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Contorted and ordinary body postures in the human brain.
Emily S Cross1, Emilie C Mackie, George Wolford
1School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK. cross@cbs.mpg.de
Experimental Brain Research
|November 28, 2009
Summary
This study reveals how the brain processes body postures. Specialized brain areas (EBA, FBA) activate more for unusual body shapes, while others (fusiform gyrus, STS, IFG, IPL) show reduced activity with repetition, indicating efficient body observation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Social interaction and understanding non-verbal cues rely on neural body representations.
- Key brain regions involved include extrastriate and fusiform body areas (EBA/FBA), superior temporal sulcus (STS), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and inferior parietal lobule (IPL).
- The distinct roles of these regions in processing familiar versus unfamiliar body postures are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural network responsible for processing static body postures.
- To differentiate the roles of specific brain regions in response to ordinary versus contorted body postures.
- To explore how viewpoint and posture plausibility affect neural responses within the body observation network.
Main Methods:
- Utilized functional neuroimaging with a repetition suppression design.
- Participants observed static images of contortionists and objects in ordinary or unusual configurations from various viewpoints.
- Analyzed brain activity in response to repeated stimuli and different posture types.
Main Results:
- Extrastriate and fusiform body areas (EBA/FBA) showed increased activity for contorted body postures compared to ordinary ones.
- Suppressed neural responses were observed in the fusiform gyrus, STS, IFG, and IPL upon repeated viewing of the same posture, irrespective of viewpoint or plausibility.
- These findings suggest a widespread cortical network for static body posture processing.
Conclusions:
- The study defines a broad cortical network for processing static body postures.
- Regions typically associated with action observation (STS, IFG, IPL) are also involved in processing static body configurations.
- Neural processing of body postures involves both specialized areas for form (EBA/FBA) and areas sensitive to repetition and configuration (fusiform gyrus, STS, IFG, IPL).
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