26 results on '"Conson, Massimiliano"'
Search Results
2. The Influence of Systemizing, Empathizing and Autistic Traits on Visuospatial Abilities
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Conson, Massimiliano, Baiano, Chiara, Zappullo, Isa, Positano, Monica, Raimo, Gennaro, Finelli, Carmela, Vela, Maria, Cecere, Roberta, Senese, Vincenzo Paolo, Howlett, Robert J., Series Editor, Jain, Lakhmi C., Series Editor, Esposito, Anna, editor, Faundez-Zanuy, Marcos, editor, Morabito, Francesco Carlo, editor, and Pasero, Eros, editor
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- 2021
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3. Spatial and egocentric mental rotation in patients with cervical dystonia
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Conson, Massimiliano, Santangelo, Gabriella, Impallomeni, Rita, Silvestre, Francesco, Peluso, Silvio, and Esposito, Marcello
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- 2020
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4. The effects of autistic traits and academic degree on visuospatial abilities
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Conson, Massimiliano, Senese, Vincenzo Paolo, Baiano, Chiara, Zappullo, Isa, Warrier, Varun, UNICAMPSY17 Group, Salzano, Sara, Positano, Monica, Baron-Cohen, Simon, Conson, Massimiliano [0000-0002-4776-306X], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
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Male ,Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ,Sex Characteristics ,Systemizing Quotient ,Rotation ,Science ,Mental rotation ,Disembedding figures ,Empathy Quotient ,Young Adult ,Engineering ,FOS: Mathematics ,Imagination ,Visual Perception ,Educational Status ,Humans ,Female ,Natural Science Disciplines ,Autistic Disorder ,Empathy ,Students ,Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) ,Mathematics ,Psychomotor Performance ,Spatial Navigation - Abstract
In the present study, we were interested to investigate how autistic traits (including systemizing and empathy) and academic degree influence individuals' visuospatial abilities. To this end, 352 university students completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), the Empathy Quotient, the Systemizing Quotient (SQ) and visuospatial tests measuring figure disembedding and mental rotation of two-dimensional figures. Engineering-design students (architecture and engineering) were the most accurate in disembedding and mentally rotating figures, followed by students of physical sciences (computer science, chemistry, physics, etc.) and fact-based humanities (languages, classics, law); biological (psychology and neuroscience, etc.) and systems-based social scientists (economics and commerce) were the least accurate. Engineering-design students also showed higher SQ scores with respect to the other four academic degree subjects, with students of biological sciences showing lower SQ scores. Importantly, results from a path analysis revealed that SQ (but not AQ) exerted an indirect effect on figure disembedding and mental rotations through the influence of the academic degree. Thus, the present findings reveal shady differences in systemizing degree and visuospatial performance within systemizing-based degree subjects. Implications for education are discussed.
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- 2020
5. Developmental changes of the biomechanical effect in motor imagery
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Conson, Massimiliano, Mazzarella, Elisabetta, and Trojano, Luigi
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- 2013
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6. Action observation improves motor imagery: specific interactions between simulative processes
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Conson, Massimiliano, Sarà, Marco, Pistoia, Francesca, and Trojano, Luigi
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- 2009
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7. The effect of autistic traits on disembedding and mental rotation in neurotypical women and men.
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Conson, Massimiliano, Senese, Vincenzo Paolo, Zappullo, Isa, Baiano, Chiara, Warrier, Varun, The LabNPEE Group, Barone, Angelo, Cecere, Roberta, Cisone, Andrea, Cerrone, Roberta, Crocetto, Ylenia, Dell'Aversana, Lea, Curti, Alessia Delle, Fontana, Alessandro, Fusotto, Concetta, Mautone, Giusi, Montuori, Generosa, Positano, Monica, Raimo, Gennaro, and Raiola, Annamaria
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MENTAL rotation , *NEURODIVERSITY , *AUTISTIC people , *COGNITIVE styles , *SOCIAL skills - Abstract
Recent data has revealed dissociations between social and non-social skills in both autistic and neurotypical populations. In the present study, we investigated whether specific visuospatial abilities, such as figure disembedding and mental rotation, are differently related to social and non-social autistic traits, in neurotypical women and men. University students (N = 426) completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), figure disembedding and mental rotation of two-dimensional figures tasks. AQ social skills (AQ-social) and attention-to-details (AQ-attention) subscales were used as measures of social and non-social autistic traits, respectively. Mental rotation was affected by a significant interaction between sex, social and non-social traits. When non-social traits were above the mean (+ 1 SD), no sex differences in mental rotation were found. Instead, below this value, sex differences depended on the social traits, with men on average outperforming women at middle-to-high social traits, and with a comparable performance, and with women on average outperforming men, at lower social traits. A small positive correlation between figure disembedding and social traits was observed in the overall sample. These results are interpreted in terms of the hyper-systemizing theory of autism and contribute to the evidence of individual differences in the cognitive style of autistic people and neurotypical people with autistic traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2022
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8. "Building blocks and drawing figures is not the same": Neuropsychological bases of block design and Rey figure drawing in typically developing children.
