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Acting in a social environment requires predicting other people’s actions and their outcomes. This can be done based on contextual and movement cues. Here, we focused on the latter and explored the neurophysiology of action prediction processes when they are only based on postural information. We investigated whether the same brain regions previously reported by studies requiring action prediction during the observation of complex everyday-life or sport actions1,2 are recruited when participants have to predict the conclusion of overlearned simple actions, like grasping and pointing. We performed an event-related functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) experiment requiring 32 participants (17 females, age-range 19-27) to observe implied-motion pictures showing mid-flight grasping or pointing actions performed towards a cube-shaped object. Participants watched the implied-motion picture (200 ms, ‘observation phase’) followed by a mask (scramble version of the picture, duration 2000 ms) and by a final picture that correctly concluded the mid-fight action in only 50% of the cases. The participants responded whether the final picture matched with the mid-flight one (‘response phase’). See Figure 1a. The participants also performed a control color discrimination task, which was treated as a perceptually-matched baseline in the analyses. We analyzed which brain activations in the ‘observation phase’ (i.e., in response to the mid-flight action) predicted the participants’ behavioral performance in the ‘response phase’ of the experimental task (as compared to baseline). We also compared our fMRI results with those of a meta-analysis we performed using the ALE method3 on 15 fMRI studies (318 subjects, 256 foci) requiring motor predictions on more complex every-day life or sport actions. Overall, the participants showed brain responses that overlapped with those shown by the results of the meta-analysis (cluster-level FWE-corrected, as assessed with 1000 permutations), including a wide bilateral network of cortical areas comprising dorsal frontal and posterior parietal areas, as well as occipito-temporal regions including the posterior part of the superior temporal sulcus, all included in the so-called Action Observation ‘mirror’ Network4, and the pre-supplementary motor cortex. See Figure 1b. While predictions of sport-related actions also bilaterally activated the opercular cortices involved in action monitoring, this was not the case for pointing and grasping actions. Importantly, the individual performance at the action prediction task (indexed by inverse efficiency scores, i.e., the Reaction Times / Accuracy ratio) predicted the activity of two different brain regions (Figure 1c): a whole-brain regression analysis showed that better performance was associated with stronger occipital activations, whereas worse performance correlated with stronger activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus. These results were confirmed by a median-split multivariate pattern analysis that served as control: after dividing the sample in ‘good’ and ‘bad’ predictors groups, based on the behavioral performance, a support vector machine classifier could correctly classify from each participant’s activation patterns of the observation phase whether the participant was included in the ‘good’ vs. ‘bad’ predictors group (balanced accuracy = 84%, p < .001). Our results indicate that similar brain regions are responsible for motor predictions during the observation of both complex and simple actions: motor predictions based on postural information and regarding easy everyday-life actions, like grasping and pointing, require the whole action-observation ‘predictive’ network anyway, with the exclusion of opercular cortices. Moreover, we found interindividual differences in how participants approach this task, with a performance advantage for those who apply a more visually-based strategy involving more posterior brain regions.

Cyclothone braueri (Stomiiformes, Gonostomatidae) is a widely distributed fish inhabiting the mesopelagic zone of marine tropical and temperate waters. Constituting one of the largest biomasses of the ocean, C. braueri is a key element in most of the ecological processes occurring in the twilight layer. We focused on the ecological processes linked to early life stages in relation to marine pelagic environmental drivers (temperature, salinity, food availability and geostrophic currents) considering different regions of the Central Mediterranean Sea. A multivariate morphometric analysis was carried out using six parameters with the aim of discerning different larval morphotypes, while a fragment of 367 bp representing the 12S ribosomal RNA gene was used to perform molecular analyses aimed at determining the intraspecific genetic variability. Analysis highlighted two geographically distinct morphotypes not genetically discernible and related to the different nutritional conditions due to spatial heterogeneities in terms of temperature and food availability. The body depth (BD) emerged as an appropriate morphometric parameter to detect the larval condition in this species. Molecular analysis highlighted a moderate genetic divergence in the fish population, showing the recurrence of two phylogroups not geographically separated.

