ABSTRACT
Exercise and sports are increasingly being implemented in the management of schizophrenia. The process of action perception is as important as that of motor execution for learning and acquiring new skills. Recent studies have suggested that body-selective extrastriate body area (EBA) in the posterior temporal-occipital cortex is involved not only in static visual perception of body parts but also in the planning, imagination, and execution of actions. However, functional abnormality of the EBA in schizophrenia has yet to be investigated. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a task designed to activate the EBA by sports-related actions, we aimed to elucidate functional abnormality of the EBA during observation of sports-related actions in patients with schizophrenia. Twelve schizophrenia patients and 12 age-sex-matched control participants participated in the study. Using sports-related motions as visual stimuli, we examined brain activations during observation of context-congruent actions relative to context-incongruent actions by fMRI. Compared with controls, the patients with schizophrenia demonstrated diminished activation in the EBA during observation of sports-related context-congruent actions. Furthermore, the EBA activation in patients was negatively correlated with the severity of negative and general psychopathology symptoms measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Dysfunction of the EBA might reflect a difficulty in representing dynamic aspects of human actions and possibly lead to impairments of simulation, learning, and execution of actions in schizophrenia.
Subject(s)
Athletic Performance/physiology , Basketball/physiology , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted , Imaging, Three-Dimensional , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Occipital Lobe/physiopathology , Schizophrenia/physiopathology , Schizophrenic Psychology , Temporal Lobe/physiopathology , Visual Perception/physiology , Adult , Arousal/physiology , Attention/physiology , Brain Mapping , Female , Humans , Male , Motion Perception/physiology , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/statistics & numerical data , Psychometrics , Social PerceptionABSTRACT
AIM: Neuroimaging studies on biological motion have established the view that the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) is involved in detecting intention of others. Those studies have consistently reported other regions such as body-selective extrastriate body area (EBA) and motion-sensitive middle temporal, in close proximity to pSTS. Whether EBA responds only to static body parts or has a more extended role as part of a system for inferring intention of others has remained an elusive issue. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of EBA in processing goal-directed actions. METHODS: Twelve healthy volunteers participated in the present study. Using sports-related motions as visual stimuli, brain activations were examined during observation of goal-directed actions and non-goal-directed actions on functional magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: Compared to non-goal-directed actions, goal-directed actions produced greater activations in EBA along with the mirror neuron system. CONCLUSIONS: EBA might contribute to understanding others' actions by representing the dynamic aspects of human motions.