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Zappullo, Isa, Conson, Massimiliano, Zoccolotti, Pierluigi, Trojano, Luigi, and Senese, Vincenzo Paolo
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BLOCK designs , *MENTAL rotation , *PATH analysis (Statistics) , *EXECUTIVE function , *AGE groups - Abstract
Several studies investigated the neuropsychological bases of spatial construction in developmental samples. However, no study directly tested whether the pattern of the neuropsychological processes implied in spatial construction changed depending on whether a block building or a figure drawing task is considered. Here, we used the path analysis to test the direct and indirect effects of verbal abilities (naming and verbal knowledge), executive functions, figure disembedding and mental rotation on two classical spatial construction tasks: the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) and the Block Design (BD). We recruited a sample of 186 typically developing children (age range: 7–12 years). Results showed that ROCF copying was directly influenced by age and figure disembedding, and it was indirectly affected by executive functions, naming and verbal knowledge, whereas BD was influenced in a direct way by verbal knowledge, figure disembedding and mental rotation and indirectly affected by executive functions and naming skills. Moreover, the results showed a full measurement invariance of the path model between sexes, whereas only partial invariance was found for age. Thus, we tested the model in two age groups (age ranges: 7–9.5 and 9.6–12 years) and found that the relationships between the variables of the model changed across development. Although other variables might be relevant to spatial construction, the present findings demonstrate different neuropsychological bases of drawing figures and building blocks in typically developing children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2021
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9. Identifying neuropsychological predictors of drawing skills in elementary school children.
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Senese, Vincenzo Paolo, Zappullo, Isa, Baiano, Chiara, Zoccolotti, Pierluigi, Monaco, Marianna, and Conson, Massimiliano
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SCHOOL children ,VISUAL perception ,SPATIAL ability ,PATH analysis (Statistics) ,MENTAL rotation - Abstract
Much evidence indicates that drawing is related to different neuropsychological abilities in children. However, a comprehensive cognitive model of drawing in children is still lacking. Here, we conducted a study on the neuropsychological predictors of drawing in a sample of 142 typically developing elementary school children (M age = 8.8 years; SD = 1.1). Based on a path analysis, we examined the contribution of visual perception (matching geometrical figures), complex spatial abilities (e.g., complex figures identification and mental rotation), visual attention, working memory, verbal and visual-motor skills, as well as of gender, age and socio-economic status, to copying the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF). Results showed that ROCF copying was influenced in a specific and additive way by visual perception, visual-motor coordination, and verbal abilities as well as age, while it was indirectly related to visual attention, working memory, and to complex spatial abilities. These findings provide the grounds for identifying the neuropsychological bases of drawing in elementary school children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2020
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10. 'Put Myself Into Your Place': Embodied Simulation and Perspective Taking in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
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Conson, Massimiliano, Mazzarella, Elisabetta, Esposito, Dalila, Grossi, Dario, Marino, Nicoletta, Massagli, Angelo, and Frolli, Alessandro
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Embodied cognition theories hold that cognitive processes are grounded in bodily states. Embodied processes in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have classically been investigated in studies on imitation. Several observations suggested that unlike typical individuals who are able of copying the model's actions from the model's position, individuals with ASD tend to reenact the model's actions from their own egocentric perspective. Here, we performed two behavioral experiments to directly test the ability of ASD individuals to adopt another person's point of view. In Experiment 1, participants had to explicitly judge the left/right location of a target object in a scene from their own or the actor's point of view (visual perspective taking task). In Experiment 2, participants had to perform left/right judgments on front-facing or back-facing human body images (own body transformation task). Both tasks can be solved by mentally simulating one's own body motion to imagine oneself transforming into the position of another person (embodied simulation strategy), or by resorting to visual/spatial processes, such as mental object rotation (nonembodied strategy). Results of both experiments showed that individual with ASD solved the tasks mainly relying on a nonembodied strategy, whereas typical controls adopted an embodied strategy. Moreover, in the visual perspective taking task ASD participants had more difficulties than controls in inhibiting other-perspective when directed to keep one's own point of view. These findings suggested that, in social cognitive tasks, individuals with ASD do not resort to embodied simulation and have difficulties in cognitive control over self- and other-perspective. Autism Res 2015, 8: 454-466. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2015
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11. The role of embodied simulation in mental transformation of whole-body images: Evidence from Parkinson’s disease.
