Abstract
Brain imaging studies in humans have shown the existence of a shared somatosensory representation in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), putatively involved in understanding others' sensations (Keysers et al., 2010); however, the role of S1 in such a high-level process is still unknown. To ascertain the causal involvement of S1, and its possible hemispheric lateralization, in encoding the affective valence of emotional scenes, depicting, or not, a tactile event, we gave to healthy participants a picture-based affective go/no-go task and low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was chosen as control site. rTMS over the right, but not the left, S1 selectively increased the participants' latencies in the affective go/no-go task, but only when the affective state was conveyed by touch; intriguingly, this interfering effect was associated with the empathic ability to adopt the subjective perspective of others. The left, not the right, DLPFC is also involved in affective go/no-go performance, but regardless of the sight of touch, and independently of empathic abilities. This novel evidence demonstrates the crossmodal role of right S1 in encoding the pleasant and aversive consequences of others' sensations evoked by touch.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 4201-4205 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Journal of Neuroscience |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 27 2013 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)
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Understanding others' feelings : The role of the right primary somatosensory cortex in encoding the affective valence of others' touch. / Bolognini, Nadia; Rossetti, Angela; Convento, Silvia; Vallar, Giuseppe.
In: Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 33, No. 9, 27.02.2013, p. 4201-4205.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding others' feelings
T2 - The role of the right primary somatosensory cortex in encoding the affective valence of others' touch
AU - Bolognini, Nadia
AU - Rossetti, Angela
AU - Convento, Silvia
AU - Vallar, Giuseppe
PY - 2013/2/27
Y1 - 2013/2/27
N2 - Brain imaging studies in humans have shown the existence of a shared somatosensory representation in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), putatively involved in understanding others' sensations (Keysers et al., 2010); however, the role of S1 in such a high-level process is still unknown. To ascertain the causal involvement of S1, and its possible hemispheric lateralization, in encoding the affective valence of emotional scenes, depicting, or not, a tactile event, we gave to healthy participants a picture-based affective go/no-go task and low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was chosen as control site. rTMS over the right, but not the left, S1 selectively increased the participants' latencies in the affective go/no-go task, but only when the affective state was conveyed by touch; intriguingly, this interfering effect was associated with the empathic ability to adopt the subjective perspective of others. The left, not the right, DLPFC is also involved in affective go/no-go performance, but regardless of the sight of touch, and independently of empathic abilities. This novel evidence demonstrates the crossmodal role of right S1 in encoding the pleasant and aversive consequences of others' sensations evoked by touch.
AB - Brain imaging studies in humans have shown the existence of a shared somatosensory representation in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), putatively involved in understanding others' sensations (Keysers et al., 2010); however, the role of S1 in such a high-level process is still unknown. To ascertain the causal involvement of S1, and its possible hemispheric lateralization, in encoding the affective valence of emotional scenes, depicting, or not, a tactile event, we gave to healthy participants a picture-based affective go/no-go task and low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was chosen as control site. rTMS over the right, but not the left, S1 selectively increased the participants' latencies in the affective go/no-go task, but only when the affective state was conveyed by touch; intriguingly, this interfering effect was associated with the empathic ability to adopt the subjective perspective of others. The left, not the right, DLPFC is also involved in affective go/no-go performance, but regardless of the sight of touch, and independently of empathic abilities. This novel evidence demonstrates the crossmodal role of right S1 in encoding the pleasant and aversive consequences of others' sensations evoked by touch.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84874362127&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4498-12.2013
DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4498-12.2013
M3 - Article
C2 - 23447627
AN - SCOPUS:84874362127
VL - 33
SP - 4201
EP - 4205
JO - Journal of Neuroscience
JF - Journal of Neuroscience
SN - 0270-6474
IS - 9
ER -