Observing painful events in others leads to a temporally extended general response facilitation in the self

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Michael Orquiola Galang
Keyword(s):  
Motor System ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Painful Stimulus ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
Motor Responses ◽  
Response Facilitation ◽  
Task Instructions ◽  
General Response ◽  
Muscle Specificity

Excitability in the motor cortex is modulated when we observe other people receiving a painful stimulus (Avenanti et al., 2005). However, the task dependency of this modulation is not well understood, as different paradigms have yielded seemingly different results. Previous neurophysiological work employing transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) suggests that watching another person’s hand being pierced by a needle leads to a muscle specific inhibition, assessed via motor evoked potentials. Results from previous behavioural studies suggest that overt behavioural responses are facilitated due to pain observation (Morrison et al., 2007a; 2007b). There are several paradigmatic differences both between typical TMS studies and behavioural studies, and within behavioural studies themselves, that limit our overall understanding of how pain observation affects the motor system. In the current study, we combine elements of typical TMS experimental designs in a behavioural assessment of how pain observation affects overt behavioural responding. Specifically, we examined the muscle specificity, timing, and direction of modulation of motor responses due to pain observation. To assess muscle specificity, we employed pain and non-pain videos from previous TMS studies in a Go/No-Go task in which participants responded by either pressing a key with their index finger or with their foot. To assess timing, we examined response times for Go signals presented at 0ms or 500ms after the video. Results indicate that observation of another individual receiving a painful stimulus leads to a non-effector specific, temporally extended response facilitation (e.g., finger and foot facilitation present at 0ms and 500ms delays), compared to observation of non-pain videos. This behavioural facilitation effect differs from the typical motor inhibition seen in TMS studies, and we argue that the effects of pain observation on the motor system are state-dependent, with different states induced via task instructions. We discuss our results in light of previous work on motor responses to pain observation.

To Move or Not to Move: Motor cortical output is enhanced during pain observation regardless of motor preparation state

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Michael Galang ◽  
Sukhvinder S. Obhi
Keyword(s):  
Motor Activity ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Motor Preparation ◽  
Single Experiment ◽  
Task Constraints ◽  
Task Instructions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Motor Cortical ◽  
Opposing Effects

Previous TMS studies have reported a decrease in motor cortical output during pain observation. In contrast, recent behavioural studies have shown that response times are faster after pain observation. This suggests that there is a mismatch between motor activity during vs. after pain observation. We propose that these opposing effects of pain observation on motor activity may be explained by task constraints, as participants in TMS studies are instructed to keep still and relax their hands, while participants in behavioural studies maintain a state of readiness to respond. Task and methodological differences make it difficult to compare the results from TMS and behavioural paradigms examining the motor consequences of pain observation. As such, the aim of the current study is to directly test whether task instructions affect motor activity in TMS and behavioural measures of motor activity in the context of pain observation, within a single experiment. Participants watched videos of hands in painful vs. non-painful scenarios while TMS-induced motor evoked potentials were recorded. In the "Active" block, participants responded to a cue that appeared immediately after each video; in the "Passive" block, they relaxed their hand. Contrary to expectations, participants showed enhanced motor cortical output during pain observation (vs. no-pain) in both blocks. We discuss these results in relation to the wider literature on the social neuroscience of empathy.

scholarly journals Congruent and Incongruent Corticospinal Activations at the Level of Multiple Effectors

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 2063-2070
Author(s):  
Luisa Sartori ◽  
Sonia Betti ◽  
Chiara Perrone ◽  
Umberto Castiello
Keyword(s):  
Lower Limb ◽  
Motor System ◽  
Soccer Player ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Small Object ◽  
Motor Resonance ◽  
Motor Responses ◽  
Study Results