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Conson, Massimiliano, Trojano, Luigi, Vitale, Carmine, Mazzarella, Elisabetta, Allocca, Roberto, Barone, Paolo, Grossi, Dario, and Santangelo, Gabriella
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SIMULATION methods & models , *IMAGE analysis , *PARKINSON'S disease , *HUMAN mechanics , *MOTOR ability , *PSYCHOLOGY of movement - Abstract
Highlights: [•] Contrasting data are available on the role of embodied simulation in whole body processing. [•] Parkinson’s disease patients performed two own body and a letter rotation task. [•] Patients with left- or right-most affected side were enrolled for the study. [•] Patients failed in judging the side of back-facing body matching their most affected side. [•] Motor and non-motor transformations can be distinguished in whole body processing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
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- 2014
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12. Self-touch affects motor imagery: a study on posture interference effect.
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Conson, Massimiliano, Mazzarella, Elisabetta, and Trojano, Luigi
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MENTAL imagery , *COGNITIVE interference , *MENTAL rotation , *POSTURE , *MOTOR ability , *PROPRIOCEPTION , *BODY movement , *NEUROPHYSIOLOGY - Abstract
Several studies showed that mental rotation of body parts is interfered with by manipulation of the subjects' posture. However, the experimental manipulations in such studies, e.g., to hold one arm flexed on one's own chest, activated not only proprioceptive but also self-tactile information. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the combination of self-touch and proprioception is more effective than proprioception alone in interfering with motor imagery. In Experiment 1 right- and left-handers were required to perform the hand laterality task, while holding one arm (right or left) flexed with the hand in direct contact with their chest (self-touch condition, STC) or with the hand placed on a wooden smooth surface in correspondence with their chest (no self-touch condition, NoSTC); in a third neutral condition, subjects kept both arms extended (neutral posture condition, NPC). Right-handers were slower when judging hand laterality in STC with respect to NoSTC and NPC, particularly when the sensory manipulation involved their dominant arm. No posture-related effect was observed in left-handers. In Experiment 2, by applying the same sensory manipulations as above to both arms, we verified that previous results were not due to a conflict between perceived position of the two hands. These data highlighted a complex interaction between body schema and motor imagery, and underlined the role of hand dominance in shaping such interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2011
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13. Selective motor imagery defect in patients with locked-in syndrome
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Conson, Massimiliano, Sacco, Simona, Sarà, Marco, Pistoia, Francesca, Grossi, Dario, and Trojano, Luigi
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EFFERENT pathways , *MENTAL rotation , *SPATIAL ability , *CENTRAL nervous system - Abstract
Abstract: Recent studies indicate that motor imagery is subserved by activation of motor information. However, at present it is not clear whether the sparing of motor efferent pathways is necessary to perform a motor imagery task. To clarify this issue, we required patients with a selective, severe de-efferentation (locked-in syndrome, LIS) to mentally manipulate hands and three-dimensional objects. Compared with normal controls, LIS patients showed a profound impairment on a modified version of the hand-laterality task and a normal performance on mental rotation of abstract items. Moreover, LIS patients did not present visuomotor compatibility effects between anatomical side of hands and spatial location of stimuli on the computer screen. Such findings confirmed that the motor system is involved in mental simulation of action but not in mental manipulation of visual images. To explain LIS patients’ inability in manipulating hand representations, we suggested that the pontine lesion, both determined a complete de-efferentation, and affected a component of the motor system, which is crucial for mental representation of body parts, probably the neural connections between parietal lobes and cerebellum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
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- 2008
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14. The two sides of the mental clock: The Imaginal Hemispatial Effect in the healthy brain
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Conson, Massimiliano, Cinque, Fausta, and Trojano, Luigi
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MENTAL rotation , *CEREBRAL dominance , *COGNITION , *THOUGHT & thinking - Abstract
Abstract: When subjects are asked to compare the mental images of two analog clocks telling different times (the mental clock test), they are faster to process angles formed by hands located in the right than in the left half of the dial. In the present paper, we demonstrate that this Imaginal HemiSpatial Effect (IHSE) can be also observed in two modified versions of the mental clock test: in Experiment 1 subjects had to imagine the position occupied by two numbers within a clock face and to judge if the subtended angle was smaller or greater than 90°, while in Experiment 2 subjects were asked to match two imagined positions on a clock face with two visually presented locations. The finding of the IHSE in these tasks suggested that it is a genuine phenomenon related to spatial imagery tasks, and is consistent with recent neuroimaging evidence that the left parietal lobe is mainly involved in the generation of spatial mental images. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
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- 2008
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15. "Mind the thumb": Judging hand laterality is anchored on the thumb position.
