Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions-英文文献.pdfVIP

COGNITIVE BRAIN RESEARCH E L S E V I E R Cognitive Brain Research 3 (1996) 131-141 Research report Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions Giacomo Rizzolatti *, Luciano Fadiga, Vittorio Gallese, Leonardo Fogassi Istituto di Fisiologia Umana, Universit?~di Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 1-43100, Parma, Italy Accepted 22 August 1995 Abstract In area F5 of the monkey premotor cortex there are neurons that discharge both when the monkey performs an action and when he observes a similar action made by another monkey or by the experimenter. We report here some of the properties of these mirror neurons and we propose that their activity represents the observed action. We posit, then, that this motor representation is at the basis of the understanding of motor events. Finally, on the basis of some recent data showing that, in man, the observation of motor actions activate the posterior part of inferior frontal gyrus, we suggest that the development of the lateral verbal communication system in man derives from a more ancient communication system based on recognition of hand and face gestures. Keywords: Premotor cortex; Mirror neuron; Gesture recognition; Brocas area; Movement representation 1. Introduc