Brain mechanisms underlying human communication
Human communication has been described as involving the coding-decoding of a conventional symbol system, which could be supported by parts of the human motor system (i.e. the “mirror neurons system”). However, this view does not explain how these conventions could develop in the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2009-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/neuro.09.014.2009/full |
| _version_ | 1819226190644248576 |
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| author | Matthijs L Noordzij Matthijs L Noordzij Sarah E Newman-Norlund Jan Peter De Ruiter Peter Hagoort Peter Hagoort Peter Hagoort Stephen C Levinson Ivan Toni Ivan Toni |
| author_facet | Matthijs L Noordzij Matthijs L Noordzij Sarah E Newman-Norlund Jan Peter De Ruiter Peter Hagoort Peter Hagoort Peter Hagoort Stephen C Levinson Ivan Toni Ivan Toni |
| author_sort | Matthijs L Noordzij |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Human communication has been described as involving the coding-decoding of a conventional symbol system, which could be supported by parts of the human motor system (i.e. the “mirror neurons system”). However, this view does not explain how these conventions could develop in the first place. Here we target the neglected but crucial issue of how people organize their non-verbal behavior to communicate a given intention without pre-established conventions. We have measured behavioral and brain responses in pairs of subjects during communicative exchanges occurring in a real, interactive, on-line social context. In two fMRI studies, we found robust evidence that planning new communicative actions (by a sender) and recognizing the communicative intention of the same actions (by a receiver) relied on spatially overlapping portions of their brains (the right posterior superior temporal sulcus). The response of this region was lateralized to the right hemisphere, modulated by the ambiguity in meaning of the communicative acts, but not by their sensorimotor complexity. These results indicate that the sender of a communicative signal uses his own intention recognition system to make a prediction of the intention recognition performed by the receiver. This finding supports the notion that our communicative abilities are distinct from both sensorimotor processes and language abilities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T10:21:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0a1122a49cc84010a46635aabac4c45c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T10:21:33Z |
| publishDate | 2009-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-0a1122a49cc84010a46635aabac4c45c2022-12-21T17:50:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612009-07-01310.3389/neuro.09.014.2009478Brain mechanisms underlying human communicationMatthijs L Noordzij0Matthijs L Noordzij1Sarah E Newman-Norlund2Jan Peter De Ruiter3Peter Hagoort4Peter Hagoort5Peter Hagoort6Stephen C Levinson7Ivan Toni8Ivan Toni9Radboud University NijmegenUniversity of TwenteRadboud University NijmegenMax Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsMax Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsRadboud University NijmegenRadboud University NijmegenMax Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsRadboud University NijmegenRadboud University NijmegenHuman communication has been described as involving the coding-decoding of a conventional symbol system, which could be supported by parts of the human motor system (i.e. the “mirror neurons system”). However, this view does not explain how these conventions could develop in the first place. Here we target the neglected but crucial issue of how people organize their non-verbal behavior to communicate a given intention without pre-established conventions. We have measured behavioral and brain responses in pairs of subjects during communicative exchanges occurring in a real, interactive, on-line social context. In two fMRI studies, we found robust evidence that planning new communicative actions (by a sender) and recognizing the communicative intention of the same actions (by a receiver) relied on spatially overlapping portions of their brains (the right posterior superior temporal sulcus). The response of this region was lateralized to the right hemisphere, modulated by the ambiguity in meaning of the communicative acts, but not by their sensorimotor complexity. These results indicate that the sender of a communicative signal uses his own intention recognition system to make a prediction of the intention recognition performed by the receiver. This finding supports the notion that our communicative abilities are distinct from both sensorimotor processes and language abilities.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/neuro.09.014.2009/fullfMRIsocial neurosciencesuperior temporal sulcusinteractive game |
| spellingShingle | Matthijs L Noordzij Matthijs L Noordzij Sarah E Newman-Norlund Jan Peter De Ruiter Peter Hagoort Peter Hagoort Peter Hagoort Stephen C Levinson Ivan Toni Ivan Toni Brain mechanisms underlying human communication Frontiers in Human Neuroscience fMRI social neuroscience superior temporal sulcus interactive game |
| title | Brain mechanisms underlying human communication |
| title_full | Brain mechanisms underlying human communication |
| title_fullStr | Brain mechanisms underlying human communication |
| title_full_unstemmed | Brain mechanisms underlying human communication |
| title_short | Brain mechanisms underlying human communication |
| title_sort | brain mechanisms underlying human communication |
| topic | fMRI social neuroscience superior temporal sulcus interactive game |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/neuro.09.014.2009/full |
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