%0 Journal Article
%@ 1065-9471
%A Handjaras, Giacomo
%A Bernardi, Giulio
%A Benuzzi, Francesca
%A Nichelli, Paolo
%A Pietrini, Pietro
%A Ricciardi, Emiliano
%D 2015
%F eprints:2863
%I Wiley
%J Human Brain Mapping
%K action representation, action topography, pattern classification, fMRI, multivariate analysis
%N 10
%P 3832-3844
%T A topographical organization for action representation in the human brain
%U http://eprints.imtlucca.it/2863/
%V 36
%X How the human brain represents distinct motor features into a unique finalized action still remains undefined. Previous models proposed the distinct features of a motor act to be hierarchically organized in separated, but functionally interconnected, cortical areas. Here, we hypothesized that distinct patterns across a wide expanse of cortex may actually subserve a topographically organized coding of different categories of actions that represents, at a higher cognitive level and independently from the distinct motor features, the action and its final aim as a whole. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and pattern classification approaches on the neural responses of 14 right-handed individuals passively watching short movies of hand-performed tool-mediated, transitive, and meaningful intransitive actions, we were able to discriminate with a high accuracy and characterize the category-specific response patterns. Actions are distinctively coded in distributed and overlapping neural responses within an action-selective network, comprising frontal, parietal, lateral occipital and ventrotemporal regions. This functional organization, that we named action topography, subserves a higher-level and more abstract representation of finalized actions and has the capacity to provide unique representations for multiple categories of actions. Hum Brain Mapp 36:3832–3844, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
%Z Open Access article - Fulltext on publisher's website