Electroencephalographic functional equivalence during observation of action

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the variability in cortical activation during physical air-rifle shooting and three different observation conditions. Elite air-rifle shooters performed a 40 shot individual match. Electroencephalograms were recorded from 11 active sites across the cortex during the final 6 s (3 6 2 s epochs) before shot release. Data collection was repeated while shooters watched a large-screen video of their worst shot performance from an internal-visual perspective when seated, standing and standing holding their rifle. The hypothesized differences between the three observation conditions and the physical shooting profile were not shown except at the left anterior temporal site, T5. This finding suggests that observation of performance cannot be differentiated clearly by posture or modified through kinetic and haptic afference, and that visual percepts predominate in observational functional equivalence. However, more functionally equivalent observation reduced the observation/execution variability over the temporal areas. Performer debriefs also identified different perceptions of physiological, psychological and behavioural functional equivalence associated with the different observation conditions. We conclude that elite performers' brains are accessed equally effectively during different observation conditions irrespective of some of the physical factors ascribed to the conditions. However, they may require more functionally matched conditions to attain greater equivalence in temporal areas.

Assessing human mirror activity with EEG mu rhythm: A meta-analysis.

“…The power values of the included studies to detect the combined effect size for execution ranged from 0.14 for the study with the smallest sample size ( N = 3; Pfurtscheller & Neuper, 1992) to 0.88 for the study with the largest sample size ( N = 39; Woodruff, Martin, & Bilyk, 2011). For observation, the power values ranged from 0.16 for the study with the smallest sample size ( N = 6; Holmes, Collins, & Calmels, 2006) to 0.61 for the study with the largest sample size ( N = 40; Cochin, Barthélémy, Lejeune, Roux, & Martineau, 1998). Certainly for EEG studies on observation, larger sample sizes are needed to detect the expected modest effect sizes and to create a cumulative science (Hulley, Cummings, Browner, Grady, & Newman, 2013).…”

Action Experience, More than Observation, Influences Mu Rhythm Desynchronization

“…Evidence spanning a range of action domains (e.g., karate, air rifle, music) has shown expertise effects on mu and/or beta rhythms during the execution or observation of actions within one's domain of expertise [35], [36]–[37]. Along the lines of the expert/novice fMRI work described above, EEG reactivity has also been explored in experts (e.g., expert dancers and non-dancers) [34], as well as in participants who received training on a short time scale.…”

Functional equivalence or behavioural matching? A critical reflection on 15 years of research using the PETTLEP model of motor imagery

“…One of the first studies to provide indirect evidence to support this idea and, at the same time, the behavioural modification hypothesis predicted by the PETTLEP model, was presented by Holmes, Collins, and Calmels (2006). In this PETTLEP-based study, elite air rifle shooters' EEG activity was recorded during competitive shooting as well as during three different conditions of action observation.…”