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Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice

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Is there a left hemispheric asymmetry for tool affordance processing?

Alice M Proverbio¹, Roberta Azzari, Roberta Adorni

¹Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.

Neuropsychologia

|September 24, 2013

Summary

Viewing tools automatically activates brain regions for manipulation, with the left premotor cortex showing early involvement for all tool types. This suggests a left hemisphere specialization for grasping actions.

Keywords:

Affordance ERPs Mirror neurons Object perception Ventral stream

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Motor Control

Background:

Tool perception activates the left premotor and somatosensory cortex, linked to object affordance and manipulability.
The role of hemispheric asymmetry in tool perception, whether due to handedness or functional specialization for fine motor skills, remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the perception of unimanual and bimanual tools using electroencephalography (EEG).
To explore how object orientation and manipulability influence brain activity during tool perception.
To determine the hemispheric specialization for processing tool affordances and grasping actions.

Main Methods:

Study 1: Recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from 128 sites in response to 2D images of unimanual and bimanual tools.
Study 2: Presented unimanual tools in congruent (standard) or incongruent (rotated) orientations to assess manipulability effects on ERPs.
Used SwLORETA to identify intracranial sources of ERP components, focusing on activations in premotor, parietal, and prefrontal cortices.

Main Results:

Bimanual tools elicited larger N2 and N400 ERP components than unimanual tools, with N400 stronger over the left hemisphere.
The left premotor cortex (BA6) was consistently involved in coding action affordance for all tool types and grips.
Standard tool orientations produced larger ERP responses (N1, N2, N400) than rotated tools, implicating visual and motor processing differences.

Conclusions:

Visual tool perception automatically activates associated manipulation representations.
The left premotor cortex demonstrates early involvement (around 200 ms) in processing tool affordances, supporting left hemisphere asymmetry for grasping.
The right supramarginal gyrus plays a significant role in later stages of tool perception and interaction.