The middle cingulate cortex and dorso-central insula: A mirror circuit encoding observation and execution of vitality forms

Actions with identical goals can be executed in different ways (gentle, rude, vigorous, etc.), which D. N. Stern called vitality forms [D. N. Stern, Forms of Vitality Exploring Dynamic Experience in Psychology, Arts, Psychotherapy, and Development (2010)]. Vitality forms express the agent’s attitudes toward others. In a series of fMRI studies, we found that the dorso-central insula (DCI) is the region that is selectively active during both vitality form observation and execution. In one previous experiment, however, the middle cingulate gyrus also exhibited activation. In the present study, in order to assess the role of the cingulate cortex in vitality form processing, we adopted a classical vitality form paradigm, but making the control condition devoid of vitality forms using jerky movements. Participants performed two different tasks: Observation of actions performed gently or rudely and execution of the same actions. The results showed that in addition to the insula, the middle cingulate cortex (MCC) was strongly activated during both action observation and execution. Using a voxel-based analysis, voxels showing a similar trend of the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal in both action observation and execution were found in the DCI and in the MCC. Finally, using a multifiber tractography analysis, we showed that the active sites in MCC and DCI are reciprocally connected.

Neurotypical individuals fail to understand action vitality form in children with autism spectrum disorder

Any defects of sociality in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are standardly explained in terms of those individuals’ putative impairments in a variety of cognitive functions. Recently, however, the need for a bidirectional approach to social interaction has been emphasized. Such an approach highlights differences in basic ways of acting between ASD and neurotypical individuals which would prevent them from understanding each other. Here we pursue this approach by focusing on basic action features reflecting the agent’s mood and affective states. These are action features Stern named “vitality forms,” and which are widely assumed to substantiate core social interactions [D. N. Stern,The Interpersonal World of the Infant(1985); D. N. Stern,Forms of Vitality Exploring Dynamic Experience in Psychology, Arts, Psychotherapy, and Development(2010)]. Previously we demonstrated that, although ASD and typically developing (TD) children alike differentiate vitality forms when performing actions, ASD children express them in a way that is motorically dissimilar to TD children. To assess whether this motor dissimilarity may have consequences for vitality form recognition, we asked neurotypical participants to identify the vitality form of different types of action performed by ASD or TD children. We found that participants exhibited remarkable inaccuracy in identifying ASD children’s vitality forms. Interestingly, their performance did not benefit from information feedback. This indicates that how people act matters for understanding others and for being understood by them. Because vitality forms pervade every aspect of daily life, our findings promise to open the way to a deeper comprehension of the bidirectional difficulties for both ASD and neurotypical individuals in interacting with one another.

How attitudes generated by humanoid robots shape human brain activity

During interpersonal interactions, people perform actions with different forms of vitality, communicating their positive or negative attitude toward others. For example, a handshake can be “soft” or “vigorous”, a caress can be ‘kind’ or ‘rushed’. While previous studies have shown that the dorso-central insula is a key area for the processing of human vitality forms, there is no information on the perception of vitality forms generated by a humanoid robot. In this study, two fMRI experiments were conducted in order to investigate whether and how the observation of actions generated by a humanoid robot (iCub) with low and fast velocities (Study 1) or replicating gentle and rude human forms (Study 2) may convey vitality forms eliciting the activation of the dorso-central insula. These studies showed that the observation of robotic actions, generated with low and high velocities, resulted in activation of the parieto-frontal circuit typically involved in the recognition and the execution of human actions but not of the insula (Study 1). Most interestingly, the observation of robotic actions, generated by replicating gentle and rude human vitality forms, produced a BOLD signal increase in the dorso-central insula (Study 2). In conclusion, these data highlight the selective role of dorso-central insula in the processing of vitality forms opening future perspectives on the perception and understanding of actions performed by humanoid robots.

