The Intention & Action group is interested in understanding the cerebral mechanisms supporting the integration of rules and perceptual processes into the sensorimotor machinery.
We study how humans select and plan goal-directed movements designed to change the physical environment (instrumental actions). We also study how we select actions designed to induce desired mental states in other agents (communicative actions). Our work tests the hypothesis that both types of actions are organized and selected according to perceptual and conceptual knowledge, with abstract knowledge influencing sensorimotor processes at the earliest stages of movement planning. Empirically, we address these issues by studying both healthy and pathological human brains, using non-invasive neurophysiological techniques (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Magneto-Encephalography, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation).
Highlights from our recent work on instrumental actions include the finding that planning and perceiving actions rely on a common predictive mechanism focused on the goal state of the action, and grounded on the current physical configuration of the body. We have also shown that patients with Parkinson’s Disease, as well as healthy subjects with a genetic predisposition to develop that disorder, compensate for alterations in this grounding mechanism by using perceptual brain regions to support motor function.
In the domain of communicative actions, we have investigated the neurophysiological mechanisms supporting the creation of novel shared symbols. In contrast to recent models of communication focused on automatic sensorimotor couplings, we have provided empirical evidence for the notion that human communication relies on shared conceptual inferences.