Neural underpinnings of the ‘agent brain’: new evidence from transcranial direct current stimulation

Cavazzana, Annachiara; Penolazzi, Barbara; Begliomini, Chiara; Bisiacchi, Patrizia

doi:10.1111/ejn.12937

Cited by 33 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…In line with this, studies of voluntary actions also suggest that the pre-SMA (known for its role in action planning and initiation) might be one of the crucial brain areas for the subjective experience of agency (Cavazzana, Penolazzi, Begliomini, & Bisiacchi, 2015; Javadi, 2015; Kuhn, Brass, & Haggard, 2013; J. W. Moore, Ruge, Wenke, Rothwell, & Haggard, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…Thus, brain systems underlying SoA should continuously monitor acoustic properties of the auditory feedback of the voice in order to validate the presence of SoA for vocalization-related auditory input. This process of monitoring apparently involves motor area(s) in order to be able initiate corrective motor action(s) as fast as possible (Cavazzana, et al, 2015; Javadi, 2015; Kuhn, et al, 2013; J. W. Moore, et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bioelectrical brain effects of one's own voice identification in pitch of voice auditory feedback

et al. 2017

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Control of voice fundamental frequency (F0) relies in part on comparison of the intended F0 level and auditory feedback. This comparison impacts “sense of agency”, or SoA, commonly defined as being the agent of one's own actions and plays a key role for self-awareness and social interactions. SoA is aberrant in several psychiatric disorders. Knowledge about brain activity reflecting SoA can be used in clinical practice for these disorders. It was shown that perception of voice feedback as one’s own voice, reflecting the recognition of SoA, alters auditory sensory processing. Using a voice perturbation paradigm we contrasted vocal and bioelectrical brain responses to auditory stimuli that differed in magnitude: 100 and 400 cents. Results suggest the different magnitudes were perceived as a pitch error in self-vocalization (100 cents) or as a pitch shift generated externally (400 cents). Vocalizations and neural responses to changes in pitch of self-vocalization were defined as those made to small magnitude pitch- shifts (100 cents) and which did not show differential neural responses to upward versus downward changes in voice pitch auditory feedback. Vocal responses to large magnitude pitch shifts (400 cents) were smaller than those made to small pitch shifts, and neural responses differed according to upwards versus downward changes in pitch. Our results suggest that the presence of SoA for self-produced sounds may modify bioelectrical brain responses reflecting differences in auditory processing of the direction of a pitch shift. We suggest that this modification of bioelectrical response can be used as a biological index of SoA. Possible neuronal mechanisms of this modification of bioelectrical brain response are discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioelectrical brain effects of one's own voice identification in pitch of voice auditory feedback

et al. 2017

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“…35 This result has been repeated with anodal and cathodal (facilitatory and inhibitory, respectively) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the pre-SMA. 36 In another experiment, intentional binding was disrupted by anodal tDCS over the left parietal area. 37 …”

Section: Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Physiology of free will

Hallett

2016

Annals of Neurology

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Free will is a perception that people have that they choose to make their movements. This perception includes a sense of willing the movement and self-agency that they are responsible for the movement. If there is a “free will force” that plays a role in movement selection, it should precede movement. There is no evidence for a driving force, and the perception of willing is not fully processed until after the movement. The perceptions of free will likely arise from an interaction between frontal and parietal areas. Free will might be considered to exist if a person’s brain is functioning normally without coercion.

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“…In this issue of EJN , Cavazzana et al . () describe evidence showing that modulation of activity in the pre‐supplementary motor area (pre‐SMA) using transcranial electrical brain stimulation can reduce the sense of agency. This is an important finding as it highlights a possible causal link between the activity of the pre‐SMA and one's sense of agency, and thus could have clinical implications.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the task of Cavazzana et al . (), an effect (e.g. a tone) is presented after a certain delay, rather than immediately, subsequent to the participant's key press.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Modulation of the pre‐supplementary motor area reduces the sense of agency (Commentary on Cavazzana et al.)

Javadi

2015

Eur J of Neuroscience

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The sense of agency is the capacity to control one's own actions and, through them, events in the outside world (Haggard & Chambon, 2012). The proposition 'I did that' is an important aspect of our everyday lives. For example, this sense associates a light turning on to one's action when pressing a switch. Abnormalities in this sense can lead to illnesses such as psychosis (increased sense of agency) and depression (decreased sense of agency). Despite a large amount of theoretical work on the sense of agency, the neural correlates are poorly understood. Only a handful of imaging and brain stimulation studies have attempted to investigate how different brain areas contribute to the emergence of this feeling. In this issue of EJN, Cavazzana et al. (2015) describe evidence showing that modulation of activity in the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) using transcranial electrical brain stimulation can reduce the sense of agency. This is an important finding as it highlights a possible causal link between the activity of the pre-SMA and one's sense of agency, and thus could have clinical implications.One way of studying the sense of agency is through 'explicit agency attribution tasks'. In these tasks a person judges whether they did or did not cause a specific event. For example, a computer program presents a tone whenever the person presses a button. Immediate presentation of the tone following the participant's key press creates the sense that they caused the presentation of the tone (e.g. agency). If the tone is presented with a delay the sense of agency is reduced. This suggests that the sense of agency is computed by comparing the prediction of action outcome(s) with actual outcomes. Figure 1A is a diagram of how this process might work.In addition to explicit measures of the sense of agency there are also several implicit measures, such as intentional binding. Intentional binding refers to the temporal compression between a voluntary action and its sensory effect (Haggard & Tsakiris, 2009). In the task of Cavazzana et al. (2015), an effect (e.g. a tone) is presented after a certain delay, rather than immediately, subsequent to the participant's key press. The participant is then required to report the time on a clock indicating when they pressed the button or when the tone was presented. The sense of agency leads to an overestimation of time of action and an underestimation of time (Haggard & Tsakiris, 2009). Cavazzana et al. (2014 adapted this task for children and presented a series of letters instead of a clock. Participants were required to report the letter presented on the screen at the time of their key press or at the time of the presentation of the tone. Cavazzana et al. (2015) used this novel method to test healthy adults in combination with a non-invasive brain stimulation paradigm. Anodal and cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation was used to modulate activity of the pre-SMA. Although it has been shown that anodal and cathodal stimulation cause excitation and inhibition of neuronal a...

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Neural underpinnings of the ‘agent brain’: new evidence from transcranial direct current stimulation

Cited by 33 publications

References 34 publications

Bioelectrical brain effects of one's own voice identification in pitch of voice auditory feedback

Bioelectrical brain effects of one's own voice identification in pitch of voice auditory feedback

Physiology of free will

Modulation of the pre‐supplementary motor area reduces the sense of agency (Commentary on Cavazzana et al.)

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