REATTACH FOR AUTISM: MAKING SENSE

Autism Spectrum Disorders are a complex heterogenous group of clinical characteristics of which lack of central coherence and an atypical overall style of inter-personal reactions (forms of vitality) belong to the core symptomatology. Due to the number of individuals diagnosed with ASD that world-wide is growing rapidly, many research projects aim at detecting the underlying causes or mechanism or prevention and early intervention programs. ReAttach is an intervention for children and adults with ASD that facilitates arousal regulation, multiple sensory processing, coherence, social cognitive training and active learning. The method can be defined as a broader spectrum therapy, embracing neurodiversity and aiming at optimal health and personal and inter-relational development. The aim of this paper is to describe the ReAttach procedure and treatment outcome for ASD and to explain why ReAttach the involvement of parents and partners is required. The effects in terms of changes in clinical presentation and Forms of Vitality of individuals with ASD suggest that ReAttach is an accessible and cost-effective tool to overcome the developmental arrest in ASD.

REATTACH FOR AUTISM: MAKING SENSE

Autism Spectrum Disorders are a complex heterogenous group of clinical characteristics of which lack of central coherence and an atypical overall style of inter-personal reactions (forms of vitality) belong to the core symptomatology. Due to the number of individuals diagnosed with ASD that world-wide is growing rapidly, many research projects aim at detecting the underlying causes or mechanism or prevention and early intervention programs. ReAttach is an intervention for children and adults with ASD that facilitates arousal regulation, multiple sensory processing, coherence, social cognitive training and active learning. The method can be defined as a broader spectrum therapy, embracing neurodiversity and aiming at optimal health and personal and inter-relational development. The aim of this paper is to describe the ReAttach procedure and treatment outcome for ASD and to explain why ReAttach the involvement of parents and partners is required. The effects in terms of changes in clinical presentation and Forms of Vitality of individuals with ASD suggest that ReAttach is an accessible and cost-effective tool to overcome the developmental arrest in ASD.

HOW TO TAILOR A TRANSDIAGNOSTIC INTERVENTION TO THE INDIVIDUAL STATE OF MIND OF INDIVIDUALS WITH ASD?

Introduction: ReAttach is a trans-diagnostic tailored intervention based on a conceptualization model. The intervention includes arousal-regulation, multiple sensory processing, conceptualization, affective mentalization and associative memory formation (active learning). Autism Spectrum Disorder is a clinical diagnosis for a heterogeneous group of individuals who experience pervasive neurodevelopmental problems including perceiving the world in a fragmented way: the pre-conceptual state of mind. Tailored ReAttach sessions support individuals with ASD to develop a coherent sense of the self and the world.Objective: The aim of this article is to describe how a to tailor a ReAttach session to the individual state of mind of individuals with ASD.Method: ReAttach-C.A.T. is a Computer Adaptive Tool, built to assist therapists to map the individual state of mind before the start of ReAttach sessions. The instrument is in its early stage of development.Results: A group of 52 patients with complex developmental challenges were interviewed by their ReAttach therapist, using the inclusive ReAttach-C.A.T. Mapping the individual state of mind in co-creation with the individual with ASD, makes sense and is helpful for a variety of reasons. It also sheds a new light on the Forms of Vitality of the co-creators.

Forms of vitality revisited: The construction of an affective bodily self

This article outlines a socio-constructivist view of the ontogeny of an early form of psychological self-consciousness: an affective bodily self-consciousness. In so doing, it aims at contributing to a larger anti-Cartesian agenda, which rejects the claim of the primary nature of the knowledge of one’s own mental states. This will be pursued by seeking a synthesis of what may at first appear as a motley assortment of materials: the social biofeedback theory of parental affect-mirroring proposed by György Gergely and John S. Watson, Daniel Stern’s notion of forms of vitality, and Antonio Damasio’s concept of background feelings.

Klassenzimmerchoreographie

This article investigates a class room sequence with the methods of dance studies. Hence the teacher’s behaviour is seen as a stage performance. With a main method of dance theory, the Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) teacher’s handling of the classroom space, including body effort and shape, is analysed. Following Daniel Stern’s conceptualisation of forms of vitality I consider the teacher’s behaviour, focusing on the phenomenology and the temporal contour of feelings of anger. In terms of movement, this essay explores the dynamic experience of vitality affects.