Functional imaging of face and hand imitation: towards a motor theory of empathy
Functional imaging of face and hand imitation: towards a motor theory of empathy
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.09.038
复制
发表时间：
2004-02-01
期刊：
影响因子：
5.7
通讯作者：
Grafton, ST
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Leslie, KR;Johnson-Frey, SH;Grafton, ST
同理心需要将他人的感受映射到我们自己的神经系统的能力。直到最近，还没有合理的机制来解释这种映射如何发生。然而，镜像神经元的发现表明，神经系统能够将观察到的他人的动作映射到自我的前运动皮层，至少对于伸手和抓握动作来说是这样。有没有一个反映情绪行为的系统，比如面部表情？受试者（N= 15;都是右撇子8名男性，7名女性）观看面部表情（微笑或皱眉）和手部动作（移动食指或中指）的电影，同时使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）对大脑活动进行成像。受试者在三种不同的条件下观看电影：被动观看，主动模仿和主动运动控制。受试者还进行了动词生成任务，以确定功能语言处理区。我们发现了一个共同的皮质模仿电路的证据，面部和手的模仿，包括布罗卡区，双侧背侧和腹侧运动前区，右上级颞回（STG），辅助运动区，后颞枕皮质，小脑区。对于面孔，被动观看导致右腹前运动区的显著激活，而模仿产生双侧激活。这一结果与右半球（RH）主导情绪处理的证据一致，并表明可能存在一个右半球镜像系统，可以为共情提供神经基质。(C)2003年爱思唯尔公司All rights reserved.
Empathy requires the ability to map the feelings of others onto our own nervous system. Until recently, there was no plausible mechanism to explain how such a mapping might occur. The discovery of mirror neurons, however, suggests that the nervous system is capable of mapping the observed actions of others onto the premotor cortex of the self, at least for reaching and grasping movements. Is there a mirroring system for emotive actions, such as facial expression? Subjects (N= 15; all right-handed; eight men, seven women) watched movies of facial expressions (smile or frown) and hand movements (move index or middle finger) while brain activity was imaged using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Subjects watched the movies under three different conditions: passive viewing, active imitation, and an active motor control. Subjects also performed a verb generation task to functionally identify language-processing areas. We found evidence for a common cortical imitation circuit for both face and hand imitation, consisting of Broca's area, bilateral dorsal and ventral premotor areas, right superior temporal gyrus (STG), supplementary motor area, posterior temporo-occipital cortex, and cerebellar areas. For faces, passive viewing led to significant activation in the right ventral premotor area, whereas imitation produced bilateral activation. This result is consistent with evidence for right hemisphere (RH) dominance for emotional processing, and suggests that there may be a right hemisphere mirroring system that could provide a neural substrate for empathy. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.