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Cited by 2,044Action Observation and SynchronizationChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentFace Recognition and Perception

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 44 of the 45 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Grasping the Intentions of Others with One's Own Mirror Neuron System

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Iacoboni, Marco, Molnar-Szakacs, Istvan, Gallese, Vittorio, Buccino, Giovanni, Mazziotta, John C, Rizzolatti, Giacomo·2005·PLoS Biology
DOI 10.1371/journal.pbio.0030079PMC PMC1044835
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Abstract

Understanding the intentions of others while watching their actions is a fundamental building block of social behavior. The neural and functional mechanisms underlying this ability are still poorly understood. To investigate these mechanisms we used functional magnetic resonance imaging. Twenty-three subjects watched three kinds of stimuli: grasping hand actions without a context, context only (scenes containing objects), and grasping hand actions performed in two different contexts. In the latter condition the context suggested the intention associated with the grasping action (either drinking or cleaning). Actions embedded in contexts, compared with the other two conditions, yielded a significant signal increase in the posterior part of the inferior frontal gyrus and the adjacent sector of the ventral premotor cortex where hand actions are represented. Thus, premotor mirror neuron areas-areas active during the execution and the observation of an action-previously thought to be involved only in action recognition are actually also involved in understanding the intentions of others. To ascribe an intention is to infer a forthcoming new goal, and this is an operation that the motor system does automatically.

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Figure 1 Six Images Taken from the Context, Action, and Intention Clips The images are organized in three columns and two rows. Each column corresponds to one of the experimental conditions. From left to right: Context, Action, and Intention. In the Context condition there were two types of clips, a “before tea” context (upper row) and an “after tea” context (lower row). In the Action condition two types of grips were displayed an equal number of times, a whole-hand prehension (upper row) and a precision grip (lower row). In the Intention condition there were two types of contexts surrounding a grasping action. The “before tea” context suggested the intention of drinking (upper row), and the “after tea” context suggested the intention of cleaning (lower row). Whole-hand prehension (displayed in the upper row of the Intention column) and precision grip (displayed in the lower row of the Intention column) were presented an equal number of times in the “drinking” Intention clip and the “cleaning” Intention clip.
Figure 1 Six Images Taken from the Context, Action, and Intention Clips The images are organized in three columns and two rows. Each column corresponds to one of the experimental conditions. From left to right: Context, Action, and Intention. In the Context condition there were two types of clips, a “before tea” context (upper row) and an “after tea” context (lower row). In the Action condition two types of grips were displayed an equal number of times, a whole-hand prehension (upper row) and a precision grip (lower row). In the Intention condition there were two types of contexts surrounding a grasping action. The “before tea” context suggested the intention of drinking (upper row), and the “after tea” context suggested the intention of cleaning (lower row). Whole-hand prehension (displayed in the upper row of the Intention column) and precision grip (displayed in the lower row of the Intention column) were presented an equal number of times in the “drinking” Intention clip and the “cleaning” Intention clip.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 2 Areas of Increased Signal for the Three Experimental Conditions Threshold of Z = 2.3 at voxel level and a cluster level corrected for the whole brain at p < 0.05.
Figure 2 Areas of Increased Signal for the Three Experimental Conditions Threshold of Z = 2.3 at voxel level and a cluster level corrected for the whole brain at p < 0.05.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 3 Signal Increases for Intention minus Action and Intention minus Context Threshold of Z = 2.3 at voxel level and a cluster level corrected for the whole brain at p < 0.05. The black arrow indicates the only area showing signal increase in both comparisons. The area is located in the dorsal sector of pars opercularis, where mirror activity has been repeatedly observed [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,27]. See Tables S1 and S2 for coordinates of local maxima.
Figure 3 Signal Increases for Intention minus Action and Intention minus Context Threshold of Z = 2.3 at voxel level and a cluster level corrected for the whole brain at p < 0.05. The black arrow indicates the only area showing signal increase in both comparisons. The area is located in the dorsal sector of pars opercularis, where mirror activity has been repeatedly observed [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,27]. See Tables S1 and S2 for coordinates of local maxima.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 4 Time Series of the Inferior Frontal Area Showing Increased Signal in the Comparisons Intention minus Action and Intention minus Context The drinking Intention condition yielded a much stronger response than the cleaning Intention condition (p < 0.003), whereas no reliable difference was observed between the drinking and cleaning Context conditions (p > 0.19). The time series represents the average activity for all subjects in all voxels reaching statistical threshold in the right inferior frontal cortex.
Figure 4 Time Series of the Inferior Frontal Area Showing Increased Signal in the Comparisons Intention minus Action and Intention minus Context The drinking Intention condition yielded a much stronger response than the cleaning Intention condition (p < 0.003), whereas no reliable difference was observed between the drinking and cleaning Context conditions (p > 0.19). The time series represents the average activity for all subjects in all voxels reaching statistical threshold in the right inferior frontal cortex.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 5 Significant Signal Changes in Subjects Receiving Explicit Instructions Compared to Subjects Receiving Implicit Instructions in the Three Tasks Versus Rest Threshold of Z = 2.3 at voxel level and a cluster level corrected for the whole brain at p < 0.05. The two black arrows indicate two foci of activity in dorsal premotor cortex that are located deep in the sulci and thus not easily visible on the three-dimensional surface rendering. See Tables S3–S5 for coordinates of local maxima.
Figure 5 Significant Signal Changes in Subjects Receiving Explicit Instructions Compared to Subjects Receiving Implicit Instructions in the Three Tasks Versus Rest Threshold of Z = 2.3 at voxel level and a cluster level corrected for the whole brain at p < 0.05. The two black arrows indicate two foci of activity in dorsal premotor cortex that are located deep in the sulci and thus not easily visible on the three-dimensional surface rendering. See Tables S3–S5 for coordinates of local maxima.CC BY · PubMed Central

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Metadata

Authors
Iacoboni, M., Molnar-Szakacs, I., Gallese, V., Buccino, G., Mazziotta, J. C., & Rizzolatti, G.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • University of Parma (IT)
Corresponding author
Iacoboni, Marco
ORCID
Venue
PLoS Biology
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2005-02-22
Volume
3
Issue
3
Pages
e79
ISSN
  • 1544-9173 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-7885
DOI
10.1371/journal.pbio.0030079
PMC
PMC1044835
OpenAlex
W2042526117
Cited by
2,044
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 45 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 68 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 85 · 2019: 96 · 2018: 88 · 2017: 95 · 2016: 93 · 2015: 134 · 2014: 113 · 2013: 134 · 2012: 123
FWCI
153.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS Biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (0107077)
  • Ahmanson Foundation
  • Brain Mapping Support Foundation
  • European Commission
  • European Science Foundation
  • National Institute of Mental Health (MH63680)
  • National Center for Research Resources (RR08655, P41RR013642, RR12169, RR 13642, C06RR012169)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
Keywords
intention understanding, mirror neuron system, action observation, grasping, ventral premotor cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, social cognition, action context, goal inference, motor system
MeSH terms
Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Empathy, Female, Humans, Functional Laterality, Male, Motor Neurons, Nerve Net, Neurons, Reference Values, Video Recording, Hand Strength, Comprehension

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