The Control of Mimicry by Eye Contact Is Mediated by Medial Prefrontal Cortex
Open accessAbstract
Spontaneous mimicry of other people's actions serves an important social function, enhancing affiliation and social interaction. This mimicry can be subtly modulated by different social contexts. We recently found behavioral evidence that direct eye gaze rapidly and specifically enhances mimicry of intransitive hand movements (Wang et al., 2011). Based on past findings linking medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to both eye contact and the control of mimicry, we hypothesized that mPFC might be the neural origin of this behavioral effect. The present study aimed to test this hypothesis. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, 20 human participants performed a simple mimicry or no-mimicry task, as previously described (Wang et al., 2011), with direct gaze present on half of the trials. As predicted, fMRI results showed that performing the task activated mirror systems, while direct gaze and inhibition of the natural tendency to mimic both engaged mPFC. Critically, we found an interaction between mimicry and eye contact in mPFC, superior temporal sulcus (STS) and inferior frontal gyrus. We then used dynamic causal modeling to contrast 12 possible models of information processing in this network. Results supported a model in which eye contact controls mimicry by modulating the connection strength from mPFC to STS. This suggests that mPFC is the originator of the gaze–mimicry interaction and that it modulates sensory input to the mirror system. Thus, our results demonstrate how different components of the social brain work together to on-line control mimicry according to the social context.
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The tasks used in the studies included in the meta-analysis are conceptually, visually and cognitively similar to each other, with only minor differences across all studies.
“However, the tasks are all conceptually, visually and cognitively similar to each other with only minor differences across all studies.”
From The inhibition of automatic imitation: a meta-analysis and synthesis of fMRI studies (2018) · cites this paper as Wang et al. (2011)
Materials and Methods (page unavailable) says this study used a stimulus-response compatibility paradigm used in earlier studies and stimuli identical to those in Wang et al. (2011). That supports similarity with some prior work, but the paper does not compare the tasks in all studies included in the citing document’s meta-analysis or establish that their conceptual, visual, and cognitive differences were only minor. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredmPFC has been demonstrated to exert a top-down influence during modulation of imitation via direct gaze.
“For example, mPFC has been demonstrated to exert a top-down influence during modulation of imitation via direct gaze (Wang et al., 2011).”
From The inhibition of automatic imitation: a meta-analysis and synthesis of fMRI studies (2018) · cites this paper as Wang et al., 2011
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“…a specific neural system related to social cognition is engaged in the inhibition of automatic imitative tendencies. mPFC and rTPJ have both been implicated in imitation inhibition by some studies (Wang et al., 2011; Brass et al., 2009; Spengler et al., 2009; Brass, Derrfuss, & von Cramon, 2005).”
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Cross-Frequency Power Coupling Between Hierarchically Organized Face-Selective Areas
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TPJ-M1 interaction in the control of shared representations: New insights from tDCS and TMS combined
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Self-citationNeural mechanisms for emotional contagion and spontaneous mimicry of live facial expressions
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Individual differences in social and non-social cognitive control
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Self-citationSTORMy Interactions: Gaze and the Modulation of Mimicry in Adults on the Autism Spectrum
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Neural systems for preparatory control of imitation
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EPS Prize Lecture: Cognitive underpinnings of social interaction
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Embodiment of emotion and its situated nature
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Resting‐state networks of the neonate brain identified using independent component analysis
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The Potential Role of Dopamine in Mediating Motor Function and Interpersonal Synchrony
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Adults imitate to send a social signal
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Demystifying infant vocal imitation: The roles of mouth looking and speaker’s gaze
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Status and Power Do Not Modulate Automatic Imitation of Intransitive Hand Movements
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The way others move can influence what we choose
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Can joint action goals reduce visuomotor interference effects from a partner’s incongruent actions?Preprint
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- Authors
- Wang, Y., Ramsey, R., & de C. Hamilton, A. F.
- Affiliations
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2011-08-17
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 33
- Pages
- 12001-12010
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC6623188
- OpenAlex
- W2048077272
- Cited by
- 141
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 20.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- ETH Zürich Research Collection
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/F001649/1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Keywords
- eye contact, direct gaze, medial prefrontal cortex, mirror system, superior temporal sulcus, inferior frontal gyrus, social brain, social environment, dynamic causal modeling, hand movement, social affiliation
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Eye Movements, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Male, Photic Stimulation, Social Perception, Visual Perception, Prefrontal Cortex, Young Adult
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