Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

The ability to make judgments about mental states is critical to social interactions. Simulation theory suggests that the observer covertly mimics the activity of the observed person, leading to shared states of mind between the observer and the person observed. We tested this hypothesis by investigating the neural networks activated while subjects watched videos of themselves and of others lifting a box, and judged the beliefs of the actors about the weight of the box. A parietal premotor circuit was recruited during action perception, and the activity started earlier when making judgments about one's own actions as opposed to those of others. This earlier activity in action-related structures can be explained by simulation theory on the basis that when one observes one's own actions, there is a closer match between the simulated and perceived action than there is when one observes the actions of others. When the observers judged the actions to reflect a false belief, there was activation in the superior temporal sulcus, orbitofrontal, paracingulate cortex and cerebellum. We suggest that this reflects a mismatch between the perceived action and the predicted action's outcomes derived from simulation.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/S1053-8119(03)00665-7

Type

Journal article

Journal

Neuroimage

Publication Date

02/2004

Volume

21

Pages

744 - 750

Keywords

Brain Mapping, Cerebellum, Cerebral Cortex, Dominance, Cerebral, Female, Gyrus Cinguli, Humans, Image Enhancement, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Imagination, Imitative Behavior, Lifting, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Neural Pathways, Oxygen Consumption, Personal Construct Theory, Psychomotor Performance, Self Concept, Social Perception, Visual Perception, Weight Perception, Weight-Bearing