Causal role of motor simulation in turn-taking behavior

Hadley, Lauren V.; Novembre, Giacomo; Keller, Peter E.; Pickering, Martin J.

Abstract

© 2015 the authors. Overlap between sensory and motor representations has been documented for a range of human actions, from grasping (Rizzolatti et al., 1996b) to playing a musical instrument (Novembre and Keller, 2014). Such overlap suggests that individuals use motor simulation to predict the outcome of observed actions (Wolpert, 1997). Here we investigate motor simulation as a basis of human communication. Using a musical turn-taking task, we show that pianists call on motor representations of their partner’s part to predict when to come in for their own turn. Pianists played alternating solos with a videoed partner, and double-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied around the turn-switch to temporarily disrupt processing in two cortical regions implicated previously in different forms of motor simulation: (1) the dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC), associated with automatic motor resonance during passive observation of hand actions, especially when the actions are familiar (Lahav et al., 2007); and (2) the supplementary motor area (SMA), involved in active motor imagery, especially when the actions are familiar (Baumann et al., 2007). Stimulation of the right dPMC decreased the temporal accuracy of pianists’ (right-hand) entries relative to sham when the partner’s (left-hand) part had been rehearsed previously. This effect did not occur for dPMC stimulation without rehearsal or for SMA stimulation. These findings support the role of the dPMC in predicting the time course of observed actions via resonance-based motor simulation during turn-taking. Because turn-taking spans multiple modes of human interaction, we suggest that simulation is a foundational mechanism underlying the temporal dynamics of joint action.

Citation

Hadley, L. V., Novembre, G., Keller, P. E., & Pickering, M. J. (2015). Causal role of motor simulation in turn-taking behavior. Journal of Neuroscience, 35(50), 16516-16520. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1850-15.2015

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 12, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Dec 16, 2015
• Publication Date: Dec 16, 2015
• Deposit Date: Nov 5, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 5, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Neuroscience
• Electronic ISSN: 1529-2401
• Publisher: Society for Neuroscience
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 50
• Pages: 16516-16520
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1850-15.2015
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3057502
• Publisher URL: https://www.jneurosci.org/content/35/50/16516
• Contract Date: Nov 5, 2019