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Conson, Massimiliano, Di Rosa, Alessandro, Polito, Francesco, Zappullo, Isa, Baiano, Chiara, and Trojano, Luigi
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THUMB , *LATERAL dominance , *MOTOR ability , *MOTOR imagery (Cognition) , *MENTAL rotation - Abstract
People can decide whether the image of a hand represents a left or a right one. The laterality judgment mainly implies mentally imaging own hand movement (motor simulation) if the stimulus represents a palm, or analysing visual cues, as hand asymmetry, if the stimulus reproduces a dorsum. Here, by capitalizing on evidence underscoring the key role of thumb-palm complex in motor dexterity of human hand, we hypothesise that activation of motor or visual processes when judging hand laterality is due to the different relevance of palm-thumb and dorsum-thumb combinations to hand action. To test this thumb-anchored strategy, in a laterality judgment experiment, we concurrently manipulated the thumb position (flexed or extended) with respect to palm and dorsum, and the human likeness of the hand shape (influencing the salience of the thumb with respect to the hand shape). The main results demonstrated that viewing the flexed thumb from palm or dorsum elicited motor simulation, while viewing the extended thumb activated motor simulation when combined with palm but not dorsum. The present data highlight the pivotal role of the thumb in hand laterality judgments, consistent with its key role in human in-hand manipulation. • We tested the role of thumb in judging hand laterality. • We manipulated the thumb position within palm and dorsum, and morphed the hand shape. • Flexed thumb elicited motor simulation when judging both palm and dorsum. • Extended thumb activated motor simulation when combined with palm but not dorsum. • The thumb-related strategy was quite independent from human likeness of hand shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2021
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16. Sex differences in implicit motor imagery: Evidence from the hand laterality task.
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Conson, Massimiliano, De Bellis, Francesco, Baiano, Chiara, Zappullo, Isa, Raimo, Gennaro, Finelli, Carmela, Ruggiero, Ines, Positano, Monica, and Trojano, Luigi
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MOTOR imagery (Cognition) , *LATERAL dominance , *WOMEN judges , *BODY image , *HANDEDNESS - Abstract
Behavioural evidence suggest that males outperform females in mentally transforming objects, whereas whether sex differences exist in mentally transforming body part images (implicit motor imagery) is an open issue. The aim of the present study was to fill this gap testing performance of 360 healthy participants on a classical behavioural measure of implicit motor imagery: the hand laterality task. Participants had to judge handedness of hand images portrayed from back and palm and presented in different spatial orientations. Two main findings emerged. First, males were significantly faster than females in judging hands portrayed from palm, in particular left palms at 0°, 90° and 180° orientation, whereas females were faster than males in judging backs, in particular left and right backs at 0° and the left back at 90°. Second, both males and females showed a significant biomechanical effect (faster responses for hands portrayed in medial vs. lateral positions) while judging palms, albeit the effect was stronger in males, whereas only females showed a significant biomechanical effect when judging backs. Thus, males and females seem to differently exploit motor simulation processes during mental transformation of hand images depending on a specific familiarity with body parts portrayed from different views. This result might be taken into account when tailoring motor imagery tasks in applied contexts, as motor rehabilitation. • Sex differences in implicit motor imagery were tested by "hand laterality task". • A large sample was recruited for the study (n = 360). • Males were faster than females in judging hands portrayed from palm. • Females were faster than males in judging backs. • Sex differences relate to visual and motor aspects of implicit motor imagery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2020
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17. The Influence of Systemizing, Empathizing and Autistic Traits on Visuospatial Abilities
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Roberta Cecere, Gennaro Raimo, Maria Vela, Monica Positano, Isa Zappullo, Chiara Baiano, Massimiliano Conson, Carmela Finelli, Vincenzo Paolo Senese, Anna Esposito, Marcos Faundez-Zanuy, Francesco Carlo Morabito, Eros Pasero, Conson, Massimiliano, Baiano, Chiara, Zappullo, Isa, Positano, Monica, Raimo, Gennaro, Finelli, Carmela, Vela, Maria, Cecere, Roberta, and Senese, Vincenzo Paolo
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education.field_of_study ,05 social sciences ,Population ,Empathy quotient ,medicine.disease ,Mental rotation ,Developmental psychology ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Autistic traits ,Social skills ,medicine ,Autism ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Attention switching ,education ,Psychology ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Neurotypical ,050104 developmental & child psychology - Abstract
Much evidence indicates that neurotypical individuals with high level of autistic traits show performances comparable to those of autistic individuals in visuospatial tasks, such as the embedded figure test and the block design task. On the contrary, the role of autistic-like traits on mental rotation abilities in neurotypical population still remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate in a sample of 315 University students (147 female and 168 male) the influence autistic-related traits (including systemizing and empathizing) on different visuospatial skills, as hidden figure identification and mental rotations, also taking into account the influence of participants’ sex. Results showed significant effect of sex on specific behavioural traits associated with autism, as attention switching and imagination, while no sex differences were found in visuospatial skills. More relevant, results showed that performance on figure disembedding was more related to autism-related social skills while performance on mental rotation was more related to systemizing.