Benthic foraminifera are very sensitive to oceanographic parameter variations, to which they rapidly response through changes in the abundance and/or richness of their associations and in morphological variations of their shell. Many studies have used benthic foraminifera as bioindicators. We investigated recent benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the Gulf of Gela (Sicilian Channel, Mediterranean Sea), examining their relative abundance, specific richness and morphological abnormalities, to highlight a possible correlation with oceanographic features and the concentration of heavy metals in sediments. Sediment was sampled in summer 2006 using box corers in four stations at increasing distances from a point-source of industrial pollution. We performed hydrological characterization of the study area, grain size analysis and heavy metal determinations in sediments, and quantitative and qualitative analyses of benthic foraminifera. Heavy metal analyses highlighted very high mercury and cadmium concentrations in the station nearest the pollution source, in which the Dominance index showed the minimum of population density. In conclusion, a positive correlation seems to exist between the abundance of foraminifera and the concentration of cadmium and mercury in the sediment

DE3 - Mineralogy in the deep earth - Poster

Mesopelagic fish represent one of the most important links in the food chain of the marine ecosystem. Their abundance in the Mediterranean sea makes them the most important members of the deep water fauna and a potential resource for future fisheries. The aim of this work is the study of the spatial distribution, composition and biomass of mesopelagic fish larvae species in relationship with the oceanographic parameters of the Sicilian Channel. This area is characterized by different water masses associated with the typical hydro graphic structures of the Channel (Atlantic Ionian Stream-AIS), influencing the presence and distribution of fish species larval stages. Samples were collected during oceanographic surveys, on board of URANIA O/V in years 2005, 2006 and 2007. Distribution maps of the hauls, grouped in clusters, showed similar patterns during all analyzed years. The most common spots we found were located under Pozzallo, Cape Passero and Siracusa, though there were small spots along the central shelf of the western coast. These results would be influenced by the existence of different water masses on the surface, associated with the AIS path and with the hydrographic structures. The occurrence of these species in shelf areas would be associated with the coastal upwelling characterizing the northern part of the study area. In addition, the accumulation of larvae on the south-eastern edge could be related to the strong salinity front off Cape Passero.

Cooperation triggers expectations on our partners’ contributions to achieve a common goal. A partner, however, may sometimes violate such expectations, driving us to perform immediate adjustments. What neurophysiological mechanisms support these adaptations? We tested the hypothesis of an interaction-specific brain system that can decode a partner’s error and promote adaptive responses when cooperating toward a shared goal. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, the participants played short melodies with a virtual partner by performing one note each in turn-taking. A colored cue indicated which melody they had to execute at each trial, thus generating expectations on what notes the partner would play. The participants also performed the task in a perceptually matched Non-Interactive context. The results showed that task interactivity modulates the brain responses to a partner’s error in dorsal fronto-temporoparietal and medial cingulo-opercular networks. Multivariate pattern analysis revealed that these neural activations reflect deep decoding of the partner’s mistake. Within these networks, the automatic tendency to correct the partner’s errors, as indexed by specific reaction times adaptations, depended on the activity of a right-lateralized fronto-opercular system that may enable mutual support during real-life cooperation. Future studies may unveil the role of this putative “interaction monitoring” brain system in social dysfunctions and their motor foundations.

Living in a social world requires social monitoring, i.e., the ability to keep track of others’ actions and mistakes. Here, we demonstrate the good reliability of the behavioral and neurophysiological indexes ascribed to social monitoring. We also show that no consensus exists on the cognitive bases of this phenomenology and discuss three alternative hypotheses: (i) the direct matching hypothesis, postulating that observed errors are processed through automatic simulation; (ii) the attentional hypothesis, considering errors as unexpected events that take resources away from task processing; and (iii) the goal representation hypothesis, which weighs social error monitoring depending on how relevant the other's task is to the observer's goals. To date, evidence on the role played by factors that could help to disentangle these hypotheses (e.g., the human vs. non-human nature of the actor, the error rate, and the reward context) is insufficient, although the goal representation hypothesis seems to receive more support. Theory-driven experimental designs are needed to enlighten this debate and clarify the role of error monitoring during interactive exchanges.

Creative production (related to art-making) and aesthetic appreciation (related to art-viewing) are inherently linked in visual arts, but their relationship has never been explored explicitly in cognitive neuroscience, nor the nature of such connection. The available literature suggests two cognitive processes as possible foundations of these two experiences: motor simulation or inhibitory control. In a meta-analysis of fMRI studies, we addressed this issue: we investigated whether there are shared neurofunctional underpinnings behind aesthetic and creative experiences in the visual domain; further, we examined whether any shared brain activation may reflect either motor simulation or inhibitory processes. A conjunction analysis revealed a common involvement of the pre-SMA in both classes of studies, a brain region, if anything, more concerned with top-down inhibitory motor and volitional cognitive control rather than bottom-up motor simulation. In the art-viewing domain, this finding was primarily driven by figurative rather than abstract art. The methodological limitations in the available literature are discussed together with possible new ways to expand the existing findings.

