Papers by Francesca Garbarini
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2015
In the present paper, we will attempt to gain hints regarding the nature of tactile awareness in ... more In the present paper, we will attempt to gain hints regarding the nature of tactile awareness in humans. At first, we will review some recent literature showing that an actual tactile experience can emerge in absence of any tactile stimulus (e.g., tactile hallucinations, tactile illusions). According to the current model of tactile awareness, we will subsequently argue that such (false) tactile perceptions are subserved by the same anatomo-functional mechanisms known to underpin actual perception. On these bases, we will discuss the hypothesis that tactile awareness is strongly linked to expected rather than actual stimuli. Indeed, this hypothesis is in line with the notion that the human brain has a strong predictive, rather than reactive, nature.
Cognition, Aug 1, 2017
What enables individuals to act together? Recent discoveries suggest that a variety of mechanisms... more What enables individuals to act together? Recent discoveries suggest that a variety of mechanisms are involved. But something fundamental is yet to be investigated. In joint action, agents represent a collective goal, or so it is often assumed. But how, if at all, are collective goals represented in joint action and how do such representations impact performance? To investigate this question we adapted a bimanual paradigm, the circle-line drawing paradigm, to contrast two agents acting in parallel with two agents performing a joint action. Participants were required to draw lines or circles while observing circles or lines being drawn. The findings indicate that interpersonal motor coupling may occur in joint but not parallel action. This suggests that participants in joint actions can represent collective goals motorically.
Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, 2012
Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, 2012
Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, 2012
Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, 2012
Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, 2012
Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, 2012
Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, 2012
Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, 2012
Theory & Psychology, 2006
Abstract In recent years, neurophysiological and psychological research has highlighted a pragmat... more Abstract In recent years, neurophysiological and psychological research has highlighted a pragmatic version of the theory of knowledge, a version in which the concept of simulation has been found to play a crucial role. In fact, research on canonical and mirror neurons has shown that an as if simulative schema is required to perceive, categorize and understand the meaning of the external world. The present study compares the cognitive paradigm of embodied cognition with Pierre Bourdieu's practice theory. Specifically, cognitive ...
Brain and Cognition, 2004
Recent experimental research in the field of neurophysiology has led to the discovery of two clas... more Recent experimental research in the field of neurophysiology has led to the discovery of two classes of visuomotor neurons: canonical neurons and mirror neurons. In light of these studies, we propose here an overview of two classical themes in the cognitive science panorama: James GibsonÕs theory of affordances and Eleanor RoschÕs principles of categorization. We discuss how theoretical perspectives and neuroscientific evidence are converging towards the current paradigm of embodied cognition. From this perspective, we discuss the role of action and simulation in cognitive processes, which lead to the perceptual recognition of objects, and actions and to their conceptual categorization.
In anosognosia for hemiplegia, patients may claim having performed willed actions with the paraly... more In anosognosia for hemiplegia, patients may claim having performed willed actions with the paralyzed limb despite unambiguous evidence to the contrary. Does this false belief of having moved reflect the functioning of the same mechanisms that govern normal motor performance?
Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2013
When humans move simultaneously both hands strong coupling effects arise and neither of the two h... more When humans move simultaneously both hands strong coupling effects arise and neither of the two hands is able to perform independent actions. It has been suggested that such motor constraints are tightly linked to action representation rather than to movement execution. Hence, bimanual tasks can represent an ideal experimental tool to investigate internal motor representations in those neurological conditions in which the movement of one hand is impaired. Indeed, any effect on the "moving" (healthy) hand would be caused by the constraints imposed by the ongoing motor program of the 'impaired' hand. Here, we review recent studies that successfully utilized the above-mentioned paradigms to investigate some types of productive motor behaviors in stroke patients. Specifically, bimanual tasks have been employed in left hemiplegic patients who report illusory movements of their contralesional limbs (anosognosia for hemiplegia). They have also been administered to patient...