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- 2020
18. Spatial and egocentric mental rotation in patients with cervical dystonia
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Gabriella Santangelo, Francesco Silvestre, Silvio Peluso, Marcello Esposito, Rita Impallomeni, Massimiliano Conson, Conson, Massimiliano, Santangelo, Gabriella, Impallomeni, Rita, Silvestre, Francesco, Peluso, Silvio, and Esposito, Marcello
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Neurology ,Dysfunctional family ,Rotation ,Mental rotation ,Functional Laterality ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Physical medicine and rehabilitation ,Orientation ,medicine ,Reaction Time ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Cervical dystonia ,Torticollis ,Dystonia ,Spatial abilities ,Cognition ,medicine.disease ,Space Perception ,Laterality ,Imagination ,Neurology (clinical) ,Psychology ,Mental transformation ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Mental rotation has attracted the interest of cognitive research on dystonia, but at the moment, contrasting data are available on whether this complex cognitive ability is impaired in the disorder. Here, we assessed spatial and egocentric mental rotation in patients with cervical dystonia (CD). Patients with CD and healthy controls were required to perform a letter rotation task (spatial mental rotation) and to judge laterality of front-facing and back-facing human images (egocentric mental rotation). CD patients were selectively impaired on letter rotation, whereas they did not differ from controls when judging laterality of both front-facing and back-facing bodies. These findings support the view according to which neural circuits involved in spatial processing are dysfunctional in CD.
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- 2020
19. Developmental changes of the biomechanical effect in motor imagery
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Luigi Trojano, Elisabetta Mazzarella, Massimiliano Conson, Conson, Massimiliano, Mazzarella, E, and Trojano, Luigi
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Male ,Adolescent ,Rotation ,Movement ,Early adolescence ,Motor Activity ,Affect (psychology) ,Mental rotation ,Developmental psychology ,Cognition ,Motor imagery ,Orientation ,Reaction Time ,Cognitive development ,Humans ,Child ,Hand laterality ,General Neuroscience ,Adolescent Development ,Late adolescence ,Biomechanical Phenomena ,Imagination ,Early adolescents ,Female ,Psychology ,Psychomotor Performance ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Motor imagery has been investigated in childhood and early adolescence, but not across adolescence stages; moreover, available evidence did not clarify whether the involvement of motor information in mental rotation of body parts becomes stronger or weaker during development. In the present study, we employed the hand laterality task to assess motor imagery in ninety-seven typically developing adolescents divided into three age groups (i.e., 11-12, 14-15, and 17-18 years); mental rotation of objects and letters were also assessed. As a specific marker of the motor involvement in mental rotation of body parts, we assessed the so-called biomechanical effect, that is, the advantage for judging hand pictures showing physically comfortable positions with respect to hand pictures showing physically impossible or awkward positions. Results demonstrated that the biomechanical effect did not significantly affect early adolescents' performance, whereas it became significant in 14- to 15-year-old participants and even more stronger in 17- to 18-year-old participants; this pattern did not depend on an increase in processing speed to mentally rotate both corporeal and non-corporeal (objects and letters) stimuli. The present findings demonstrated that: (1) motor imagery undergoes a continuous and progressive refinement throughout adolescence, and (2) full exploitation of motor information to mentally transform corporeal stimuli can be attained in late adolescence only.