Simple Summary Intergenerational and transgenerational effects, in which exposure to stressors in a parental generation affects the phenotype of the offspring have been connected to anthropic impacts on biological systems. Therefore, environmental stress experienced inside a generation, particularly during gametogenesis, may lead to erroneous patterns in their offspring just emerging at early developmental stages. In this scenario, the sea urchin embryo represents a suitable model for integrating analyses of gene expression through embryogenesis with developmental alteration induced by environmental stressors. Herein we provide pieces of evidence for the alteration of the gene regulatory networks modulating embryo development after parental conditioning via non-lethal metal exposure. We show that the parentals’ conditioning does not affect viability but significantly impairs the developmental fate of the progeny and regulatory network across a generation. It is reasonable to suppose that changes in Paracentrotus lividus gonads may modify the expression of regulatory genes modulating synthesis and/or accumulation of maternal determinants, which, in turn, impaired the zygotic activation of GRNs responsible for proper embryo development. Abstract It is widely accepted that phenotypic traits can be modulated at the epigenetic level so that some conditions can affect the progeny of exposed individuals. To assess if the exposure of adult animals could result in effects on the offspring, the Mediterranean sea urchin and its well-characterized gene regulatory networks (GRNs) was chosen as a model. Adult animals were exposed to known concentrations of zinc and cadmium (both individually and in combination) for 10 days, and the resulting embryos were followed during the development. The oxidative stress occurring in parental gonads, embryo phenotypes and mortality, and the expression level of a set of selected genes, including members of the skeletogenic and endodermal GRNs, were evaluated. Increased oxidative stress at F0, high rates of developmental aberration with impaired gastrulation, in association to deregulation of genes involved in skeletogenesis (dri, hex, sm50, p16, p19, msp130), endodermal specification (foxa, hox11/13b, wnt8) and epigenetic regulation (kat2A, hdac1, ehmt2, phf8 and UBE2a) occurred either at 24 or 48 hpf. Results strongly indicate that exposure to environmental pollutants can affect not only directly challenged animals but also their progeny (at least F1), influencing optimal timing of genetic programme of embryo development, resulting in an overall impairment of developmental success.

What is the key to successful interaction? Is it sufficient to represent a common goal, or does the way our partner achieves that goal count as well? How do we react when our partner misbehaves? We used a turn-taking music-like task requiring participants to play sequences of notes together with a partner, and we investigated how people adapt to a partner’s error that violates their expectations. Errors consisted of either playing a wrong note of a sequence that the agents were playing together (thus preventing the achievement of the joint goal) or playing the expected note with an unexpected action. In both cases, we found post-error slowing and inaccuracy suggesting the participants’ implicit tendency to correct the partner’s error and produce the action that the partner should have done. We argue that these “joint” monitoring processes depend on the motor predictions made within a (dyadic) motor plan and may represent a basic mechanism for mutual support in motor interactions.

The European anchovy is an important fishing resource in the Sicilian Channel that supports a high recruitment success variability. The presence of two spawning areas, the drifting of the larvae along the currents and the different oceanographic conditions within the region suggest the presence of different larvae subpopulations. Morphometric and biochemical approaches have been used to analyze the differences among larvae collected. The amino acid composition discriminates two larval groups closely related to the spawning regions: Adventure Bank and the shelf between the South of Sicily and Malta. In addition, there are morphometric and growth differences between recently hatched larvae in these two regions, reinforcing the hypothesis of two larval subpopulations and suggesting differences in the parental reproduction effort. Between the South of Sicily and Malta there are growth and biochemical composition differences since larvae from the Maltese coast present a higher protein content and a bigger growth rate than those from Sicily, pointing out that Malta is an area with a better nutritional condition environment. No differences in the growth rate have been observed between the Adventure Bank area and the Maltese shelf, therefore, a diverse nutritional condition cannot be suggested between these two areas despite the Maltese larvae having a higher protein content present.

Cyclothone braueri (Stomiiformes, Gonostomatidae) is a widely distributed fish inhabiting the mesopelagic zone of marine tropical and temperate waters. Constituting one of the largest biomasses of the ocean, C. braueri is a key element in most of the ecological processes occurring in the twilight layer. We focused on the ecological processes linked to early life stages in relation to marine pelagic environmental drivers (temperature, salinity, food availability and geostrophic currents) considering different regions of the Central Mediterranean Sea. A multivariate morphometric analysis was carried out using six parameters with the aim of discerning different larval morphotypes, while a fragment of 367 bp representing the 12S ribosomal RNA gene was used to perform molecular analyses aimed at determining the intraspecific genetic variability. Analysis highlighted two geographically distinct morphotypes not genetically discernible and related to the different nutritional conditions due to spatial heterogeneities in terms of temperature and food availability. The body depth (BD) emerged as an appropriate morphometric parameter to detect the larval condition in this species. Molecular analysis highlighted a moderate genetic divergence in the fish population, showing the recurrence of two phylogroups not geographically separated.