Motor resonance is defined as the subliminal activation of the motor system while observing actions performed by others. However, resonating with another person's actions is not always an appropriate response: In real life, people do not just imitate but rather respond in a suitable fashion. A growing body of neurophysiologic studies has demonstrated that motor resonance can be overridden by complementary motor responses (such as preparing a precision grip on a small object when seeing an open hand in sign of request). In this study, we investigated the relationship between congruent and incongruent corticospinal activations at the level of multiple effectors. The modulation of motor evoked potentials evoked by single-pulse TMS over the motor cortex was assessed in upper and lower limb muscles of participants observing a soccer player performing a penalty kick straight in their direction. Study results revealed a double dissociation: Seeing the soccer player kicking the ball triggered a motor resonance in the observer's lower limb, whereas the upper limb response afforded by the object was overridden. On the other hand, seeing the ball approaching the observers elicited a complementary motor activation in upper limbs while motor resonance in lower limbs disappeared. Control conditions showing lateral kicks, mimicked kicks, and a ball in penalty area were also included to test the motor coding of object affordances. Results point to a modulation of motor responses in different limbs over the course of action and in function of their relevance in different contexts. We contend that ecologically valid paradigms are now needed to shed light on the motor system functioning in complex forms of interaction.

Action processing in the motor system: TMS evidence of shared mechanisms in the visual and linguistic modalities.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Gianelli ◽  
Katharina Kühne ◽  
Silvia Mencaraglia ◽  
Riccardo Dalla Volta
Keyword(s):  
Motor System ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Single Pulse ◽  
Stimulus Presentation ◽  
Corticospinal Excitability ◽  
First Dorsal Interosseous ◽  
Action Processing ◽  
Abductor Digiti Minimi ◽  
Hand Action

In two experiments, we compared the dynamics of corticospinal excitability when processing visually or linguistically presented tool-oriented hand actions in native speakers and sequential bilinguals. In a third experiment we used the same procedure to test non-motor, low-level stimuli, i.e. scrambled images and pseudo-words. Stimuli were presented in sequence: pictures (tool + tool-oriented hand action or their scrambled counterpart) and words (tool noun + tool-action verb or pseudo-words). Experiment 1 presented German linguistic stimuli to native speakers, while Experiment 2 presented English stimuli to non-natives. Experiment 3 tested Italian native speakers. Single-pulse trascranial brain stimulation (spTMS) was applied to the left motor cortex at five different timings: baseline, 200ms after tool/noun onset, 150, 350 and 500ms after hand/verb onset with motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) recorded from the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscles.We report strong similarities in the dynamics of corticospinal excitability across the visual and linguistic modalities. MEPs’ suppression started as early as 150ms and lasted for the duration of stimulus presentation (500ms). Moreover, we show that this modulation is absent for stimuli with no motor content. Overall, our study supports the notion of a core, overarching system of action semantics shared by different modalities.

Noncontingent Nonreinforcement of a Response as the Aversive Event in a Cer Paradigm

1971 ◽  
Vol 29 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1196-1198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S. Calef ◽  
Richard A. Kaufman ◽  
Ronald N. Bone ◽  
Steven A. Werk
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Schedule ◽  
Present Experiment ◽  
High Density ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Aversive Event ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
Response Facilitation ◽  
Early Training ◽  
Low Rate

The present experiment investigated the effects of noncontingent nonreinforcement as the aversive event in a CER paradigm. The results showed a significant response-facilitation effect during early training, but none during later training with a high rate-producing, high-density reinforcement schedule. The present results imply that a low rate-producing, high-density reinforcement schedule is not a necessary condition for response facilitation.

Influence of the behavioral goal and environmental obstacles on rapid feedback responses

2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 999-1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Y. Nashed ◽  
Frédéric Crevecoeur ◽  
Stephen H. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Motor System ◽  
Optimal Feedback Control ◽  
Motor Responses ◽  
Spatial Properties ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Circular Target ◽  
Motor Actions ◽  
Behavioral Goal ◽  
Feedback Responses

The motor system must consider a variety of environmental factors when executing voluntary motor actions, such as the shape of the goal or the possible presence of intervening obstacles. It remains unknown whether rapid feedback responses to mechanical perturbations also consider these factors. Our first experiment quantified how feedback corrections were altered by target shape, which was either a circular dot or a bar. Unperturbed movements to each target were qualitatively similar on average but with greater dispersion of end point positions when reaching to the bar. On random trials, multijoint torque perturbations deviated the hand left or right. When reaching to a circular target, perturbations elicited corrective movements that were directed straight to the location of the target. In contrast, corrective movements when reaching to a bar were redirected to other locations along the bar axis. Our second experiment quantified whether the presence of obstacles could interfere with feedback corrections. We found that hand trajectories after the perturbations were altered to avoid obstacles in the environment. Importantly, changes in muscle activity reflecting the different target shapes (bar vs. dot) or the presence of obstacles were observed in as little as 70 ms. Such changes in motor responses were qualitatively consistent with simulations based on optimal feedback control. Taken together, these results highlight that long-latency motor responses consider spatial properties of the goal and environment.

