Parietal Lobe: From Action Organization to Intention Understanding

Complexity Digest 2005.18 - 03.01

02-May-2005

Parietal Lobe: From Action Organization to Intention Understanding, Science

Excerpts: Inferior parietal lobule (IPL) neurons were studied when monkeys performed motor acts embedded in different actions and when they observed similar acts done by an experimenter. (...). Many motor IPL neurons also discharged during the observation of acts done by others. (...)These neurons fired during the observation of an act, before the beginning of the subsequent acts specifying the action. Thus, these neurons not only code the observed motor act but also allow the observer to understand the agent's intentions.

Source: Parietal Lobe: From Action Organization to Intention Understanding
[ http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/308/5722/662 ], Leonardo Fogassi, Pier Francesco Ferrari, Benno Gesierich, Stefano Rozzi, Fabian Chersi, Giacomo Rizzolatti, Science : 662-667, 05/04/29