%0 PDF %T Action familiarity and the abstract representations of object-directed actions in the human brain: demonstrated with magnetoancephalography %A Krylova, Margarita V. %8 2005-06-20 %I Tufts Archival Research Center %R http://localhost/files/sn00b9141 %X Action representation in the human brain has been localized to the Action Observation Network (AON). Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to study temporal modulation in seven regions of interest (ROI) per hemisphere, located within the AON, during viewing of realistic videos depicting familiar and less familiar goal-directed activities. A significant difference in activation was found in four out of the fourteen ROIs tested: the left dorsal premotor area (dPM), the left anterior intra-parietal sulcus (aIPS), the left ventral premotor area (vPM) and the middle intra-parietal sulcus (mIPS). Significantly greater activation for the familiar category was detected from 650 ms to 850 ms in the vPM, and in the mIPS and the aIPS from 1100 ms to 1300 ms. The dPM showed significantly enhanced activation for the unfamiliar category from 350 ms to 550 ms. These results provide evidence that familiarity with a given action results in an enhanced mirror neuron (MN) response during its observation in brain regions located lower in the action understanding hierarchy. The temporal modulation of activity observed in our study provides evidence that action observation involves both the spatial and temporal recruitment of areas within the AON. %[ 2022-10-07 %~ Tufts Digital Library %W Institution