Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science, Ministry of Education, Research Center for Learning Science, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Meng-Yuan Ding
Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science, Ministry of Education, Research Center for Learning Science, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Zheng Zhang
Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science, Ministry of Education, Research Center for Learning Science, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Pan Lin
Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Education Ministry, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
Jun-Feng Gao
Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science of State Ethnic Affairs Commission, College of Biomedical Engineering, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, China
Rui-Min Wang
Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Gao-Peng Sun
Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science, Ministry of Education, Research Center for Learning Science, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Keiji Iramina
Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Hui-Hua Deng
Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science, Ministry of Education, Research Center for Learning Science, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Yuan-Kui Yang
Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science, Ministry of Education, Research Center for Learning Science, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Yue Leng
Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science, Ministry of Education, Research Center for Learning Science, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Understanding the actions of other people is a key component of social interaction. This paper used an electroencephalography and functional near infrared spectroscopy (EEG-fNIRS) bimodal system to investigate the temporal-spatial features of action intention understanding. We measured brain activation while participants observed three actions: 1) grasping a cup for drinking; 2) grasping a cup for moving; and 3) no meaningful intention. Analysis of EEG maximum standardized current density revealed that brain activation transitioned from the left to the right hemisphere. EEG-fNIRS source analysis results revealed that both the mirror neuron system and theory of mind network are involved in action intention understanding, and the extent to which these two systems are engaged appears to be determined by the clarity of the observed intention. These findings indicate that action intention understanding is a complex and dynamic process.
