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Science 14 October 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5746, pp. 332 - 336
DOI: 10.1126/science.1115593
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Reports

Observing Others: Multiple Action Representation in the Frontal Lobe

Koen Nelissen,1 Giuseppe Luppino,2 Wim Vanduffel,1,3 Giacomo Rizzolatti,2 Guy A Orban1*

Observation of actions performed by others activates monkey ventral premotor cortex, where action meaning, but not object identity, is coded. In a functional MRI (fMRI) study, we investigated whether other monkey frontal areas respond to actions performed by others. Observation of a hand grasping objects activated four frontal areas: rostral F5 and areas 45B, 45A, and 46. Observation of an individual grasping an object also activated caudal F5, which indicates different degrees of action abstraction in F5. Observation of shapes activated area 45, but not premotor F5. Convergence of object and action information in area 45 may be important for full comprehension of actions.

1 Laboratorium voor Neuro-en Psychofysiologie, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Medical School, Leuven, Belgium.
2 Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università di Parma, via Volturno 39, 43100 Parma, Italy.
3 Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, Athinoula A. Martino's Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: guy.orban{at}med.kuleuven.ac.be

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