Social Cognition Modulates the Sensory Coding of Observed Gaze Direction
Social Cognition Modulates the Sensory Coding of Observed Gaze Direction
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DOI：
10.1016/j.cub.2009.05.069
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发表时间：
2009-08-11
期刊：
影响因子：
9.2
通讯作者：
Davis, Greg
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Teufel, Christoph;Alexis, Dean M.;Davis, Greg
注视方向是人类和非人类灵长类动物的一个重要的社会信号，提供有关同种动物注意力、兴趣和意图的信息[1-4]。猕猴的单单位记录揭示了神经元对他人特定注视方向的选择性[5，6]。人类大脑中的平行功能组织由凝视适应实验表明，其中长时间暴露于静态面部图像后凝视感知的系统性扭曲揭示了局部皮层回路中的动态相互作用[7，8]。然而，我们对高水平社会认知对猴子和人类这些过程的影响的理解仍然是初步的。在这里，我们表明，归因于另一个人的精神状态决定了人类大脑的代码观察到的目光方向的方式。具体来说，我们让观察者相信，预先录制的实验者向左或向右凝视的视频序列是与相邻房间的实时视频链接。实验者戴着镜子护目镜，观察者认为要么是透明的，这样的人可以看到，要么是不透明的，这样的人看不见。在前一种情况下，相对于后者，适应的效果得到增强，表明高层次的社会认知过程的形状和调节所观察到的注视方向的感觉编码。
Gaze direction is an important social signal in both human and nonhuman primates, providing information about conspecifics' attention, interests, and intentions [1-4]. Single-unit recordings in macaques have revealed neurons selective for others' specific gaze direction [5, 6]. A parallel functional organization in the human brain is indicated by gaze-adaptation experiments, in which systematic distortions in gaze perception following prolonged exposure to static face images reveal dynamic interactions in local cortical circuitry [7, 8]. However, our understanding of the influence of high-level social cognition on these processes in monkeys and humans is still rudimentary. Here we show that the attribution of a mental state to another person determines the way in which the human brain codes observed gaze direction. Specifically, we convinced observers that prerecorded video sequences of an experimenter gazing left or right were a live video link to an adjacent room. The experimenter wore mirrored goggles that observers believed were either transparent such that the person could see, or opaque such that the person could not see. The effects of adaptation were enhanced under the former condition relative to the latter, indicating that high-level sociocognitive processes shape and modulate sensory coding of observed gaze direction.