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- 2013
20. Body Constraints on Motor Simulation in Autism Spectrum Disorders
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Ilaria Improta, Francesco De Bellis, Elisabetta Mazzarella, Massimiliano Conson, Antonia F. de C. Hamilton, Domenico Errico, Alessandro Frolli, Luigi Trojano, Conson, Massimiliano, Hamilton, Antonia, De Bellis, Francesco, Errico, Domenico, Improta, Ilaria, Mazzarella, Elisabetta, Trojano, Luigi, and Frolli, Alessandro
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Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Joint attention ,Adolescent ,Autism Spectrum Disorder ,Posture ,Motor Activity ,Development ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,ASD ,050105 experimental psychology ,Mental rotation ,Functional Laterality ,03 medical and health sciences ,Young Adult ,0302 clinical medicine ,Motor imagery ,Physical medicine and rehabilitation ,mental disorders ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,medicine ,Reaction Time ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Child ,Motor skill ,Psychomotor learning ,Motor simulation ,05 social sciences ,medicine.disease ,Hand ,Proprioception ,Autism spectrum disorder ,Laterality ,Autism ,Female ,Psychology ,Mental transformation ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Photic Stimulation ,Psychomotor Performance ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Developmental data suggested that mental simulation skills become progressively dissociated from overt motor activity across development. Thus, efficient simulation is rather independent from current sensorimotor information. Here, we tested the impact of bodily (sensorimotor) information on simulation skills of adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Typically-developing (TD) and ASD participants judged laterality of hand images while keeping one arm flexed on chest or while holding both arms extended. Both groups were able to mentally simulate actions, but this ability was constrained by body posture more in ASD than in TD adolescents. The strong impact of actual body information on motor simulation implies that simulative skills are not fully effective in ASD individuals.
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- 2016
21. Action observation improves motor imagery: specific interactions between simulative processes
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Marco Sarà, Francesca Pistoia, Luigi Trojano, Massimiliano Conson, Conson, Massimiliano, Sarà, M, Pistoia, F, and Trojano, Luigi
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Adult ,Male ,Rotation ,Movement ,Stimulus specificity ,Motion Perception ,Neuropsychological Tests ,Stimulus (physiology) ,Functional Laterality ,Mental rotation ,Executive Function ,Young Adult ,Motor imagery ,Motor system ,Humans ,Cerebral Cortex ,Communication ,Hand laterality ,Hand Strength ,business.industry ,General Neuroscience ,Association Learning ,Hand ,Imitative Behavior ,Action observation ,Imagination ,Facilitation ,Female ,Psychology ,business ,Psychomotor Performance ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
In the present study, we demonstrated that observation of hand rotation had specific facilitation effects on a classical motor imagery task, the hand-laterality judgement. In Experiment 1, we found that action observation improved subjects' performance on the hand laterality but not on the letter rotation task (stimulus specificity). In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that this facilitation was not due to mere observation of a moving hand, because it was triggered by observation of manual rotation but not of manual prehension movements (motion specificity). In Experiment 3, this stimulus- and motion-specific effect was found to be right hand-specific, compatible with left-hemispheric specialization in motor imagery but not in action observation. These data provided direct support to the idea that different simulation states, such as action observation and motor imagery, share some common mechanisms but also show specific functional differences.
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- 2009
22. Lateralization of egocentric and allocentric spatial processing after parietal brain lesions
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Tina Iachini, Massimiliano Conson, Gennaro Ruggiero, Luigi Trojano, Iachini, Santa, Ruggiero, Gennaro, Conson, Massimiliano, and Trojano, Luigi
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Adult ,Male ,Rotation ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Spatial ability ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Models, Psychological ,Neuropsychological Tests ,Functional Laterality ,Lateralization of brain function ,Mental rotation ,Judgment ,Cognition ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,Memory ,Parietal Lobe ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,medicine ,Humans ,Learning ,Neuropsychological assessment ,Aged ,Aged, 80 and over ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Parietal lobe ,Spatial cognition ,Middle Aged ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Brain Injuries ,Space Perception ,Laterality ,Imagination ,Psychology ,Neuroscience ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to verify whether left and right parietal brain lesions may selectively impair egocentric and allocentric processing of spatial information in near/far spaces. Two Right-Brain-Damaged (RBD), 2 Left-Brain-Damaged (LBD) patients (not affected by neglect or language disturbances) and eight normal controls were submitted to the Ego-Allo Task requiring distance judgments computed according to egocentric or allocentric frames of reference in near/far spaces. Subjects also completed a general neuropsychological assessment and the following visuospatial tasks: reproduction of the Rey-Osterreith figure, line length judgement, point position identification, mental rotation, mental construction, line length memory, line length inference, Corsi block-tapping task. LBD patients presented difficulties in both egocentric and allocentric processing, whereas RBD patients dropped in egocentric but not in allocentric judgements, and in near but not far space. Further, RBD patients dropped in perceptually comparing linear distances, whereas LBD patients failed in memory for distances. The overall pattern of results suggests that the right hemisphere is specialized in processing metric information according to egocentric frames of reference. The data are interpreted according to a theoretical model that highlights the close link between egocentric processing and perceptual control of action.
