The neural basis of conceptualizing the same action at different levels of abstraction
The neural basis of conceptualizing the same action at different levels of abstraction
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DOI：
10.1093/scan/nsv084
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发表时间：
2016-07-01
影响因子：
4.2
通讯作者：
Adolphs, Ralph
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Spunt, Robert P.;Kemmerer, David;Adolphs, Ralph
人们可以在不同的抽象层次（LOA）上对同一个动作（例如“骑自行车”）进行概念化，其中较高的LOA指定解释为什么执行该动作的抽象动机（例如“锻炼”），而较低的LOA指定指示如何执行该动作的具体步骤（例如“抓住扶手杆”）。先前的神经影像学研究已经表明，为什么以及如何不同的行动问题激活两个皮层网络与心理状态推理和行动表征，分别;然而，它仍然是未知的，这是否是由于不同的要求的问题本身或LOA的变化，这些问题产生。我们进行了功能性磁共振成像，而参与者判断成对的行动短语，在LOA不同，可以作为一个为什么问题（为什么骑自行车？锻炼身体。）或如何问题（如何锻炼？骑自行车。）。问题框架（为什么与如何）对两个网络区域的活动没有影响。相反，这些区域唯一地跟踪LOA中的参数变化，包括试验之间和试验内。这表明，人类理解不同LOA下行为的能力是基于两个皮层网络的相对活动。
People can conceptualize the same action (e.g. 'riding a bike') at different levels of abstraction (LOA), where higher LOAs specify the abstract motives that explain why the action is performed (e.g. 'getting exercise'), while lower LOAs specify the concrete steps that indicate how the action is performed (e.g. 'gripping handlebars'). Prior neuroimaging studies have shown that why and how questions about actions differentially activate two cortical networks associated with mental-state reasoning and action representation, respectively; however, it remains unknown whether this is due to the differential demands of the questions per se or to the shifts in LOA those questions produce. We conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants judged pairs of action phrases that varied in LOA and that could be framed either as a why question (Why ride a bike? Get exercise.) or a how question (How to get exercise? Ride a bike.). Question framing (why vs how) had no effect on activity in regions of the two networks. Instead, these regions uniquely tracked parametric variation in LOA, both across and within trials. This suggests that the human capacity to understand actions at different LOA is based in the relative activity of two cortical networks.