scholarly journals Motor Resonance May Originate From Sensorimotor Experience

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 1867-1871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agustín Petroni ◽  
Federico Baguear ◽  
Valeria Della-Maggiore
Keyword(s):  
Motor System ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Physical Nature ◽  
Corticospinal Excitability ◽  
Motor Resonance ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Movement Index ◽  
Static Pictures

In humans, the motor system can be activated by passive observation of actions or static pictures with implied action. The origin of this facilitation is of major interest to the field of motor control. Recently it has been shown that sensorimotor learning can reconfigure the motor system during action observation. Here we tested directly the hypothesis that motor resonance arises from sensorimotor contingencies by measuring corticospinal excitability in response to abstract non-action cues previously associated with an action. Motor evoked potentials were measured from the first dorsal interosseus (FDI) while human subjects observed colored stimuli that had been visually or motorically associated with a finger movement (index or little finger abduction). Corticospinal excitability was higher during the observation of a colored cue that preceded a movement involving the recorded muscle than during the observation of a different colored cue that preceded a movement involving a different muscle. Crucially this facilitation was only observed when the cue was associated with an executed movement but not when it was associated with an observed movement. Our findings provide solid evidence in support of the sensorimotor hypothesis of action observation and further suggest that the physical nature of the observed stimulus mediating this phenomenon may in fact be irrelevant.

Automatic Recruitment of the Motor System by Undetected Graspable Objects: A Motor-evoked Potential Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 1918-1931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas A. McNair ◽  
Ashleigh D. Behrens ◽  
Irina M. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Evoked Potentials ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Motor System ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Motor Evoked Potential ◽  
Motor Action ◽  
Motor Pathway ◽  
The Right

Previous behavioral and neuroimaging studies have suggested that the motor properties associated with graspable objects may be automatically accessed when people passively view these objects. We directly tested this by measuring the excitability of the motor pathway when participants viewed pictures of graspable objects that were presented during the attentional blink (AB), when items frequently go undetected. Participants had to identify two briefly presented objects separated by either a short or long SOA. Motor-evoked potentials were measured from the right hand in response to a single TMS pulse delivered over the left primary motor cortex 250 msec after the onset of the second target. Behavioral results showed poorer identification of objects at short SOA compared with long SOA, consistent with an AB, which did not differ between graspable and nongraspable objects. However, motor-evoked potentials measured during the AB were significantly higher for graspable objects than for nongraspable objects, irrespective of whether the object was successfully identified or undetected. This provides direct evidence that the motor system is automatically activated during visual processing of objects that afford a motor action.

scholarly journals Multimodal DTI-TMS assessment of the motor system in patients with chronic ischemic stroke

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Nazarova ◽  
S. Kulikova ◽  
M. Piradov ◽  
A. Limonova ◽  
L. Dobrynina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ischemic Stroke ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Motor System ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Motor Recovery ◽  
System Parameters ◽  
Tree Classifier ◽  
Recovery Groups

