Predictability alters information flow during action observation in human electrocorticographic activity
Chaoyi Qin,
Frederic Michon,
Yoshiyuki Onuki,
Yohei Ishishita,
Keisuke Otani,
Kensuke Kawai,
Pascal Fries,
Valeria Gazzola,
Christian Keysers
Affiliations
Chaoyi Qin
Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Art and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Frederic Michon
Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Art and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Yoshiyuki Onuki
Department of Neurosurgery, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan
Yohei Ishishita
Department of Neurosurgery, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan
Keisuke Otani
Department of Neurosurgery, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan
Kensuke Kawai
Department of Neurosurgery, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan
Pascal Fries
Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Kapittelweg 29, 6525 EN Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Valeria Gazzola
Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Art and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands; University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology, Brain & Cognition, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Corresponding author
Christian Keysers
Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Art and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands; University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology, Brain & Cognition, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Corresponding author
Summary: The action observation network (AON) has been extensively studied using short, isolated motor acts. How activity in the network is altered when these isolated acts are embedded in meaningful sequences of actions remains poorly understood. Here we utilized intracranial electrocorticography to characterize how the exchange of information across key nodes of the AON—the precentral, supramarginal, and visual cortices—is affected by such embedding and the resulting predictability. We found more top-down beta oscillation from precentral to supramarginal contacts during the observation of predictable actions in meaningful sequences compared to the same actions in randomized, and hence less predictable, order. In addition, we find that expectations enabled by the embedding lead to a suppression of bottom-up visual responses in the high-gamma range in visual areas. These results, in line with predictive coding, inform how nodes of the AON integrate information to process the actions of others.
