Dr Caroline Catmur
Lecturer
Qualifications: BA Experimental Psychology (Oxford), PhD Psychology (UCL)
Email: c.catmur@surrey.ac.uk
Phone: Work: 01483 68 3968
Room no: 29 AC 04
Office hours
Tuesdays and Wednesdays 1-2pm (Semester 2)
Further information
Research Interests
I investigate how our brains represent other people's actions, in particular through the brain’s “mirror neuron” system. I am also investigating how these representations of actions in turn affect our own behaviour, especially our social behaviour.
Recent findings
Being imitated by others has been shown to affect a range of social behaviours. I have found preliminary evidence that the pro-social effects of being imitated may be due to the contingency (or predictive relationship) between the actions made by one person and those made by the other. In other words, it’s not what you do when imitating, but how consistently you do it, which affects other people’s social behaviour.
In terms of the underlying action representations, I have recently used paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation to demonstrate how links between premotor and primary motor cortex are involved in the formation and activation of action representations.
My PhD research focused on the mirror neuron system and imitation. One of the main findings was that sensorimotor experience can reconfigure the mirror system. This result has several implications: it suggests that action representations may arise through sensorimotor experience gained during development; and it raises the possibility that sensorimotor training may be used to improve action representations where they are damaged or lacking, as a result of brain injury or developmental disorder. I plan to build upon this application of my research in the future.
Research methods
My research utilises a range of techniques from both experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience, including response time measures, scales to measure social behaviour, psychometrics, eyetracking, electromyography, single-pulse, paired-pulse and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Research Collaborations
Dr Geoff Bird, Kings College London
Dr Marcel Brass, University of Ghent
Dr Richard Cook, City University London
Professor Cecilia Heyes, University of Oxford
Dr Clare Press, Birkbeck, University of London
Professor Matthew Rushworth, University of Oxford
Professor Vincent Walsh, University College London
Publications
Journal articles
- . (2012) 'Enhancing social ability by stimulating right temporoparietal junction'. Current Biology, 22 (23), pp. 2274-2277.
- . (2012) 'Enhancing social ability by stimulating right temporoparietal junction.'. Curr Biol, England: 22 (23), pp. 2274-2277.
- . (2012) 'Sensorimotor learning and the ontogeny of the mirror neuron system.'. Neurosci Lett,
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(2012) 'Are Automatic Imitation and Spatial Compatibility Mediated by Different Processes?'. Wiley-Blackwell Cognitive Science, Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/726220/
Abstract
Automatic imitation or "imitative compatibility" is thought to be mediated by the mirror neuron system and to be a laboratory model of the motor mimicry that occurs spontaneously in naturalistic social interaction. Imitative compatibility and spatial compatibility effects are known to depend on different stimulus dimensions-body movement topography and relative spatial position. However, it is not yet clear whether these two types of stimulus-response compatibility effect are mediated by the same or different cognitive processes. We present an interactive activation model of imitative and spatial compatibility, based on a dual-route architecture, which substantiates the view they are mediated by processes of the same kind. The model, which is in many ways a standard application of the interactive activation approach, simulates all key results of a recent study by Catmur and Heyes (2011). Specifically, it captures the difference in the relative size of imitative and spatial compatibility effects; the lack of interaction when the imperative and irrelevant stimuli are presented simultaneously; the relative speed of responses in a quintile analysis when the imperative and irrelevant stimuli are presented simultaneously; and the different time courses of the compatibility effects when the imperative and irrelevant stimuli are presented asynchronously.
- . (2012) 'FMRI evidence of 'mirror' responses to geometric shapes.'. PLoS One, United States: 7 (12)
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(2011) 'Auditory STM Capacity Correlates with Gray Matter Density in the Left Posterior STS in Cognitively Normal and Dyslexic Adults.'. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23 (12), pp. 3746-3756.doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00060Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7776/
Abstract
A central feature of auditory STM is its item-limited processing capacity. We investigated whether auditory STM capacity correlated with regional gray and white matter in the structural MRI images from 74 healthy adults, 40 of whom had a prior diagnosis of developmental dyslexia whereas 34 had no history of any cognitive impairment. Using whole-brain statistics, we identified a region in the left posterior STS where gray matter density was positively correlated with forward digit span, backward digit span, and performance on a "spoonerisms" task that required both auditory STM and phoneme manipulation. Across tasks and participant groups, the correlation was highly significant even when variance related to reading and auditory nonword repetition was factored out. Although the dyslexics had poorer phonological skills, the effect of auditory STM capacity in the left STS was the same as in the cognitively normal group. We also illustrate that the anatomical location of this effect is in proximity to a lesion site recently associated with reduced auditory STM capacity in patients with stroke damage. This result, therefore, indicates that gray matter density in the posterior STS predicts auditory STM capacity in the healthy and damaged brain. In conclusion, we suggest that our present findings are consistent with the view that there is an overlap between the mechanisms that support language processing and auditory STM.
