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Cited by 2,683Action Observation and SynchronizationMotor Control and AdaptationNeurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 43 of the 43 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Cortical Mechanisms of Human Imitation

Iacoboni, Marco, Woods, Roger P., Brass, Marcel, Bekkering, Harold, Mazziotta, John C., Rizzolatti, Giacomo·1999·Science
DOI 10.1126/science.286.5449.2526
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Abstract

How does imitation occur? How can the motor plans necessary for imitating an action derive from the observation of that action? Imitation may be based on a mechanism directly matching the observed action onto an internal motor representation of that action ("direct matching hypothesis"). To test this hypothesis, normal human participants were asked to observe and imitate a finger movement and to perform the same movement after spatial or symbolic cues. Brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging. If the direct matching hypothesis is correct, there should be areas that become active during finger movement, regardless of how it is evoked, and their activation should increase when the same movement is elicited by the observation of an identical movement made by another individual. Two areas with these properties were found in the left inferior frontal cortex (opercular region) and the rostral-most region of the right superior parietal lobule.

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. E. De Renzi in Handbook of Neuropsychology F. Boller and J. Grafman Eds. (Elsevier New York 1990) vol. 2 pp. 245–263;
  2. ; J. L. Gewirtz in Handbook of Socialized Theory and Research D. A. Goslin Ed. (Rand McNally Chicago IL 1969) pp. 57–213; S. Pawlby in Studies in Mother-Infant Interaction H. Schaffer Ed. (Academic Press New York 1977) pp. 203–224.
  3. Rizzolatti G., Fadiga L., Fogassi L., Gallese V., Arch. Ital. Biol. 137, 85 (1999).
  4. Two recent behavioral studies demonstrated that movement observation strongly affects movement execution in a paradigm similar to the one adopted here (M. Brass H. Bekkering A. Wohlschlager W. Prinz Brain Cogn. in press; M. Brass H. Bekkering W. Prinz Acta Psychol. in press). In both of these studies as in this imaging study a “mirror” configuration (right hand imitation of left hand action) was selected because it has been repeatedly shown that there is a natural tendency to imitate in the mirror configuration [
  5. ]. Statistical analysis was performed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) [R. P. Woods M. Iacoboni S. T. Grafton J. C. Mazziotta in Quantification of Brain Function Using PET R. Myers V. Cunningham D. Bailey T. Jones Eds. (Academic Press San Diego CA 1996) pp. 353–358]. Participants ( n = 12) fMRI scans ( n = 4) task ( n = 2: observation and observation-execution) and stimuli ( n = 3: animated hand static hand and geometric figure) were included in the ANOVA whereas rest periods were excluded. Because of the “blurred” hemodynamic response the six brain volumes acquired per task period cannot be considered independent observations. Thus we used the sum of the signal intensity at each voxel throughout each task period as the dependent variable. To account for the delayed hemodynamic response [

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Metadata

Authors
Iacoboni, M., Woods, R. P., Brass, M., Bekkering, H., Mazziotta, J. C., & Rizzolatti, G.
Affiliations
  • Brain Mapping Center, Neuropsychiatric Institute,
  • Max Planck Society (DE)
  • Department of Cognition and Action, Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research, Leopoldstrasse 24, D-80802 Munich, Germany.
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • University of Parma (IT)
Corresponding author
Iacoboni, Marco
ORCID
Venue
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Published
1999-12-24
Volume
286
Issue
5449
Pages
2526-2528
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
DOI
10.1126/science.286.5449.2526
OpenAlex
W2157915068
Cited by
2,683
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 25 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 63 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 61 · 2019: 83 · 2018: 87 · 2017: 96 · 2016: 90 · 2015: 120 · 2014: 138 · 2013: 127 · 2012: 160
FWCI
76.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
Keywords
imitation, action observation, motor planning, mirror neuron system, inferior frontal cortex, superior parietal lobule, finger movement
MeSH terms
Adult, Brain Mapping, Cues, Female, Fingers, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Movement, Neurons, Parietal Lobe

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