RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 An Intact Action-Perception Coupling Depends on the Integrity of the Cerebellum
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 6707
OP 6716
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3276-13.2014
VO 34
IS 19
A1 Andrea Christensen
A1 Martin A. Giese
A1 Fahad Sultan
A1 Oliver M. Mueller
A1 Sophia L. Goericke
A1 Winfried Ilg
A1 Dagmar Timmann
YR 2014
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/19/6707.abstract
AB It is widely accepted that action and perception in humans functionally interact on multiple levels. Moreover, areas originally suggested to be predominantly motor-related, as the cerebellum, are also involved in action observation. However, as yet, few studies provided unequivocal evidence that the cerebellum is involved in the action perception coupling (APC), specifically in the integration of motor and multisensory information for perception. We addressed this question studying patients with focal cerebellar lesions in a virtual-reality paradigm measuring the effect of action execution on action perception presenting self-generated movements as point lights. We measured the visual sensitivity to the point light stimuli based on signal detection theory. Compared with healthy controls cerebellar patients showed no beneficial influence of action execution on perception indicating deficits in APC. Applying lesion symptom mapping, we identified distinct areas in the dentate nucleus and the lateral cerebellum of both hemispheres that are causally involved in APC. Lesions of the right ventral dentate, the ipsilateral motor representations (lobules V/VI), and most interestingly the contralateral posterior cerebellum (lobule VII) impede the benefits of motor execution on perception. We conclude that the cerebellum establishes time-dependent multisensory representations on different levels, relevant for motor control as well as supporting action perception. Ipsilateral cerebellar motor representations are thought to support the somatosensory state estimate of ongoing movements, whereas the ventral dentate and the contralateral posterior cerebellum likely support sensorimotor integration in the cerebellar-parietal loops. Both the correct somatosensory as well as the multisensory state representations are vital for an intact APC.