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  1. Article ; Online: Activation of Cerebellum, Basal Ganglia and Thalamus During Observation and Execution of Mouth, hand, and foot Actions.

    Errante, Antonino / Gerbella, Marzio / Mingolla, Gloria P / Fogassi, Leonardo

    Brain topography

    2023  Volume 36, Issue 4, Page(s) 476–499

    Abstract: Humans and monkey studies showed that specific sectors of cerebellum and basal ganglia activate not only during execution but also during observation of hand actions. However, it is unknown whether, and how, these structures are engaged during the ... ...

    Abstract Humans and monkey studies showed that specific sectors of cerebellum and basal ganglia activate not only during execution but also during observation of hand actions. However, it is unknown whether, and how, these structures are engaged during the observation of actions performed by effectors different from the hand. To address this issue, in the present fMRI study, healthy human participants were required to execute or to observe grasping acts performed with different effectors, namely mouth, hand, and foot. As control, participants executed and observed simple movements performed with the same effectors. The results show that: (1) execution of goal-directed actions elicited somatotopically organized activations not only in the cerebral cortex but also in the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and thalamus; (2) action observation evoked cortical, cerebellar and subcortical activations, lacking a clear somatotopic organization; (3) in the territories displaying shared activations between execution and observation, a rough somatotopy could be revealed in both cortical, cerebellar and subcortical structures. The present study confirms previous findings that action observation, beyond the cerebral cortex, also activates specific sectors of cerebellum and subcortical structures and it shows, for the first time, that these latter are engaged not only during hand actions observation but also during the observation of mouth and foot actions. We suggest that each of the activated structures processes specific aspects of the observed action, such as performing internal simulation (cerebellum) or recruiting/inhibiting the overt execution of the observed action (basal ganglia and sensory-motor thalamus).
    MeSH term(s) Humans ; Hand/physiology ; Cerebellum/diagnostic imaging ; Cerebellum/physiology ; Basal Ganglia/diagnostic imaging ; Basal Ganglia/physiology ; Mouth/diagnostic imaging ; Thalamus/diagnostic imaging ; Thalamus/physiology
    Language English
    Publishing date 2023-05-03
    Publishing country United States
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 1078442-1
    ISSN 1573-6792 ; 0896-0267
    ISSN (online) 1573-6792
    ISSN 0896-0267
    DOI 10.1007/s10548-023-00960-1
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  2. Article ; Online: Ventrolateral prefrontal neurons of the monkey encode instructions in the 'pragmatic' format of the associated behavioral outcomes.

    Rozzi, Stefano / Gravante, Alfonso / Basile, Claudio / Cappellaro, Giorgio / Gerbella, Marzio / Fogassi, Leonardo

    Progress in neurobiology

    2023  Volume 229, Page(s) 102499

    Abstract: The prefrontal cortex plays an important role in coding rules and producing context-appropriate behaviors. These processes necessarily require the generation of goals based on current context. Indeed, instructing stimuli are prospectively encoded in ... ...

    Abstract The prefrontal cortex plays an important role in coding rules and producing context-appropriate behaviors. These processes necessarily require the generation of goals based on current context. Indeed, instructing stimuli are prospectively encoded in prefrontal cortex in relation to behavioral demands, but the coding format of this neural representation is, to date, largely unknown. In order to study how instructions and behaviors are encoded in prefrontal cortex, we recorded the activity of monkeys (Macaca mulatta) ventrolateral prefrontal neurons in a task requiring to perform (Action condition) or withhold (Inaction condition) grasping actions on real objects. Our data show that there are neurons responding in different task phases, and that the neuronal population discharge is stronger in the Inaction condition when the instructing cue is presented, and in the Action condition in the subsequent phases, from object presentation to action execution. Decoding analyses performed on neuronal populations showed that the neural activity recorded during the initial phases of the task shares the same type of format with that recorded during the final phases. We propose that this format has a pragmatic nature, that is instructions and goals are encoded by prefrontal neurons as predictions of the behavioral outcome.
    MeSH term(s) Animals ; Macaca mulatta/physiology ; Prefrontal Cortex/physiology ; Neurons/physiology
    Language English
    Publishing date 2023-07-08
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 185535-9
    ISSN 1873-5118 ; 0301-0082
    ISSN (online) 1873-5118
    ISSN 0301-0082
    DOI 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2023.102499
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  3. Article ; Online: The neural bases of vitality forms.

