Anticipating action effects with different attention foci is reflected in brain activation.

Anticipation is informed by experience. Having focused on action effects in the past will lead to differences when the focus is now on the effector. Boules-type throwing movements were presented as point-light displays of shoulder and arm-markers.

Parietal and premotor cortices: activation reflects imitation accuracy during observation, delayed imitation and concurrent imitation.

This study investigated whether activation within areas belonging to the action observation and imitation network reveals a linear relation to the subsequent accuracy of imitating a bimanual rhythmic movement measured via a motion capturing system. 20 participants were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) when asked to imitate observed bimanual movements either concurrently versus with a delay (2s) or simply to observe the movements without imitation. Results showed that action observation relates to activation within classic mirror-related areas.

Major depressive disorder alters perception of emotional body movements.

Much recent research has shown an association between mood disorders and an altered emotion perception. However, these studies were conducted mainly with stimuli such as faces. This is the first study to examine possible differences in how people with major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy controls perceive emotions expressed via body movements.

Confidence in emotion perception in point-light displays varies with the ability to perceive own emotions.

One central issue in social cognitive neuroscience is that perceiving emotions in others relates to activating the same emotion in oneself. In this study we sought to examine how the ability to perceive own emotions assessed with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale related to both the ability to perceive emotions depicted in point-light displays and the confidence in these perceptions. Participants observed video scenes of human interactions, rated the depicted valence, and judged their confidence in this rating.

TEM and SEM observations on the extracellular matrix of the developing murine centra.

TEM and SEM application demonstrated that the shift from chondrification to ossification in the developing murine centra from day 15 to day 18 of gestational age is marked by typical structural variations of the extracellular matrix (ECM). During day 15 GA, typical matrix vesicles with crystalline contents appeared, as followed by single and fusing pleomorphic aggregates of a more regular crystalline structure. During days 17/18 GA, these structures disappeared, and the ECM now exhibited a network of collagen fibrils that had been less conspicuous before.