Collaborative Research: Dissociating Perceptual and Motor Correlates of EEG Mu-Alpha and Beta Oscillations in Emotional Action Simulation

从跳跃到高兴地跳跃，人类运动的“肢体语言”提供了关于他人意图和情绪的重要信息。越来越多的证据表明，我们通过在内部重新创造或模拟他人的外部行为来理解他人的心理状态。然而，关于不同的大脑系统如何促进动作模拟，以及这个过程是否与社会感知能力的个体差异有关，仍然存在问题。这项研究使用脑电图（EEG）来检查在观察情绪化身体运动时与动作模拟相关的大脑活动，无论是在典型发育个体还是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患者中，ASD是一种与社会感知障碍相关的疾病。通过测试动作模拟和情绪感知能力的EEG测量之间的联系，这些数据将为理解情绪动作模拟的神经基础提供一个严格的理论框架。更广泛地说，这项研究可能会为ASD中观察到的社交障碍的神经起源提供新的视角，可能会改善诊断和治疗。最后，这些活动将通过为包括妇女和代表性不足的少数民族在内的学生提供真实的研究机会，促进STEM学科的本科生培训。在之前的脑电图研究中，研究人员发现了与观察情绪和情绪中性行为相关的不同神经标记。情绪性动作引起皮层"mu" α节律（9 - 12 Hz）的减少，这与动作模拟的感知方面有关，但中性动作产生了与运动规划和反应抑制有关的增强的β波段振荡（14 - 20 Hz）。在非临床样本中，这两种效应都减弱了，这些个体报告了更大的自闭症倾向，这表明这些神经标记物对社会情感特征的个体差异很敏感。本研究将通过比较动作执行与观察到的情绪动作，以及改变模拟观察到的情绪动作的熟悉度和舒适度，来研究运动回路对情绪动作μ-α抑制的贡献。对ASD患者的检查将区分mu和beta带活动与情绪处理的个体差异之间的关系，从而评估感觉运动系统的神经发育障碍是否在情绪模拟缺陷中发挥作用。总的来说，这些研究将为EEG测量、动作模拟过程和降级感知之间的关系提供重要的见解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

From jumping jacks to jumping for joy, the "body language" of human movement providesimportant information about the intentions and emotions of others. Growing evidence suggeststhat we understand others' mental states by internally recreating, or simulating, their externalactions. Yet questions remain about how different brain systems contribute to action simulation,and whether this process is linked to individual differences in social perception abilities. Thisresearch uses electroencephalography (EEG) to examine brain activity associated with actionsimulation during observation of emotional body movements, both in typically developingindividuals and in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a condition associated withsocial perception impairments. By testing the link between EEG measures of action simulationand emotion perception capabilities across a broad sample of individual socio-emotionalfunctioning, these data will provide a rigorous theoretical framework for understanding theneural basis of emotional action simulation. More broadly, the research may provide newinsights into the neural origins of social impairments observed in ASD, potentially leading toimproved diagnoses and therapies. Finally, these activities will promote undergraduate trainingin the STEM disciplines by providing authentic research opportunities for students includingwomen and underrepresented minorities.The proposed research will examine the relation between perceptual and motor circuits inemotion simulation. In a previous EEG study, the investigators found distinct neural markersassociated with the observation of emotional and emotionally-neutral actions. Emotional actionselicited a reduction of cortical "mu" alpha rhythms (9-12 Hz) linked to perceptual aspects ofaction simulation, but neutral actions produced enhanced beta-band oscillations (14-20 Hz)associated with motor planning and response inhibition. Both effects were attenuated in a nonclinicalsample of individuals reporting greater autistic tendencies, suggesting these neuralmarkers are sensitive to individual differences in social-emotional traits. The proposed researchwill investigate the contribution of motor circuits to mu-alpha suppression for emotional actionsby comparing action execution with observed emotional action and varying the familiarity andease of simulating observed emotional actions. Examination of individuals with ASD willdistinguish how mu and beta band activity relate to individual differences in emotionalprocessing, allowing assessment of whether neurodevelopmental disruptions of sensorimotorsystems play a role in emotion simulation deficits. Collectively, these studies will provideimportant insights into the relations between EEG measures, action simulation processes, andemotion perception.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.