2011
PLoS One. 2011 Feb 11;6(2):e16855. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016855
Do not resonate with actions: sentence polarity modulates cortico-spinal excitability during action-related sentence reading
BACKGROUND: Theories of embodied language suggest that the motor system is differentially called into action when processing motor-related versus abstract content words or sentences. It has been recently shown that…
J Neurosci. 2011 Nov 30;31(48):17547-54. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0697-11.2011
Event-related repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of posterior superior temporal sulcus improves the detection of threatening postural changes in human bodies
Perceiving others' emotions through their body movements and postures is crucial for successful social interaction. While imaging studies indicate that perceiving body emotions relies upon a wide network of subcortico-cortical…
PLoS One. 2011;6(9):e25117. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025117. Epub 2011 Sep 21
Follow my eyes: the gaze of politicians reflexively captures the gaze of ingroup voters
Studies in human and non-human primates indicate that basic socio-cognitive operations are inherently linked to the power of gaze in capturing reflexively the attention of an observer. Although monkey studies…
Neuropsychologia. 2011 Apr;49(5):821-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.01.034. Epub 2011 Feb 21
Haptic perception and body representation in lateral and medial occipito-temporal cortices
Although vision is the primary sensory modality that humans and other primates use to identify objects in the environment, we can recognize crucial object features (e.g., shape, size) using the…
Psychol Res. 2012 Jul;76(4):542-60. doi: 10.1007/s00426-011-0383-y. Epub 2011 Nov 2
Long- and short-term plastic modeling of action prediction abilities in volleyball
Athletes show superior abilities not only in executing complex actions, but also in anticipating others' moves. Here, we explored how visual and motor experiences contribute to forge elite action prediction…
Hum Brain Mapp. 2012 Jan;33(1):165-78. doi: 10.1002/hbm.21202. Epub 2011 Mar 9
Mapping reflexive shifts of attention in eye-centered and hand-centered coordinate systems
Behavioral studies indicate that directional gaze and hand pointing are fundamental social signals that may capture spatial attention more powerfully than directional arrows. By using fMRI, we explored whether reflexive…
Neuron. 2011 Apr 28;70(2):173-5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.04.006
Out-of-place bodies, out-of-body selves
In this issue of Neuron, Ionta et al. (2011) combine behavioral and fMRI approaches with anatomical lesion data to show that illusory perception of one's own body from an external…
Behav Brain Res. 2011 Nov 20;225(1):259-69. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.07.010. Epub 2011 Jul 12
Phenomenology and neural correlates of implicit and emergent motor awareness in patients with anosognosia for hemiplegia
Anosognosia for hemiplegia (AH) is characterized by a lack of awareness of motor disorders and appears associated with fronto-temporal-parietal damage. Neuropsychological evidence indicates that behavioral indices of residual forms of…
PLoS One. 2011 Apr 29;6(4):e19465. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019465
Situational and dispositional determinants of intentional deceiving
Does opportunity make the thief or are people dispositionally prone to deceive? The interaction between personality and the circumstances surrounding deception is crucial to understand what promotes dishonesty in our…
Trends Cogn Sci. 2011 Feb;15(2):47-55. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2010.12.003. Epub 2011 Jan 14
Sounds and scents in (social) action
Although vision seems to predominate in triggering the simulation of the behaviour and mental states of others, the social perception of actions might rely on auditory and olfactory information not…
PLoS One. 2011;6(10):e26008. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026008. Epub 2011 Oct 12
Suffering makes you egoist: acute pain increases acceptance rates and reduces fairness during a bilateral ultimatum game
Social preferences like interpersonal altruism, fairness, reciprocity and inequity aversion are inherently linked to departures from pure self-interest. During economic interactions, for example, defectors may be punished even if this…
Neuropsychologia. 2012 Jan;50(1):104-17. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.11.004. Epub 2011 Nov 12
Visual body recognition in a prosopagnosic patient
Conspicuous deficits in face recognition characterize prosopagnosia. Information on whether agnosic deficits may extend to non-facial body parts is lacking. Here we report the neuropsychological description of FM, a patient…
