Paper Info
Title
Brain activity modulation during the production of imperative and declarative pointing.
Abstract
Pointing is a communicative gesture, commonly used for expressing two main intentions: imperative, to obtain a desired object/action from the other, or declarative, to share attention/interest about a referent with the other. Previous neuroimaging research on adults examined pointing almost exclusively as a reaching-like motor act rather than as a communicative gesture. Here, we used fMRI to record brain activity while 16 participants produced either imperative or declarative pointing gestures within a communicative context. A network of regions (the bilateral ventral premotor cortex, anterior midcingulate cortex, middle insula and the right preSMA) showed a preference for the production of declarative pointing as opposed to imperative pointing. The right preSMA also preferred declarative intention during pointing observation. Instead, independently from the intention, the right pMTG was more active during pointing observation than production. In the bilateral posterior parietal reach region we also observed a side (contra>ipsi) effect when the intention was imperative, regardless of the subject's role in the communication.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.12.064
NeuroImage
Keywords
Field
DocType
fMRI,Pointing gesture,Declarative intention,Imperative intention,Social abilities,Reaching
Insula,Developmental psychology,Premotor cortex,Social cognitive theory,Gesture,Referent,Cognitive psychology,Psychology,Intersubjectivity,Brain activity and meditation,Affect (psychology)
Journal
Volume
ISSN
Citations 
109
1053-8119
2
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.40
6
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
G Committeri1395.14
Simona Cirillo220.40
Marcello Costantini380.90
Gaspare Galati461.21
Gian Luca Romani5223.49
Tiziana Aureli620.73