    Di Cesare, Giuseppe / Gerbella, Marzio / Rizzolatti, Giacomo

    National science review

    2020  Volume 7, Issue 1, Page(s) 202–213

    Abstract: Unlike emotions, which are short-lasting events accompanied by viscero-motor responses, vitality forms are continuous internal states that modulate the motor behaviors of individuals and are devoid of the autonomic modifications that characterize real ... ...

    Abstract Unlike emotions, which are short-lasting events accompanied by viscero-motor responses, vitality forms are continuous internal states that modulate the motor behaviors of individuals and are devoid of the autonomic modifications that characterize real emotions. Despite the importance of vitality forms in social life, only recently have neurophysiological studies been devoted to this issue. The first part of this review describes fMRI experiments, showing that the dorso-central insula is activated during the execution, the perception and the imagination of arm actions endowed with different vitality forms as well as during the hearing and the production of speech conveying vitality forms. In the second part, we address the means by which the dorso-central insula modulates the networks for controlling action execution and how the sensory and interoceptive information is conveyed to this insular sector. Finally, we present behavioral data showing the importance of vitality forms in social interactions.
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-02-24
    Publishing country China
    Document type Journal Article ; Review
    ZDB-ID 2745465-4
    ISSN 2053-714X ; 2053-714X
    ISSN (online) 2053-714X
    ISSN 2053-714X
    DOI 10.1093/nsr/nwz187
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  4. Article ; Online: Investigating form and content of emotional and non-emotional laughing.

    Lombardi, Giada / Gerbella, Marzio / Marchi, Massimo / Sciutti, Alessandra / Rizzolatti, Giacomo / Di Cesare, Giuseppe

    Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)

    2022  Volume 33, Issue 7, Page(s) 4164–4172

    Abstract: As cold actions (i.e. actions devoid of an emotional content), also emotions are expressed with different vitality forms. For example, when an individual experiences a positive emotion, such as laughing as expression of happiness, this emotion can be ... ...

    Abstract As cold actions (i.e. actions devoid of an emotional content), also emotions are expressed with different vitality forms. For example, when an individual experiences a positive emotion, such as laughing as expression of happiness, this emotion can be conveyed to others by different intensities of face expressions and body postures. In the present study, we investigated whether the observation of emotions, expressed with different vitality forms, activates the same neural structures as those involved in cold action vitality forms processing. To this purpose, we carried out a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in which participants were tested in 2 conditions: emotional and non-emotional laughing both conveying different vitality forms. There are 3 main results. First, the observation of emotional and non-emotional laughing conveying different vitality forms activates the insula. Second, the observation of emotional laughing activates a series of subcortical structures known to be related to emotions. Furthermore, a region of interest analysis carried out in these structures reveals a significant modulation of the blood-oxygen-leveldependent (BOLD) signal during the processing of different vitality forms exclusively in the right amygdala, right anterior thalamus/hypothalamus, and periaqueductal gray. Third, in a subsequent electromyography study, we found a correlation between the zygomatic muscles activity and BOLD signal in the right amygdala only.
    MeSH term(s) Humans ; Emotions/physiology ; Laughter/physiology ; Amygdala/physiology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods ; Brain Mapping/methods
    Language English
    Publishing date 2022-09-12
    Publishing country United States
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 1077450-6
    ISSN 1460-2199 ; 1047-3211
    ISSN (online) 1460-2199
    ISSN 1047-3211
    DOI 10.1093/cercor/bhac334
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  5. Article ; Online: Anatomo-functional basis of emotional and motor resonance elicited by facial expressions.

    Del Vecchio, Maria / Avanzini, Pietro / Gerbella, Marzio / Costa, Sara / Zauli, Flavia Maria / d'Orio, Piergiorgio / Focacci, Elena / Sartori, Ivana / Caruana, Fausto

    Brain : a journal of neurology

    2024  

    Abstract: Simulation theories predict that the observation of other's expressions modulates neural activity in the same centers controlling their production. This hypothesis has been developed by two models, postulating that the visual input is directly projected ... ...

