The neural correlates of vitality forms

In everyday life people continuously move, breathe, act, change their facial expression. Movement represents the main demonstration of life and has an important role in conveying the sense of vitality. Important information about others’ behavior is carried out by the dynamics of the observed action (the action style). Action dynamics describes the “how” an action is performed, representing an important aspect that an observer may capture viewing an action performed by others. This new aspect has been defined as “vitality form”, that is the affective/communicative relation between the performing agent and the action recipient (Stern 2010). In the present thesis, using the fMRI technique, the neural correlates of vitality forms have been investigated during action observation, imagination and execution. The results of this thesis shows that, during action observation, the encoding of vitality forms involves the dorso-central sector of the insular cortex. Interestingly, this area is also activated during vitality form planning and execution. Taken together, these results indicate that during social interactions, the dorso-central sector of insula transforms the physical aspects of an observed action in a communicative/affective construct (vitality form). In virtue of this transformation mechanism, the observer is able to understand the others’ internal state. The same mechanism is also involved during vitality form production (i.e., action execution), allowing an individual to communicate his/her affective internal state to others. In conclusion, the main finding of the present thesis is that besides goal and intention, there is another fundamental aspect of action: the style (vitality form).