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(2011) 'Making Mirrors: Premotor Cortex Stimulation Enhances Mirror and Counter-mirror Motor Facilitation.'. MIT Press J Cogn Neurosci, 23 (9), pp. 2352-2362.Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/118062/
Abstract
Mirror neurons fire during both the performance of an action and the observation of the same action being performed by another. These neurons have been recorded in ventral premotor and inferior parietal cortex in the macaque, but human brain imaging studies suggest that areas responding to the observation and performance of actions are more widespread. We used paired-pulse TMS to test whether dorsal as well as ventral premotor cortex is involved in producing mirror motor facilitation effects. Stimulation of premotor cortex enhanced mirror motor facilitation and also enhanced the effects of counter-mirror training. No differences were found between the two premotor areas. These results support an associative account of mirror neuron properties, whereby multiple regions that process both sensory and motor information have the potential to contribute to mirror effects.
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(2011) 'Time course analyses confirm independence of imitative and spatial compatibility.'. American Psychological Association Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, United States: 37 (2), pp. 409-421.doi: 10.1037/a0019325Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/25588/
Abstract
Imitative compatibility, or automatic imitation, has been used as a measure of imitative performance and as a behavioral index of the functioning of the human mirror system (e.g., Brass, Bekkering, Wohlschlager, & Prinz, 2000; Heyes, Bird, Johnson, & Haggard, 2005; Kilner, Paulignan, & Blakemore, 2003). However, the use of imitative compatibility as a measure of imitation has been criticized on the grounds that imitative compatibility has been confounded with simple spatial compatibility (Aicken, Wilson, Williams, & Mon-Williams, 2007; Bertenthal, Longo, & Kosobud, 2006; Jansson, Wilson, Williams, & Mon-Williams, 2007). Two experiments are reported in which, in contrast with previous studies, imitative compatibility was measured on both spatially compatible and spatially incompatible trials, and imitative compatibility was shown to be present regardless of spatial compatibility. Additional features of the experiments allowed measurement of the time courses of the imitative and spatial compatibility effects both within and across trials. It was found that imitative compatibility follows a different time course from spatial compatibility, providing further evidence for their independence and supporting the use of imitative compatibility as a measure of imitation.
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(2011) 'Contingency is Crucial for Creating Imitative Responses.'. Frontiers Research Foundation Front Hum Neurosci, Switzerland: 5 Article number 15 Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/7777/
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(2009) 'Associative sequence learning: the role of experience in the development of imitation and the mirror system.'. Royal Society Publishing Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Biological Sciences, England: 364 (1528), pp. 2369-2380.Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/118221/
Abstract
A core requirement for imitation is a capacity to solve the correspondence problem; to map observed onto executed actions, even when observation and execution yield sensory inputs in different modalities and coordinate frames. Until recently, it was assumed that the human capacity to solve the correspondence problem is innate. However, it is now becoming apparent that, as predicted by the associative sequence learning model, experience, and especially sensorimotor experience, plays a critical role in the development of imitation. We review evidence from studies of non-human animals, children and adults, focusing on research in cognitive neuroscience that uses training and naturally occurring variations in expertise to examine the role of experience in the formation of the mirror system. The relevance of this research depends on the widely held assumption that the mirror system plays a causal role in generating imitative behaviour. We also report original data supporting this assumption. These data show that theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation of the inferior frontal gyrus, a classical mirror system area, disrupts automatic imitation of finger movements. We discuss the implications of the evidence reviewed for the evolution, development and intentional control of imitation.
- . (2008) 'Through the looking glass: counter-mirror activation following incompatible sensorimotor learning.'. Wiley-Blackwell European Journal of Neuroscience, France: 28 (6), pp. 1208-1215.
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(2008) 'Experience-based priming of body parts: a study of action imitation.'. Brain Res, Netherlands: 1217, pp. 157-170.Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/118468/
Abstract
Two important dimensions of action are the movement and the body part with which the movement is effected. Experiment 1 tested whether automatic imitation is sensitive to the body part dimension of action. We found that hand and foot movements were selectively primed by observation of a corresponding, task-irrelevant effector in motion. Experiment 2 used this body part priming effect to investigate the role of sensorimotor learning in the development of imitation. The results showed that incompatible training, in which observation of hand movements was paired with execution of foot movements and vice versa, led to a greater reduction in body part priming than compatible training, in which subjects experienced typical contingencies between observation and execution of hand and foot movements. These findings are consistent with the assumption that overt behavioral imitation is mediated by the mirror neuron system, which is somatotopically organized. Our results also support the hypothesis that the development of imitation and the mirror neuron system are driven by correlated sensorimotor learning.