    Abstract Simulation theories predict that the observation of other's expressions modulates neural activity in the same centers controlling their production. This hypothesis has been developed by two models, postulating that the visual input is directly projected either to the motor system for action recognition (motor resonance) or to emotional/interoceptive regions for emotional contagion and social synchronization (emotional resonance). Here we investigated the role of frontal/insular regions in the processing of observed emotional expressions by combining intracranial recording, electrical stimulation and effective connectivity. First, we intracranially recorded from prefrontal, premotor or anterior insular regions of 44 patients during the passive observation of emotional expressions, finding widespread modulations in prefrontal/insular regions (anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, orbitofrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus) and motor territories (rolandic operculum and inferior frontal junction). Subsequently, we electrically stimulated the activated sites, finding that (a) in the anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula, the stimulation elicited emotional/interoceptive responses, as predicted by the 'emotional resonance model', (b) in the rolandic operculum it evoked face/mouth sensorimotor responses, in line with the 'motor resonance' model, and (c) all other regions were unresponsive or revealed functions unrelated to the processing of facial expressions. Finally, we traced the effective connectivity to sketch a network-level description of these regions, finding that the anterior cingulate cortex and the anterior insula are reciprocally interconnected while the rolandic operculum is part of the parieto-frontal circuits and poorly connected with the formers. These results support the hypothesis that the pathways hypothesized by the 'emotional resonance' and the 'motor resonance' models work in parallel, differing in terms of spatio-temporal fingerprints, reactivity to electrical stimulation and connectivity patterns.
    Language English
    Publishing date 2024-02-14
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 80072-7
    ISSN 1460-2156 ; 0006-8950
    ISSN (online) 1460-2156
    ISSN 0006-8950
    DOI 10.1093/brain/awae050
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  6. Article ; Online: Laminar Origin of Corticostriatal Projections to the Motor Putamen in the Macaque Brain.

    Borra, Elena / Rizzo, Marianna / Gerbella, Marzio / Rozzi, Stefano / Luppino, Giuseppe

    The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

    2020  Volume 41, Issue 7, Page(s) 1455–1469

    Abstract: In the macaque brain, projections from distant, interconnected cortical areas converge in specific zones of the striatum. For example, specific zones of the motor putamen are targets of projections from frontal motor, inferior parietal, and ventrolateral ...

    Abstract In the macaque brain, projections from distant, interconnected cortical areas converge in specific zones of the striatum. For example, specific zones of the motor putamen are targets of projections from frontal motor, inferior parietal, and ventrolateral prefrontal hand-related areas and thus are integral part of the so-called "lateral grasping network." In the present study, we analyzed the laminar distribution of corticostriatal neurons projecting to different parts of the motor putamen. Retrograde neural tracers were injected in different parts of the putamen in 3
    MeSH term(s) Animals ; Brain Mapping ; Cerebral Cortex/cytology ; Cerebral Cortex/physiology ; Corpus Striatum/cytology ; Corpus Striatum/physiology ; Feedback, Physiological/physiology ; Female ; Frontal Lobe/physiology ; Macaca mulatta ; Male ; Motor Cortex/physiology ; Neural Pathways/cytology ; Neural Pathways/physiology ; Neurons/physiology ; Parietal Lobe/physiology ; Putamen/cytology ; Putamen/physiology
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-12-29
    Publishing country United States
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 604637-x
    ISSN 1529-2401 ; 0270-6474
    ISSN (online) 1529-2401
    ISSN 0270-6474
    DOI 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1475-20.2020
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  7. Article: Single Neurons in the Insular Cortex of a Macaque Monkey Respond to Skin Brushing: Preliminary Data of the Possible Representation of Pleasant Touch.

    Grandi, Laura Clara / Gerbella, Marzio

    Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience

    2016  Volume 10, Page(s) 90

    Abstract: Pleasant touch may serve as a foundation for affiliative behavior, providing a mechanism for the formation and maintenance of social bonds among conspecifics. In humans, this touch is usually referred to as the caress. Dynamic caressing performed on the ... ...