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- 2009
23. Selective motor imagery defect in patients with locked-in syndrome
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Dario Grossi, Simona Sacco, Marco Sarà, Massimiliano Conson, Francesca Pistoia, Luigi Trojano, Conson, Massimiliano, Sacco, S, Sarà, M, Pistoia, F, Grossi, Dario, and Trojano, Luigi
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Rotation ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Neuropsychological Tests ,Quadriplegia ,Functional Laterality ,Mental rotation ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Motor imagery ,Orientation ,Pons ,Cerebellum ,Motor system ,medicine ,Humans ,Locked-in syndrome Mental rotation ,Aged ,Motor imagery Motor system ,Cognitive disorder ,Cognition ,Middle Aged ,Hand ,medicine.disease ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,Pattern Recognition, Visual ,Imagination ,Mental representation ,Female ,Locked-in syndrome ,Cognition Disorders ,Psychology ,Neuroscience ,Photic Stimulation ,Psychomotor Performance ,Mental image - Abstract
Recent studies indicate that motor imagery is subserved by activation of motor information. However, at present it is not clear whether the sparing of motor efferent pathways is necessary to perform a motor imagery task. To clarify this issue, we required patients with a selective, severe de-efferentation (locked-in syndrome, LIS) to mentally manipulate hands and three-dimensional objects. Compared with normal controls, LIS patients showed a profound impairment on a modified version of the hand-laterality task and a normal performance on mental rotation of abstract items. Moreover, LIS patients did not present visuomotor compatibility effects between anatomical side of hands and spatial location of stimuli on the computer screen. Such findings confirmed that the motor system is involved in mental simulation of action but not in mental manipulation of visual images. To explain LIS patients' inability in manipulating hand representations, we suggested that the pontine lesion, both determined a complete de-efferentation, and affected a component of the motor system, which is crucial for mental representation of body parts, probably the neural connections between parietal lobes and cerebellum.
- Published
- 2008
24. The role of embodied simulation in mental transformation of whole-body images: Evidence from Parkinson's disease
- Author
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Gabriella Santangelo, Massimiliano Conson, Elisabetta Mazzarella, Paolo Barone, Carmine Vitale, Roberto Allocca, Dario Grossi, Luigi Trojano, Conson, Massimiliano, Trojano, Luigi, Vitale, C, Mazzarella, E, Allocca, R, Barone, P, Grossi, Dario, and Santangelo, Gabriella
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Parkinson's disease ,Rotation ,Action simulation ,Embodied cognition ,Mental rotation ,Mental transformation ,Motor imagery ,Aged ,Body Image ,Confusion ,Discrimination (Psychology) ,Female ,Functional Laterality ,Humans ,Imagination ,Middle Aged ,Orientation ,Parkinson Disease ,Pattern Recognition, Visual ,Problem Solving ,Reference Values ,Orthopedics and Sports Medicine ,Biophysics ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Pattern Recognition ,Discrimination, Psychological ,Orientation (mental) ,medicine ,Parkinson’s disease ,General Medicine ,medicine.disease ,Action (philosophy) ,Psychology ,Whole body ,Visual ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
It has been repeatedly demonstrated that mentally performing an action and mentally transforming body-parts entail simulation of one's own body movements, consistent with predictions of embodied cognition theories. However, the involvement of embodied simulation in mental transformation of whole-body images is still disputed. Here, we assessed own body transformation in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with symptoms most affecting the left or the right body side. PD patients were required to perform left-right judgments on front-facing or back-facing human figures, and a letter rotation task. Results demonstrated that PD patients were selectively impaired in judging the side of back-facing human figures corresponding to their own most affected side, but performed as well as healthy subjects on mental transformation of front-facing bodies and on letter rotation. These findings demonstrate a parallel impairment between motor and mental simulation mechanisms in PD patients, thus highlighting the specific contribution of embodied cognition to mental transformation of whole-body images.
