HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Torriero, S. Articles by Petrosini, L. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Torriero, S. Articles by Petrosini, L.

The What and How of Observational Learning

¹ IRCCS Fondazione "Santa Lucia", ² University of Palermo, ³ University of Rome Tor Vergata,
⁴ University of Rome "La Sapienza"

Reprint requests should be sent to Sara Torriero, Laboratorio di Neurologia Clinica e Comportamentale, IRCCS Fondazione "Santa Lucia," via Ardeatina 306, 00178 Rome, Italy, or via e-mail: s.torriero{at}libero.it.

Neuroimaging evidence increasingly supports the hypothesis that the same neural structures subserve the execution, imagination, and observation of actions. We used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to investigate the specific roles of cerebellum and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in observational learning of a visuomotor task. Subjects observed an actor detecting a hidden sequence in a matrix and then performed the task detecting either the previously observed sequence or a new one. rTMS applied over the cerebellum before the observational training interfered with performance of the new sequence, whereas rTMS applied over the DLPFC interfered with performance of the previously observed one. When rTMS applied over cerebellar or prefrontal site was delivered after the observational training, no influence was observed on the execution of the task. These results furnish new insights on the neural circuitry involved in the single component of observational learning and allow us to hypothesize that cerebellum and DLPFC interact in planning actions, the former by permitting the acquisition of procedural competencies and the latter by providing flexibility among already acquired solutions.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. S. Cross, D. J. M. Kraemer, A. F. d. C. Hamilton, W. M. Kelley, and S. T. Grafton Sensitivity of the Action Observation Network to Physical and Observational Learning Cereb Cortex, May 30, 2008; (2008) bhn083v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]