Our manual interactions with objects represent the most fundamental activity in
our everyday life. Whereas the grasp of an object is driven by the perceptual senses, using
an object for its function relies on learnt experience to retrieve. Recent theories explain
how the brain takes decisions based on perceptual information, yet the question of how
does it retrieve object knowledge to use tools remains unanswered. Discovering the
neuronal implementation of the retrieval of object knowledge would help understanding
praxic impairments and provide appropriate neurorehabilitation.
This thesis reports five investigations on the neuronal oscillatory activity
involved in accessing object knowledge. Employing an original paradigm combining EEG
recordings with tool use training in virtual reality, I demonstrated that beta oscillations are
crucial to the retrieval of object knowledge during object recognition. Multiple evidence
points toward an access to object knowledge during the 300 to 400 ms of visual
processing. The different topographies of the beta oscillations suggest that tool
knowledge is encoded in distinct brain areas but generally located within the left
hemisphere. Importantly, learning action information about an object has consequences
on its manipulations. Multiplying tool use knowledge about an object increases the beta
desynchronization and slows down motor control. Furthermore, the present data report
an influence of language on object manipulations and beta oscillations, in a way that
learning the name of an object speeds up its use while impedes its grasp.
This shred of evidence led to the formulation of three testable hypotheses
extending contemporary theories of object manipulation and semantic memory. First, the
preparation of object transportation or use could be distinguished by the
synchronization/desynchronization patterns of mu and beta rhythms. Second, action
competitions originate from both perceptuo-motor and memory systems. Third,
accessing to semantic object knowledge during object processing could be indexed by the
bursts of desynchronization of high-beta oscillations in the brain.
Date of Award | 2020 |
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Original language | English |
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Awarding Institution | |
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Supervisor | Jeremy Goslin (Other Supervisor) |
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- EEG
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Object Recognition
- Object Manipulation
- Beta oscillations
- Alpha oscillations
Brain Rhythms in Object Recognition and Manipulation
Foerster, F. (Author). 2020
Student thesis: PhD