- Published
- 2014
25. Self-touch affects motor imagery: a study on posture interference effect
- Author
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Massimiliano Conson, Elisabetta Mazzarella, Luigi Trojano, Conson, Massimiliano, Mazzarella, E, and Trojano, Luigi
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Movement ,Posture ,Perceptual Masking ,Sensory system ,Functional Laterality ,Mental rotation ,Young Adult ,Motor imagery ,Physical medicine and rehabilitation ,Feedback, Sensory ,Body Image ,medicine ,Humans ,Communication ,Proprioception ,business.industry ,General Neuroscience ,Neutral spine ,Touch Perception ,Body schema ,Arm ,Imagination ,Female ,business ,Psychology ,Psychomotor Performance - Abstract
Several studies showed that mental rotation of body parts is interfered with by manipulation of the subjects' posture. However, the experimental manipulations in such studies, e.g., to hold one arm flexed on one's own chest, activated not only proprioceptive but also self-tactile information. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the combination of self-touch and proprioception is more effective than proprioception alone in interfering with motor imagery. In Experiment 1 right- and left-handers were required to perform the hand laterality task, while holding one arm (right or left) flexed with the hand in direct contact with their chest (self-touch condition, STC) or with the hand placed on a wooden smooth surface in correspondence with their chest (no self-touch condition, NoSTC); in a third neutral condition, subjects kept both arms extended (neutral posture condition, NPC). Right-handers were slower when judging hand laterality in STC with respect to NoSTC and NPC, particularly when the sensory manipulation involved their dominant arm. No posture-related effect was observed in left-handers. In Experiment 2, by applying the same sensory manipulations as above to both arms, we verified that previous results were not due to a conflict between perceived position of the two hands. These data highlighted a complex interaction between body schema and motor imagery, and underlined the role of hand dominance in shaping such interaction.
- Published
- 2011
26. Motor Imagery in Asperger Syndrome: Testing Action Simulation by the Hand Laterality Task
- Author
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Nellantonio Aprea, Luigi Trojano, Giovanna Gison, Massimiliano Conson, Elisabetta Mazzarella, Dario Grossi, Nicoletta Marino, Dalila Esposito, Angelo Massagli, Alessandro Frolli, Conson, Massimiliano, Mazzarella, E, Frolli, A, Esposito, D, Marino, N, Trojano, Luigi, Massagli, A, Gison, G, Aprea, N, and Grossi, Dario
- Subjects
Male ,Adolescent ,Rotation ,media_common.quotation_subject ,lcsh:Medicine ,Motor Activity ,Biology ,Social and Behavioral Sciences ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,Functional Laterality ,Mental rotation ,Cognition ,Motor imagery ,Neuropsychology ,Psychophysics ,Human Performance ,medicine ,Humans ,Psychology ,Asperger Syndrome ,lcsh:Science ,media_common ,Behavior ,Multidisciplinary ,lcsh:R ,Cognitive Psychology ,Experimental Psychology ,Hand ,medicine.disease ,Clinical Psychology ,Mental Health ,Action (philosophy) ,Asperger syndrome ,Autism spectrum disorder ,Developmental Psychology ,Imagination ,Medicine ,Autism ,lcsh:Q ,Female ,Sensory Perception ,Imitation ,Photic Stimulation ,Psychomotor Performance ,Research Article ,Neuroscience ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Asperger syndrome (AS) is a neurodevelopmental condition within the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) characterized by specific difficulties in social interaction, communication and behavioural control. In recent years, it has been suggested that ASD is related to a dysfunction of action simulation processes, but studies employing imitation or action observation tasks provided mixed results. Here, we addressed action simulation processes in adolescents with AS by means of a motor imagery task, the classical hand laterality task (to decide whether a rotated hand image is left or right); mental rotation of letters was also evaluated. As a specific marker of action simulation in hand rotation, we assessed the so-called biomechanical effect, that is the advantage for judging hand pictures showing physically comfortable versus physically awkward positions. We found the biomechanical effect in typically-developing participants but not in participants with AS. Overall performance on both hand laterality and letter rotation tasks, instead, did not differ in the two groups. These findings demonstrated a specific alteration of motor imagery skills in AS. We suggest that impaired mental simulation and imitation of goal-less movements in ASD could be related to shared cognitive mechanisms.
- Published
- 2013
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