AbstractBackground and PurposeDespite the continuing efforts in multimodal assessment of the motor system after stroke, conclusive findings on the complementarity of functional and structural metrics of the corticospinal tract (CST) integrity and the role of the contralesional hemisphere are still missing. The aim of this work was to find the best combination of the motor system parameters, allowing classification of patients into three predefined groups of upper limb motor recovery.Methods35 chronic ischemic stroke patients (47 [26–66] y.o., 29 [6–58] months post-stroke) with only supratentorial lesion and unilateral upper extremity weakness were enrolled. Patients were divided into three groups depending on the upper limb motor recovery. Non-parametric statistical tests and regression analysis were used to investigate the relationships among structural and functional motor system parameters, probed by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). In addition, stratification rules were tested, using a decision tree classifier to identify parameters explaining motor recovery.ResultsFractional anisotropy (FA) ratio in the internal capsule (IC) and absence/presence of motor evoked potentials (MEPs), were equally discriminative of the worst motor outcome group (96% accuracy). MEP presence diverged for two investigated hand muscles. Concurrently, for the three recovery groups’ classification, the best parameter combination was: IC FA ratio and Fréchet distance between the contralesional and ipsilesional CST FA profiles (91% accuracy). No other metrics had any additional value for patients’ classification.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that IC FA ratio and MEPs absence are equally important markers for poor recovery. Importantly, we found that MEPs should be controlled in more than one hand muscle. Finally, we show that better separation between different motor recovery groups may be achieved when considering the whole CST FA profile.

Low-Frequency Climate Response of Quasigeostrophic Wind-Driven Ocean Circulation

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafail V. Abramov ◽  
Andrew J. Majda
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Linear Response ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
External Perturbation ◽  
Climate Dynamics ◽  
The Mean ◽  
General Response

Abstract Linear response to external perturbation through the fluctuation–dissipation theorem has recently become a popular topic in the climate research community. It relates an external perturbation of climate dynamics to climate change in a simple linear fashion, which provides key insight into physics of the climate change phenomenon. Recently, the authors developed a suite of linear response algorithms for low-frequency response of large-scale climate dynamics to external perturbation, including the novel blended response algorithm, which combines the geometrically exact general response formula using integration of a linear tangent model at short response times and the classical quasi-Gaussian response algorithm at longer response times, overcoming numerical instability of the tangent linear model for longer times due to positive Lyapunov exponents. Here, the authors apply the linear response framework to several leading empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of a quasigeostrophic model of wind-driven ocean circulation. It is demonstrated that the actual nonlinear response of this system under external perturbation at leading EOFs can be predicted by the linear response algorithms with adequate skill with moderate errors; in particular, the blended response algorithm has a pattern correlation with the ideal response operator on the four leading EOFs of the mean state response of 94% after 5 yr. In addition, interesting properties of the mean flow response to large-scale changes in wind stress at the leading EOFs are observed.

Predictive Value and Safety of Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring With Motor Evoked Potentials in Glioma Surgery

Neurosurgery ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 1060-1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro M. Krieg ◽  
Ehab Shiban ◽  
Doris Droese ◽  
Jens Gempt ◽  
Niels Buchmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evoked Potentials ◽  
Predictive Value ◽  
Motor System ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
False Negative ◽  
Motor Deficit ◽  
Neurophysiological Monitoring ◽  
Glioma Surgery ◽  
Supratentorial Gliomas

Abstract BACKGROUND: Resection of gliomas in or adjacent to the motor system is widely performed with intraoperative neuromonitoring (IOM). Despite the fact that data on the safety of IOM are available, the significance and predictive value of the procedure are still under discussion. Moreover, cases of false-negative monitoring affect the surgeon's confidence in IOM. OBJECTIVE: To examine cases of false-negative IOM to reveal structural explanations. METHODS: Between 2007 and 2010, we resected 115 consecutive supratentorial gliomas in or close to eloquent motor areas using direct cortical stimulation for monitoring of motor evoked potentials (MEPs). The monitoring data were reviewed and related to new postoperative motor deficit and postoperative imaging. Clinical outcomes were assessed during follow-up. RESULTS: Monitoring of MEPs was successful in 112 cases (97.4%). Postoperatively, 30.3% of patients had a new motor deficit, which remained permanent in 12.5%. Progression-free follow-up was 9.7 months (range, 2 weeks-40.6 months). In 65.2% of all cases, MEPs were stable throughout the operation, but 8.9% showed a new temporary motor deficit, whereas 4.5% (5 patients) presented with permanently deteriorated motor function representing false-negative monitoring at first glance. However, these cases were caused by secondary hemorrhage, ischemia, or resection of the supplementary motor area. CONCLUSION: Continuous MEP monitoring provides reliable monitoring of the motor system, influences the course of operation in some cases, and has to be regarded as the standard for IOM of the motor system. In our series, we found no false-negative MEP results.

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