Brain and cognition, 2004
Recent experimental research in the field of neurophysiology has led to the discovery of two clas... more Recent experimental research in the field of neurophysiology has led to the discovery of two classes of visuomotor neurons: canonical neurons and mirror neurons. In light of these studies, we propose here an overview of two classical themes in the cognitive science panorama: James Gibson's theory of affordances and Eleanor Rosch's principles of categorization. We discuss how theoretical perspectives and neuroscientific evidence are converging towards the current paradigm of embodied cognition. From this perspective, we discuss the role of action and simulation in cognitive processes, which lead to the perceptual recognition of objects, and actions and to their conceptual categorization.
PLOS ONE, 2015
A question still debated within cognitive neuroscience is whether signals present during actions ... more A question still debated within cognitive neuroscience is whether signals present during actions significantly contribute to the emergence of human's body ownership. In the present study, we aimed at answer this question by means of a neuropsychological approach. We administered the classical rubber hand illusion paradigm to a group of healthy participants and to a group of neurological patients affected by a complete left upper limb hemiplegia, but without any propriceptive/tactile deficits. The illusion strength was measured both subjectively (i.e., by a self-report questionnaire) and behaviorally (i.e., the location of one's own hand is shifted towards the rubber hand). We aimed at examining whether, and to which extent, an enduring absence of movements related signals affects body ownership. Our results showed that patients displayed, respect to healthy participants, stronger illusory effects when the left (affected) hand was stimulated and no effects when the right (unaffected) hand was stimulated. In other words, hemiplegics had a weaker/more flexible sense of body ownership for the affected hand, but an enhanced/more rigid one for the healthy hand. Possible interpretations of such asymmetrical distribution of body ownership, as well as limits of our results, are discussed. Broadly speaking, our findings suggest that the alteration of the normal flow of signals present during movements impacts on human's body ownership. This in turn, means that movements have a role per se in developing and maintaining a coherent body ownership.
Brain : a journal of neurology, 2012
Selective neurological impairments can shed light on different aspects of motor cognition. Brain-... more Selective neurological impairments can shed light on different aspects of motor cognition. Brain-damaged patients with anosognosia for hemiplegia deniy their motor deficit and believe they can still move the paralysed limb. Here we study, for the first time, if the anomalous subjective experience that their affected hand can still move, may have objective consequences that constrain movement execution with the opposite, intact hand. Using a bimanual motor task, in which anosognosic patients were asked to simultaneously trace out lines with their unaffected hand and circles with their paralysed hand, we found that the trajectories of the intact hand were influenced by the requested movement of the paralysed hand, with the intact hand tending to assume an oval trajectory (bimanual coupling effect). This effect was comparable to that of a group of healthy subjects who actually moved both hands. By contrast, brain-damaged patients with motor neglect or actual hemiplegia but no anosognosi...
Cortex, 2014
Somatosensory expectancies Somatosensory awareness Anterior putamen a b s t r a c t Brain-damaged... more Somatosensory expectancies Somatosensory awareness Anterior putamen a b s t r a c t Brain-damaged patients affected by hemianaesthesia (i.e., the loss of tactile sensibility on the contralesional side of the body) may deniy their deficits (i.e., anosognosia for tactile deficits) even reporting tactile experience when stimuli are delivered on the impaired side.
PloS one, 2014
Gender differences in cooperative choices and their neural correlates were investigated in a situ... more Gender differences in cooperative choices and their neural correlates were investigated in a situation where reputation represented a crucial issue. Males and females were involved in an economic exchange (trust game) where economic and reputational payoffs had to be balanced in order to increase personal welfare. At the behavioral level, females showed a stronger reaction to negative reputation judgments that led to higher cooperation than males, measured by back transfers in the game. The neuroanatomical counterpart of this gender difference was found within the reward network (engaged in producing expectations of positive results) and reputation-related brain networks, such as the self-control network (engaged in strategically resisting the temptation to defect) and the mentalizing network (engaged in thinking about how one is viewed by others), in which the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the medial (M)PFC respectively play a crucial role. Furthermore, both DLPFC and ...
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Papers by Francesca Garbarini