    Abstract Pleasant touch may serve as a foundation for affiliative behavior, providing a mechanism for the formation and maintenance of social bonds among conspecifics. In humans, this touch is usually referred to as the caress. Dynamic caressing performed on the hairy skin with a velocity of 1-10 cm/s is perceived as being pleasant and determines positive cardio-physiological effects. Furthermore, imaging human studies show that affiliative touch activates the posterior insular cortex (pIC). Recently, it was demonstrated that pleasant touch in monkeys (i.e., sweeping in a grooming-like manner) is performed with velocities similar to those characteristics of human caress (9.31 cm/s), and causes similarly positive autonomic effects, if performed with velocity of 5 cm/s and 10 cm/s, but not lower or higher. Due to similarities between the human caress and non-human primate sweeping, we investigated for the first time whether single neurons of the perisylvian regions (secondary somatosensory cortex [SII] and pIC) of a rhesus monkey can process sweeping touch differently depending on the stimulus speed. We applied stimulation with two speeds: one that optimally induces positive cardio-physiological effects in the monkey who receives it, and includes the real speed of sweep (5-15 cm/s, sweep fast), and a non-optimal speed (1-5 cm/s, sweep slow). The results show that single neurons of insular cortex differently encode the stimulus speed. In particular, even the majority of recorded somatosensory neurons (82.96%) did not discriminate the two speeds, a small set of neurons (16.59%) were modulated just during the sweep fast. These findings represent the first evidence that single neurons of the non-human primates insular cortex can code affiliative touch, highlighting the similarity between human and non-human primates' social touch systems. This study constitutes an important starting point to carry out deeper investigation on neuronal processing of pleasant sweeping in the central nervous system.
    Language English
    Publishing date 2016-05-24
    Publishing country Switzerland
    Document type Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 2452960-6
    ISSN 1662-5153
    ISSN 1662-5153
    DOI 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00090
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  8. Article ; Online: Specific tractography differences in autism compared to developmental coordination disorder.

    Kilroy, Emily / Gerbella, Marzio / Cao, Lei / Molfese, Peter / Butera, Christiana / Harrison, Laura / Jayashankar, Aditya / Rizzolatti, Giacomo / Aziz-Zadeh, Lisa

    Scientific reports

    2022  Volume 12, Issue 1, Page(s) 19246

    Abstract: About 85% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience comorbid motor impairments, making it unclear whether white matter abnormalities previously found in ASD are related to social communication deficits, the hallmark of ASD, or instead ... ...

    Abstract About 85% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience comorbid motor impairments, making it unclear whether white matter abnormalities previously found in ASD are related to social communication deficits, the hallmark of ASD, or instead related to comorbid motor impairment. Here we aim to understand specific white matter signatures of ASD beyond those related to comorbid motor impairment by comparing youth (aged 8-18) with ASD (n = 22), developmental coordination disorder (DCD; n = 16), and typically developing youth (TD; n = 22). Diffusion weighted imaging was collected and quantitative anisotropy, radial diffusivity, mean diffusivity, and axial diffusivity were compared between the three groups and correlated with social and motor measures. Compared to DCD and TD groups, diffusivity differences were found in the ASD group in the mid-cingulum longitudinal and u-fibers, the corpus callosum forceps minor/anterior commissure, and the left middle cerebellar peduncle. Compared to the TD group, the ASD group had diffusivity differences in the right inferior frontal occipital/extreme capsule and genu of the corpus callosum. These diffusion differences correlated with emotional deficits and/or autism severity. By contrast, children with DCD showed unique abnormality in the left cortico-spinal and cortico-pontine tracts.Trial Registration All data are available on the National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive: https://nda.nih.gov/edit_collection.html?id=2254 .
    MeSH term(s) Adolescent ; Child ; Humans ; Autism Spectrum Disorder/diagnostic imaging ; Autistic Disorder/diagnostic imaging ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging ; Motor Skills Disorders/diagnostic imaging ; White Matter/diagnostic imaging
    Language English
    Publishing date 2022-11-14
    Publishing country England
    Document type Clinical Trial ; Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 2615211-3
    ISSN 2045-2322 ; 2045-2322
    ISSN (online) 2045-2322
    ISSN 2045-2322
    DOI 10.1038/s41598-022-21538-0
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  9. Article ; Online: The extended object-grasping network.

