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Published in: Neuropsychology Review 4/2019

01-12-2019 | Intense Pulsed Light | Review

To Watch is to Work: a Review of NeuroImaging Data on Tool Use Observation Network

Authors: Emanuelle Reynaud, Jordan Navarro, Mathieu Lesourd, François Osiurak

Published in: Neuropsychology Review | Issue 4/2019

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Abstract

Since the discovery of mirror neurons in the 1990s, many neuroimaging studies have tackled the issue of action observation with the aim of unravelling a putative homolog human system. However, these studies do not distinguish between non-tool-use versus tool-use actions, implying that a common brain network is systematically involved in the observation of any action. Here we provide evidence for a brain network dedicated to tool-use action observation, called the tool-use observation network, mostly situated in the left hemisphere, and distinct from the non-tool-use action observation network. Areas specific for tool-use action observation are the left cytoarchitectonic area PF within the left inferior parietal lobe and the left inferior frontal gyrus. The neural correlates associated with the observation of tool-use reported here offer new insights into the neurocognitive bases of action observation and tool use, as well as addressing more fundamental issues on the origins of specifically human phenomena such as cumulative technological evolution.
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Footnotes
1
The term network used here must be understood as a collection of brain areas, with no assessment of the structural or functional connectivity that could exist between these areas.
 
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Metadata
Title
To Watch is to Work: a Review of NeuroImaging Data on Tool Use Observation Network
Authors
Emanuelle Reynaud
Jordan Navarro
Mathieu Lesourd
François Osiurak
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Neuropsychology Review / Issue 4/2019
Print ISSN: 1040-7308
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6660
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-019-09418-3

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