050)
- Vlaamse regering
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
- Keywords
- action observation, mirror neuron system, motor resonance, multiple agents, primary motor cortex, transcranial magnetic stimulation, social interaction
- MeSH terms
- Electromyography, Hand, Humans, Male, Motion Perception, Motor Cortex, Movement, Photic Stimulation, Social Environment, Evoked Potentials, Motor, Observation, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Young Adult, Mirror Neurons
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