    Gerbella, Marzio / Rozzi, Stefano / Rizzolatti, Giacomo

    Experimental brain research

    2017  Volume 235, Issue 10, Page(s) 2903–2916

    Abstract: Grasping is the most important skilled motor act of primates. It is based on a series of sensorimotor transformations through which the affordances of the objects to be grasped are transformed into appropriate hand movements. It is generally accepted ... ...

    Abstract Grasping is the most important skilled motor act of primates. It is based on a series of sensorimotor transformations through which the affordances of the objects to be grasped are transformed into appropriate hand movements. It is generally accepted that a circuit formed by inferior parietal areas AIP and PFG and ventral premotor area F5 represents the core circuit for sensorimotor transformations for grasping. However, selection and control of appropriate grip should also depend on higher-order information, such as the meaning of the object to be grasped, and the overarching goal of the action in which grasping is embedded. In this review, we describe recent findings showing that specific sectors of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex are instrumental in controlling higher-order aspects of grasping. We show that these prefrontal sectors control the premotor cortex through two main gateways: the anterior subdivision of ventral area F5-sub-area F5a-, and the pre-supplementary area (area F6). We then review functional studies showing that both F5a and F6, besides being relay stations of prefrontal information, also play specific roles in grasping. Namely, sub-area F5a is involved in stereoscopic analysis of 3D objects, and in planning cue-dependent grasping activity. As for area F6, this area appears to play a crucial role in determining when to execute the motor program encoded in the parieto-premotor circuit. The recent discovery that area F6 contains a set of neurons encoding specific grip types suggests that this area, besides controlling "when to go", also may control the grip type, i.e., "how to go". We conclude by discussing clinical syndromes affecting grasping actions and their possible mechanisms.
    MeSH term(s) Animals ; Hand/physiology ; Humans ; Motor Activity/physiology ; Motor Cortex/anatomy & histology ; Motor Cortex/physiology ; Nerve Net/anatomy & histology ; Nerve Net/physiology ; Parietal Lobe/anatomy & histology ; Parietal Lobe/physiology ; Prefrontal Cortex/anatomy & histology ; Prefrontal Cortex/physiology ; Visual Perception/physiology
    Language English
    Publishing date 2017
    Publishing country Germany
    Document type Journal Article ; Review
    ZDB-ID 1201-4
    ISSN 1432-1106 ; 0014-4819
    ISSN (online) 1432-1106
    ISSN 0014-4819
    DOI 10.1007/s00221-017-5007-3
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  10. Article ; Online: The macaque lateral grasping network: A neural substrate for generating purposeful hand actions.

    Borra, Elena / Gerbella, Marzio / Rozzi, Stefano / Luppino, Giuseppe

    Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews

    2017  Volume 75, Page(s) 65–90

    Abstract: In primates, neural mechanisms for controlling skilled hand actions primarily rely on sensorimotor transformations. These transformations are mediated by circuits linking specific inferior parietal with ventral premotor areas in which sensory coding of ... ...

    Abstract In primates, neural mechanisms for controlling skilled hand actions primarily rely on sensorimotor transformations. These transformations are mediated by circuits linking specific inferior parietal with ventral premotor areas in which sensory coding of objects' features automatically triggers appropriate hand motor programs. Recently, connectional studies in macaques showed that these parietal and premotor areas are nodes of a large-scale cortical network, designated as "lateral grasping network," including specific temporal and prefrontal sectors involved in object recognition and executive functions, respectively. These data extend grasping models so far proposed in providing a possible substrate for interfacing perceptual, cognitive, and hand-related sensorimotor processes for controlling hand actions based on object identity, goals, and memory-based or contextual information and for the contribution of motor signals to cognitive motor functions. Human studies provided evidence for a possible counterpart of the macaque lateral grasping network, suggesting that in primate evolution the neural mechanisms for controlling hand actions described in the macaque have been retained and exploited for the emergence of human-specific motor and cognitive motor capacities.
    MeSH term(s) Animals ; Brain Mapping ; Hand ; Hand Strength ; Humans ; Macaca ; Motor Cortex ; Psychomotor Performance ; Visual Perception
    Language English
    Publishing date 2017-01-17
    Publishing country United States
    Document type Journal Article ; Review
    ZDB-ID 282464-4
    ISSN 1873-7528 ; 0149-7634
    ISSN (online) 1873-7528
    ISSN 0149-7634
    DOI 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.01.017
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