How shared goals shape action monitoring

Abstract

Cooperation triggers expectations on our partners’ contributions to achieve a common goal. A partner, however, may sometimes violate such expectations, driving us to perform immediate adjustments. What neurophysiological mechanisms support these adaptations? We tested the hypothesis of an interaction-specific brain system that can decode a partner’s error and promote adaptive responses when cooperating toward a shared goal. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, the participants played short melodies with a virtual partner by performing one note each in turn-taking. A colored cue indicated which melody they had to execute at each trial, thus generating expectations on what notes the partner would play. The participants also performed the task in a perceptually matched Non-Interactive context. The results showed that task interactivity modulates the brain responses to a partner’s error in dorsal fronto-temporoparietal and medial cingulo-opercular networks. Multivariate pattern analysis revealed that these neural activations reflect deep decoding of the partner’s mistake. Within these networks, the automatic tendency to correct the partner’s errors, as indexed by specific reaction times adaptations, depended on the activity of a right-lateralized fronto-opercular system that may enable mutual support during real-life cooperation. Future studies may unveil the role of this putative “interaction monitoring” brain system in social dysfunctions and their motor foundations.

When action prediction grows old: An fMRI study

“…Based on the present study results, future research might address how age‐related changes in motor cognition impact the social domain by altering the cognitive strategies applied by healthy older adults during face‐to‐face interactions. Motor interactions entail a flexible adaptation of “mirror” mechanisms depending on the social contexts (Era et al, 2018 ; Hadley et al, 2015 ; Kourtis et al, 2010 ; Sacheli et al, 2015 ; Sacheli et al, 2018a , 2018b ; Sacheli et al, 2019 ; Sacheli et al, 2022 ): whether this flexibility is maintained in the elderly will be the focus of future research.…”

Searching for the Metaverse: Neuroscience of Physical and Digital Communities

“…An important outcome of this process is the development of "we-representations", that specify joint action outcomes at the group level [30][31][32] allowing the individual to predict, and eventually correct, the contribution of the partner's behavior to the shared goal achievement 33,34 . Individuals engaging in a collaborative activity create a sense of agency 35 through these representations, both individually ("I'm doing this") and collectively ("We're doing this together").…”

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“…To perform joint actions, individuals need to coordinate their actions and decisions in space and time ( Sebanz et al, 2006 ; Vesper et al, 2010 ) and engage in costly cognitive computations, such as mentalizing or representing conflicting perspectives ( Moll and Kadipasaoglu, 2013 ; Freundlieb et al, 2016 ). They also recruit dedicated prediction and monitoring processes ( Kourtis et al, 2013 ; Loehr et al, 2013 ; Moreau et al, 2022 ; Sacheli et al, 2022 ) ensuring coordination at the millisecond level. Furthermore, without dedicated representations of the task, goal, and actions ( Newman-Norlund et al, 2007 ; Sacheli et al, 2018 ), coordinating actions toward a common goal would be impossible.…”