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(2007) 'Sensorimotor learning configures the human mirror system.'. Curr Biol, England: 17 (17), pp. 1527-1531.Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/118592/
Abstract
Cells in the "mirror system" fire not only when an individual performs an action but also when one observes the same action performed by another agent [1-4]. The mirror system, found in premotor and parietal cortices of human and monkey brains, is thought to provide the foundation for social understanding and to enable the development of theory of mind and language [5-9]. However, it is unclear how mirror neurons acquire their mirror properties -- how they derive the information necessary to match observed with executed actions [10]. We address this by showing that it is possible to manipulate the selectivity of the human mirror system, and thereby make it operate as a countermirror system, by giving participants training to perform one action while observing another. Before this training, participants showed event-related muscle-specific responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation over motor cortex during observation of little- and index-finger movements [11-13]. After training, this normal mirror effect was reversed. These results indicate that the mirror properties of the mirror system are neither wholly innate [14] nor fixed once acquired; instead they develop through sensorimotor learning [15, 16]. Our findings indicate that the human mirror system is, to some extent, both a product and a process of social interaction.
- . (2006) 'Attention does not modulate neural responses to social stimuli in autism spectrum disorders.'. Neuroimage, United States: 31 (4), pp. 1614-1624.
- . (2006) 'Tactile sensitivity in Asperger syndrome.'. Brain Cogn, United States: 61 (1), pp. 5-13.
- . (2002) 'Audiotactile interactions in roughness perception.'. Exp Brain Res, Germany: 146 (2), pp. 161-171.
Teaching
Convenor and lecturer for Level 3 Social Cognitive Neuroscience (PSY3086)
Lecturer for Level 1 Cognitive Psychology with Research Methods (PSY1017)
Lecturer for Level 2 Cognitive Psychology with Research Methods (PSY2014)
Departmental Duties
Academic responsible for library liaison
Presentations
Conferences
Catmur, C., Mars, R.B., Rushworth, M.F. & Heyes, C. (2010). Premotor cortex stimulation enhances mirror and counter-mirror motor facilitation. Magstim / University of Oxford TMS Summer School, Oxford.
Catmur, C., Mars, R.B., Rushworth, M.F. & Heyes, C. (2010). Premotor cortex stimulation enhances mirror and counter-mirror motor facilitation. Conference on Perception and Action, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, Bielefeld, Germany.
Catmur, C. & Heyes, C. (2009). Sensorimotor learning and the human mirror neuron system. European Science Foundation / Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Frontier Science Conference on Social Cognitive Neuroscience, Maratea, Italy.
Catmur, C., Walsh, V. & Heyes, C. (2009). Automatic imitation: independent of spatial compatibility, and dependent on the mirror neuron system. Experimental Psychology Society, London.
Catmur, C., Walsh, V. & Heyes, C. (2008). Theta burst stimulation of inferior frontal gyrus disrupts automatic imitation of finger movements. 15th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco.
Catmur, C., Walsh, V. & Heyes, C. (2008). Theta burst stimulation of inferior frontal gyrus disrupts automatic imitation of finger movements. Evolution, Development and Intentional Control of Imitation, Vienna, Austria.
Gillmeister, H., Catmur, C., Bird, G., Liepelt, R., Brass, M. & Heyes, C. (2008). Body part priming in action imitation and the mirror neuron system depends on correlated sensorimotor experience. Evolution, Development and Intentional Control of Imitation, Vienna, Austria.
Catmur, C., Walsh, V. & Heyes, C. (2007). Sensorimotor training reconfigures the mirror neuron system. Magstim Summer School on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Cognition, London.
Bird, G., Catmur, C., Silani, G., Frith, C.D. & Frith, U. (2006). Why faces are not salient in autism spectrum disorders. 12th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Florence, Italy.
Singer, T., Bird, G., Catmur, C., Coricelli, G., Rustichini, A., Dolan, R. (2006). Neuronal basis of empathy, altruistic reward and punishment in third-party social exchange. 12th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Florence, Italy.
Catmur, C., Bird, G., Silani, G., Frith, C.D. & Frith, U. (2005). Impaired attentional modulation of social stimuli in autism spectrum disorders. BPS Cognitive Section Conference, Leeds.
Blakemore, S-J., Tavassoli, T., Calò, S., Catmur, C., Frith, U. & Haggard, P. (2004). Perception of tactile stimulation in Asperger Syndrome. Touch, Temperature, Pain and Pleasure symposium, Manchester.
Invited talks
Catmur, C. (2008). TMS and fMRI investigations of the effects of sensorimotor experience on the mirror neuron system. Imperial College, London.
Catmur, C. (2008). Effects of sensorimotor learning on the human mirror neuron system. Roehampton University.
Catmur, C., Walsh, V. & Heyes, C. (2007). Sensorimotor training reconfigures the mirror neuron system. Ghent University, Belgium.
Peer review
Cerebral Cortex
Current Biology
European Journal of Neuroscience
Experimental Brain Research
Journal of Neuroscience
NeuroImage
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
