scholarly journals The inhibition of automatic imitation: a meta-analysis and synthesis of fMRI studies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kohinoor M. Darda ◽  
Richard Ramsey
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Limited Evidence ◽  
General Control ◽  
Automatic Imitation ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Domain Specific

AbstractHumans copy other people without their conscious awareness, a behaviour known as automatic imitation. Although automatic imitation forms a key part of daily social interactions, we do not copy other people indiscriminately. Instead, we control imitative tendencies by prioritising some actions and inhibiting others. To date, neuroimaging studies investigating the control of automatic imitation have produced inconsistent findings. Some studies suggest that imitation control relies on a domain-specific neural circuit related to social cognition (the theory-of-mind network). In contrast, other studies show engagement of a domain-general neural circuit that is engaged during a diverse range of cognitive control tasks (the multiple demand network). Given the inconsistency of prior findings, in the current paper we avoided problems associated with interpreting individual studies by performing a meta-analysis. To do so, we used a multi-level kernel density analysis to quantitatively identify consistent patterns of activation across functional magnetic resonance imaging studies investigating the control of imitation. Our results show clear and consistent evidence across studies that the control of automatic imitation is guided by brain regions in the multiple demand network including dorsolateral frontoparietal cortex. In contrast, there was only limited evidence that regions in the theory of mind network were engaged. Indeed, medial prefrontal cortex showed no consistent engagement and right temporoparietal junction engagement may reflect spatial rather than imitative control. As such, the current meta-analysis reinforces the role of domain-general control mechanisms and provides limited evidence in support of the role of domain-specific processes in regulating imitative tendencies. Consequently, neurocognitive models of imitation need updating to place more emphasis on domain-general control mechanisms, as well as to consider more complex organisational structures of control, which may involve contributions from multiple cognitive systems.

scholarly journals The posterior crus II cerebellum is specialized for social mentalizing and emotional self-experiences: a meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 905-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Van Overwalle ◽  
Qianying Ma ◽  
Elien Heleven
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Incidence ◽  
Sequencing Studies ◽  
Crus I ◽  
Social Mentalizing ◽  
Emotional Cognition

Abstract This meta-analysis explores the role of the posterior cerebellum Crus I/II in social mentalizing. We identified over 200 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies via NeuroSynth that met our inclusion criteria and fell within bilateral Crus II areas related to ‘sequencing’ during mentalizing (coordinates ±24 −76 −40; from earlier studies) and mere social ‘mentalizing’ or self-related emotional cognition (coordinates ±26 −84 −34; from NeuroSynth), located in the cerebellar mentalizing network. A large majority of these studies (74%) involved mentalizing or self-related emotional cognition. Other functions formed small minorities. This high incidence in Crus II compares very favorably against the lower base rate for mentalizing and self-related emotions (around 35%) across the whole brain as revealed in NeuroSynth. In contrast, there was much less support for a similar role of Crus I (coordinates −40 −70 −40 from earlier ‘sequencing’ studies) as only 35% of the studies were related to mentalizing or self-related emotions. The present findings show that a domain-specific social mentalizing functionality is supported in the cerebellar Crus II. This has important implications for theories of the social cerebellum focusing on sequencing of social actions, and for cerebellar neurostimulation treatments.

scholarly journals The Role of the Left Head of Caudate in Suppressing Irrelevant Words

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 2369-2386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nilufa Ali ◽  
David W. Green ◽  
Ferath Kherif ◽  
Joseph T. Devlin ◽  
Cathy J. Price
Keyword(s):  
Simon Task ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Gyrus ◽  
General Control ◽  
Written Word ◽  
Spatial Interference

Suppressing irrelevant words is essential to successful speech production and is expected to involve general control mechanisms that reduce interference from task-unrelated processing. To investigate the neural mechanisms that suppress visual word interference, we used fMRI and a Stroop task, using a block design with an event-related analysis. Participants indicated with a finger press whether a visual stimulus was colored pink or blue. The stimulus was either the written word “BLUE,” the written word “PINK,” or a string of four Xs, with word interference introduced when the meaning of the word and its color were “incongruent” (e.g., BLUE in pink hue) relative to congruent (e.g., BLUE in blue) or neutral (e.g., XXXX in pink). The participants also made color decisions in the presence of spatial interference rather than word interference (i.e., the Simon task). By blocking incongruent, congruent, and neutral trials, we identified activation related to the mechanisms that suppress interference as that which was greater at the end relative to the start of incongruency. This highlighted the role of the left head of caudate in the control of word interference but not spatial interference. The response in the left head of caudate contrasted to bilateral inferior frontal activation that was greater at the start than at the end of incongruency, and to the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus which responded to a change in the motor response. Our study therefore provides novel insights into the role of the left head of caudate in the mechanisms that suppress word interference.

scholarly journals Theory of mind and other domain-specific hypotheses

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1143-1145 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Heyes
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Behavior Control ◽  
Social Stimuli ◽  
Current Form ◽  
Somatic Marker ◽  
Domain Specific

The commentators do not contest the target article's claim that there is no compelling evidence of theory of mind in primates, and recent empirical studies further support this view. If primates lack theory of mind, they may still have other behavior control mechanisms that are adaptive in complex social environments. The Somatic Marker Mechanism (SMM) is a candidate, but the SMM hypothesis postulates a much weaker effect of natural selection on social cognition than the theory of mind hypothesis (on inputs to cognitive mechanisms, not on the mechanisms themselves), and there is currently no evidence that it is specific to social stimuli or to primates. “Two Guesser” training would make the goggles test too chauvinistic, and in its current form the goggles problem could not be solved by physical matching because, while wearing goggles, an individual cannot see itself seeing.

Chronic Pain: Fundamental Scientific Considerations, Specifically for Legal Claims

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Barth
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Pain Perception ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Psychological Treatment ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
General Medicine ◽  
Pain Syndrome ◽  
Problematic Relationship

Abstract Scientific findings have indicated that psychological and social factors are the driving forces behind most chronic benign pain presentations, especially in a claim context, and are relevant to at least three of the AMA Guides publications: AMA Guides to Evaluation of Disease and Injury Causation, AMA Guides to Work Ability and Return to Work, and AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. The author reviews and summarizes studies that have identified the dominant role of financial, psychological, and other non–general medicine factors in patients who report low back pain. For example, one meta-analysis found that compensation results in an increase in pain perception and a reduction in the ability to benefit from medical and psychological treatment. Other studies have found a correlation between the level of compensation and health outcomes (greater compensation is associated with worse outcomes), and legal systems that discourage compensation for pain produce better health outcomes. One study found that, among persons with carpal tunnel syndrome, claimants had worse outcomes than nonclaimants despite receiving more treatment; another examined the problematic relationship between complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and compensation and found that cases of CRPS are dominated by legal claims, a disparity that highlights the dominant role of compensation. Workers’ compensation claimants are almost never evaluated for personality disorders or mental illness. The article concludes with recommendations that evaluators can consider in individual cases.

Testing the sociometer: The role of self-esteem as a domain specific mediator

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. S. Kavanagh ◽  
G. J. O. Fletcher ◽  
B. J. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Self Esteem ◽  
Domain Specific
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