One's ability to use perceptual information about another individual's actions to guide and inform movementsis essential for successful interactions with the environment, and thus, for survival. Several theories havebeen proposed to explain how action and perception inform one another, but these theories are incompleteand leave many questions unanswered. The overarching goal of the proposed research is to refine theextant theories through examination of the constituent roles of language, functional experience, andperceptual experience in perceptual motor learning, using knot-tying as a model. Through Aim #1, a specificrole for linguistic and functional experience in perceptual motor learning is sought through experiments usingfunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magetic stimulation (TMS).
In Aim #2, theneural underpinnings of action embodiment are investigated through use of behavioral training and testing,fMRI, and TMS. Findings from these experiments will facilitate the construction of more detailed andaccurate models of action perception and production.
| Cross, Emily S; Cohen, Nichola Rice; Hamilton, Antonia F de C et al. (2012) Physical experience leads to enhanced object perception in parietal cortex: insights from knot tying. Neuropsychologia 50:3207-17 |
| Cross, Emily S; Mackie, Emilie C; Wolford, George et al. (2010) Contorted and ordinary body postures in the human brain. Exp Brain Res 204:397-407 |
| Cross, Emily S; Hamilton, Antonia F de C; Kraemer, David J M et al. (2009) Dissociable substrates for body motion and physical experience in the human action observation network. Eur J Neurosci 30:1383-92 |
| Cross, Emily S; Kraemer, David J M; Hamilton, Antonia F de C et al. (2009) Sensitivity of the action observation network to physical and observational learning. Cereb Cortex 19:315-26 |
