Differential modulation of low- and high-frequency mu oscillations during the observation of manual, facial, and non-biological movements
Abstract Mu suppression - desynchronization of neural oscillations in central EEG electrodes during action execution and observation - has been widely accepted as a marker for neural mirroring. It has been conventionally and predominantly quantified in the 8–13 Hz range, corresponding to the alpha f...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99599-0 |
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| author | Ayşe Nur Badakul Efe Soyman |
| author_facet | Ayşe Nur Badakul Efe Soyman |
| author_sort | Ayşe Nur Badakul |
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| description | Abstract Mu suppression - desynchronization of neural oscillations in central EEG electrodes during action execution and observation - has been widely accepted as a marker for neural mirroring. It has been conventionally and predominantly quantified in the 8–13 Hz range, corresponding to the alpha frequency band, although few studies reported differences in lower and higher subbands that together constitute the mu frequency band. In the present study, we adopted a comprehensive analytical approach to examine the spectral and temporal dynamics of mu suppression when participants watched videos depicting hand and face actions and artificial pattern movements. Our analyses in central EEG electrodes revealed that neural oscillations were significantly suppressed during action observation only in the lower (8–10.5 Hz), not in the higher (10.5–13 Hz), subband. No such subband differentiation was observed for the alpha oscillations in the occipital electrodes. In addition, in the lower subband, significantly stronger suppressions were selective for hand actions in the central EEG electrodes placed over the hand region of the sensorimotor cortices and for facial actions in the frontotemporal electrodes placed over the face region of the sensorimotor cortices. In the higher subband, such stimulus selectivity was only observed for facial actions in the frontotemporal electrodes. Furthermore, the neural oscillations in the lower, but not the higher, subband followed the precise temporal patterning of biological motion in the videos. These results indicate that neural oscillations in the lower subband show the characteristics of neural mirroring processes, whereas those in the higher subband might reflect other mechanisms. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-de8d0a1c3659429b8dd26774a36dd742 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| spelling | doaj-art-de8d0a1c3659429b8dd26774a36dd7422025-08-20T03:45:28ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115112010.1038/s41598-025-99599-0Differential modulation of low- and high-frequency mu oscillations during the observation of manual, facial, and non-biological movementsAyşe Nur Badakul0Efe Soyman1Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Koç UniversitySocial Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Koç UniversityAbstract Mu suppression - desynchronization of neural oscillations in central EEG electrodes during action execution and observation - has been widely accepted as a marker for neural mirroring. It has been conventionally and predominantly quantified in the 8–13 Hz range, corresponding to the alpha frequency band, although few studies reported differences in lower and higher subbands that together constitute the mu frequency band. In the present study, we adopted a comprehensive analytical approach to examine the spectral and temporal dynamics of mu suppression when participants watched videos depicting hand and face actions and artificial pattern movements. Our analyses in central EEG electrodes revealed that neural oscillations were significantly suppressed during action observation only in the lower (8–10.5 Hz), not in the higher (10.5–13 Hz), subband. No such subband differentiation was observed for the alpha oscillations in the occipital electrodes. In addition, in the lower subband, significantly stronger suppressions were selective for hand actions in the central EEG electrodes placed over the hand region of the sensorimotor cortices and for facial actions in the frontotemporal electrodes placed over the face region of the sensorimotor cortices. In the higher subband, such stimulus selectivity was only observed for facial actions in the frontotemporal electrodes. Furthermore, the neural oscillations in the lower, but not the higher, subband followed the precise temporal patterning of biological motion in the videos. These results indicate that neural oscillations in the lower subband show the characteristics of neural mirroring processes, whereas those in the higher subband might reflect other mechanisms.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99599-0Action observationMu suppressionNeural mirroringFrequency subbandsEEG |
| spellingShingle | Ayşe Nur Badakul Efe Soyman Differential modulation of low- and high-frequency mu oscillations during the observation of manual, facial, and non-biological movements Scientific Reports Action observation Mu suppression Neural mirroring Frequency subbands EEG |
| title | Differential modulation of low- and high-frequency mu oscillations during the observation of manual, facial, and non-biological movements |
| title_full | Differential modulation of low- and high-frequency mu oscillations during the observation of manual, facial, and non-biological movements |
| title_fullStr | Differential modulation of low- and high-frequency mu oscillations during the observation of manual, facial, and non-biological movements |
| title_full_unstemmed | Differential modulation of low- and high-frequency mu oscillations during the observation of manual, facial, and non-biological movements |
| title_short | Differential modulation of low- and high-frequency mu oscillations during the observation of manual, facial, and non-biological movements |
| title_sort | differential modulation of low and high frequency mu oscillations during the observation of manual facial and non biological movements |
| topic | Action observation Mu suppression Neural mirroring Frequency subbands EEG |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99599-0 |
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