Updating predictions in a complex repertoire of actions and its neural representation
Rosari Naveena Selvan,
Minghao Cheng,
Sophie Siestrup,
Falko Mecklenbrauck,
Benjamin Jainta,
Jennifer Pomp,
Anoushiravan Zahedi,
Minija Tamosiunaite,
Florentin Wörgötter,
Ricarda I. Schubotz
Affiliations
Rosari Naveena Selvan
Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Department for Computational Neuroscience, Third Institute of Physics – Biophysics, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany; Corresponding author at. University of Münster, Fliednerstraße 21, Münster 48149, Germany.
Minghao Cheng
Department for Computational Neuroscience, Third Institute of Physics – Biophysics, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Sophie Siestrup
Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Falko Mecklenbrauck
Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Benjamin Jainta
Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Jennifer Pomp
Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Anoushiravan Zahedi
Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Minija Tamosiunaite
Department for Computational Neuroscience, Third Institute of Physics – Biophysics, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany; Faculty of Informatics, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
Florentin Wörgötter
Department for Computational Neuroscience, Third Institute of Physics – Biophysics, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Ricarda I. Schubotz
Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Even though actions we observe in everyday life seem to unfold in a continuous manner, they are automatically divided into meaningful chunks, that are single actions or segments, which provide information for the formation and updating of internal predictive models. Specifically, boundaries between actions constitute a hub for predictive processing since the prediction of the current action comes to an end and calls for updating of predictions for the next action. In the current study, we investigated neural processes which characterize such boundaries using a repertoire of complex action sequences with a predefined probabilistic structure. Action sequences consisted of actions that started with the hand touching an object (T) and ended with the hand releasing the object (U). These action boundaries were determined using an automatic computer vision algorithm. Participants trained all action sequences by imitating demo videos. Subsequently, they returned for an fMRI session during which the original action sequences were presented in addition to slightly modified versions thereof. Participants completed a post-fMRI memory test to assess the retention of original action sequences. The exchange of individual actions, and thus a violation of action prediction, resulted in increased activation of the action observation network and the anterior insula. At U events, marking the end of an action, increased brain activation in supplementary motor area, striatum, and lingual gyrus was indicative of the retrieval of the previously encoded action repertoire. As expected, brain activation at U events also reflected the predefined probabilistic branching structure of the action repertoire. At T events, marking the beginning of the next action, midline and hippocampal regions were recruited, reflecting the selected prediction of the unfolding action segment. In conclusion, our findings contribute to a better understanding of the various cerebral processes characterizing prediction during the observation of complex action repertoires.
