Biology subjects

Pesci, U. G.

Publications and source records attributed to Pesci, U. G..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Dopaminergic modulation of behavioral and electrocortical markers of interpersonal performance monitoring in Parkinson's Disease: insights from multivariate and univariate analyses

Effective interpersonal interaction necessitates constant monitoring and adaptation to others actions, a process known as interpersonal performance monitoring, which is influenced by the dopaminergic system and marked by specific electrocortical signatures. To explore the connection between deficits in interpersonal performance monitoring and altered neural markers, we assessed patients with Parkinsons Disease (PD) performing coordination tasks with a virtual partner (VP) under two conditions: on dopaminergic medication (PD ON) and after withdrawal (PD OFF). In Interactive trials, which required adaptation to the VPs actions, PD OFF performance was impaired compared to PD ON. EEG analysis revealed in PD OFF increased midfrontal Delta-Theta activity during Interactive trials. Higher Delta-Theta synchronization was associated with improved performance, suggesting compensatory mechanisms. Multivariate EEG analysis distinguished Interactive from Cued trials, especially in PD OFF. Our findings highlight dopamine s role in modulating electrocortical markers of interpersonal performance monitor, with significant implications for understanding and treating PD.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

The bodily appearance of a virtual partner affects the activity of the action observation and action monitoring systems in a minimally interactive task

One pending question in social neuroscience is whether interpersonal interactions are processed differently by the brain depending on the bodily characteristics of the interactor, i.e., their physical appearance. To address this issue, we engaged participants in a minimally interactive task with an avatar either showing bodily features or not while recording their brain activity using Electroencephalography (EEG) in order to investigate indices of action observation and action monitoring processing. Multivariate results showed that bodily compared to non-bodily appearance modulated parieto-occipital neural patterns throughout the entire duration of the observed movement and that, importantly, such patterns differ from the ones related to initial shape processing. Furthermore, among the electrocortical indices of action monitoring, only the early observational Positivity (oPe) was responsive to the bodily appearance of the observed agent under the specific task requirement to predict the partner movement. Taken together, these findings broaden the understanding of how bodily appearance shapes the spatiotemporal processing of an interactors movements. This holds particular relevance in our modern society, where human-virtual agent interactions are rapidly becoming ubiquitous.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Early categorization of social affordances during the visual encoding of bodily stimuli

Interpersonal interactions rely on various communication channels, both verbal and non-verbal, through which information regarding ones intentions and emotions are perceived. Here, we investigated the neural correlates underlying the visual processing of hand postures conveying social affordances (i.e., hand-shaking), compared to control stimuli such as hands performing non-social actions (i.e., grasping) or showing no movement at all. Combining univariate and multivariate analysis on electroencephalography (EEG) data, our results indicate that occipito-temporal electrodes show early differential processing of stimuli conveying social information compared to non-social ones. First, the amplitude of the Early Posterior Negativity (EPN, an Event-Related Potential related to the perception of body parts) is modulated differently during the perception of social and non-social content carried by hands. Moreover, our multivariate classification analysis (MultiVariate Pattern Analysis - MVPA) expanded the univariate results by revealing early (<200ms) categorization of social affordances over occipito-parietal sites. In conclusion, we provide new evidence suggesting that the encoding of socially relevant hand gestures is categorized in the early stages of visual processing.

neuroscience↗