@article{SpringerParkinsonPrinz2013,
  author    = {Springer, Anne and Parkinson, Jim and Prinz, Wolfgang},
  title     = {Action simulation: time course and representational mechanisms},
  series = {FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY},
  volume    = {4},
  journal   = {FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY},
  publisher = {FRONTIERS RESEARCH FOUNDATION},
  address   = {LAUSANNE},
  issn      = {1664-1078},
  doi       = {10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00387},
  pages     = {20},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {The notion of action simulation refers to the ability to re-enact foreign actions (i.e., actions observed in other individuals). Simulating others\’ actions implies a mirroring of their activities, based on one\’s own sensonmotor competencies. Here, we discuss theoretical and experimental approaches to action simulation and the study of its representational underpinnings. One focus of our discussion is on the timing of internal simulation and its relation to the timing of external action, and a paradigm that requires participants to predict the future course of actions that are temporarily occluded from view. We address transitions between perceptual mechanisms (referring to action representation before and after occlusion) and simulation mechanisms (referring to action representation during occlusion). Findings suggest that action simulation runs in real-time; acting on newly created action representations rather than relying on continuous visual extrapolations. A further focus of our discussion pertains to the functional characteristics of the mechanisms involved in predicting other people\’s actions. We propose that two processes are engaged, dynamic updating and static matching, which may draw on both semantic and motor information. In a concluding section, we discuss these findings in the context of broader theoretical issues related to action and event representation, arguing that a detailed functional analysis of action simulation in cognitive, neural, and computational terms may help to further advance our understanding of action cognition and motor control.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{StadlerOttSpringeretal.2012,
  author    = {Stadler, Waltraud and Ott, Derek V. M. and Springer, Anne and Schubotz, Ricarda I. and Sch{\"u}tz-Bosbach, Simone and Prinz, Wolfgang},
  title     = {Repetitive TMS suggests a role of the human dorsal premotor cortex in action prediction},
  series = {Frontiers in human neuroscienc},
  volume    = {6},
  journal   = {Frontiers in human neuroscienc},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation},
  address   = {Lausanne},
  issn      = {1662-5161},
  doi       = {10.3389/fnhum.2012.00020},
  pages     = {11},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {Predicting the actions of other individuals is crucial for our daily interactions. Recent evidence suggests that the prediction of object-directed arm and full-body actions employs the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd). Thus, the neural substrate involved in action control may also be essential for action prediction. Here, we aimed to address this issue and hypothesized that disrupting the PMd impairs action prediction. Using fMRI-guided coil navigation, rTMS (five pulses, 10Hz) was applied over the left PMd and over the vertex (control region) while participants observed everyday actions in video clips that were transiently occluded for 1s. The participants detected manipulations in the time course of occluded actions, which required them to internally predict the actions during occlusion. To differentiate between functional roles that the PMd could play in prediction, rTMS was either delivered at occluder-onset (TMS-early), affecting the initiation of action prediction, or 300 ms later during occlusion(TMS-late), affecting the maintenance of anongoing prediction. TMS-early over the left PMd produced more prediction errors than TMS-early over the vertex. TMS-late had no effect on prediction performance, suggesting that the left PMd might be involved particularly during the initiation of internally guided action prediction but may play a subordinate role in maintaining ongoing prediction. These findings open a new perspective on the role of the left PMd in action prediction which is in line with its functions in action control and in cognitive tasks. In the discussion, there levance of the left PMd for integrating external action parameters with the observer's motor repertoire is emphasized. Overall, the results are in line with the notion that premotor functions are employed in both action control and action observation.},
  language  = {en}
}