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Neural representations of graspable objects: are tools special?

Sarah H Creem-Regehr1, James N Lee

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Utah, 380 S. 1530 E. Rm 502, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. sarah.creem@psych.utah.edu

Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research
|February 22, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Tools activate motor regions in the brain, even when not in use. Their functional identity, not just graspability, influences these brain responses, impacting perception-action links.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuroimaging
  • Motor Control

Background:

  • Cognitive and neuroimaging studies explore the perception-action relationship, particularly how tools potentiate actions.
  • Tools possess unique visual structures affording action and specific functional identities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate if a tool's action representation is linked to graspability or functional use.
  • Examine motor representations of graspable objects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Main Methods:

  • Participants viewed and imagined grasping 3D tools with handles and neutral graspable shapes.
  • fMRI measured brain activity during viewing and imagined grasping tasks.

Main Results:

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  • Tools, compared to shapes, activated motor-related cortical regions (posterior middle temporal gyrus, ventral premotor, posterior parietal cortex) during viewing.
  • Imagined grasping of tools, versus shapes, showed differences in premotor and parietal activation extent and location, with additional activation in middle temporal and fusiform gyri for tools.

    • Conclusions:

    • The functional identity of graspable objects influences the extent of associated motor representations.
    • Findings shed light on the interaction between 'what' (object recognition) and 'how' (action planning) visual processing systems.