TY - JOUR
T1 - Actions chains and intention understanding in 3- to 6-year-old children
AU - Di Dio, Cinzia
AU - Miraglia, Laura
AU - Peretti, Giulia
AU - Marchetti, Antonella
AU - Rizzolatti, Giacomo
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - : In intentional behavior, the final goal of an action is crucial in determining the entire sequence of motor acts. Neurons have been described in the inferior parietal lobule of monkeys, which besides encoding a specific motor act (e.g., grasping), have their discharge modulated by the final goal of the intended action (e.g., grasping-to-eat). Many of these "action-constrained" neurons have mirror properties responding to the observation of the motor act they encode, provided that this is embedded in a specific action. Thanks to this mechanism, the observers have an internal copy of the whole action before its execution and may, in this way, understand the agent's intention. The chained organization of motor acts has been demonstrated in schoolchildren. Here, we examined whether this organization is already present in very young children. To this purpose, we recorded EMG from the mylohyoid (MH) muscle in the children aged 3 to 6 y. The results showed that preschoolers, like older children, possess the chained organization of motor acts in execution. Interestingly, in comparison to older children, they have a delayed ability to use this mechanism to infer others' intentions by observation. Finally, we found a significant negative association between the children's age and the activation of the MH muscle during the grasp-to-eat phase in the observation condition. We, tentatively, interpreted it as a sign of an immature control of motor acts.
AB - : In intentional behavior, the final goal of an action is crucial in determining the entire sequence of motor acts. Neurons have been described in the inferior parietal lobule of monkeys, which besides encoding a specific motor act (e.g., grasping), have their discharge modulated by the final goal of the intended action (e.g., grasping-to-eat). Many of these "action-constrained" neurons have mirror properties responding to the observation of the motor act they encode, provided that this is embedded in a specific action. Thanks to this mechanism, the observers have an internal copy of the whole action before its execution and may, in this way, understand the agent's intention. The chained organization of motor acts has been demonstrated in schoolchildren. Here, we examined whether this organization is already present in very young children. To this purpose, we recorded EMG from the mylohyoid (MH) muscle in the children aged 3 to 6 y. The results showed that preschoolers, like older children, possess the chained organization of motor acts in execution. Interestingly, in comparison to older children, they have a delayed ability to use this mechanism to infer others' intentions by observation. Finally, we found a significant negative association between the children's age and the activation of the MH muscle during the grasp-to-eat phase in the observation condition. We, tentatively, interpreted it as a sign of an immature control of motor acts.
KW - intention understanding
KW - mirror mechanism
KW - social cognition
KW - motor development
KW - motor chains
KW - intention understanding
KW - mirror mechanism
KW - social cognition
KW - motor development
KW - motor chains
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/289317
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2317653121
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2317653121
M3 - Article
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 121
SP - N/A-N/A
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
ER -