Mechanisms underlying the acquisition and control of shared action representations: the role of the right temporoparietal junction in the control of imitation

In brief, these files contain data on the response times and error rates of participants performing a choice response time experiment during disruptive transcranial magnetic stimulation of either the temporoparietal junction or a control mid-occipital brain site. The experiment manipulated both imitative and spatial compatibility between participants’ instructed responses and task-irrelevant distractor stimuli in a 2x2 design, and also had two baseline conditions.

Data were collected from sixteen participants. The experimental data are from twenty-four within-participants experimental variables as follows:

Twelve response time variables:
Transcranial magnetic stimulation site (mid-occipital, temporoparietal junction) x Spatial compatibility (compatible, incompatible) x Imitative compatibility (compatible, incompatible)
plus
Transcranial magnetic stimulation site (mid-occipital, temporoparietal junction) x baseline type (left hand, right hand)

Twelve error rate variables:
Transcranial magnetic stimulation site (mid-occipital, temporoparietal junction) x Spatial compatibility (compatible, incompatible) x Imitative compatibility (compatible, incompatible)
plus
Transcranial magnetic stimulation site (mid-occipital, temporoparietal junction) x baseline type (left hand, right hand)

Supporting data for this data collection is contained in the article linked under Related Resources.

<p>People copy each other all the time, often without realising it. This behaviour - imitation - is important for social interaction and learning new skills, but it can also have undesirable effects, for example copying antisocial behaviour.

Imitation is thought to rely on 'mirror' neurons, which are cells in the brain that are active when we perform an action and also when we see someone else perform the same action. This research project investigates both imitation behaviour and the responses of mirror neuron areas in the brain, using behavioural and neuroscientific methods (functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation). The project has two aims: the first is to understand how we acquire the ability to imitate other people, and the second is to investigate how the brain controls imitative behaviour, and how the ability to control imitation is affected by context - for example, when people feel part of a social group.

The outcomes of the research could help design training methods for people who have trouble imitating (such as people with autism), or to improve imitation learning of skills, sports, or dance. It also has implications for understanding - and perhaps for influencing - people's imitative behaviour in group situations.</p>