This study investigated the psychophysiology of the response to hearing recordings of people signalling the intention to communicate by calling the subject’s name. Event-related spectral perturbations analysis indicates increased power in the alpha frequency band (8-12Hz) between 200 and 300ms after stimulus onset over right temporal channels. This is followed by an increase in activity over left frontal channels between 600 and 800ms after stimulus onset. Increases in the frequency band power indicate resetting of neural oscillators in response to the stimulus. This is likely to be due to more processing resources being devoted to the stimulus. Source reconstruction localises the generators of the scalp-measured electrical activity to the right middle temporal and left frontal cortex. These regions have been linked to processing social information as part of the “social brain” (Kampe et al., 2003). Further, these regions are part of the human mirror neuron system. The source reconstruction also indicates that other regions are active when processing SON and CN. Correlations between the reconstructed time series of cortical regions of interest that are part of the human mirror neuron system were calculated to investigate if the human mirror neuron system is engaged when processing hearing one’s own name (see Kampe et al., 2003). We find that linear coupling is significantly increased during the SON compared to CN condition. Introduction Discussion Joe M. Bathelt, Chris A. Clark, Naomi J. Dale, Michelle de Haan Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, UCL Institute of Child Health Hearing one’s own name increases functional connection strength between areas of the Human Mirror Neuron System Materials & Methods Results Conclusion Participant Sample The sample consisted of 20 adult volunteers (8 female, age: 29.53 ± 4.01 SD) recruited from UCL and the Institute of Child Health.). EEG Recording EEG was measured with a 128-channel EGI Geodesic Sensor Net and NetAmps 200 amplifier (Electrical Geodesics Inc., OR). Stimuli Participants were presented with recordings of four native English speakers (2 female) saying either “Hey, [name of participant]!” or “Hey, [control name]!”. Control names consisted of the same number of syllables as the participant’s name, but started with a different phoneme, e.g. “Hey, Thomas” and “Hey, Martin”. The presentation of stimuli was randomised. A total of 80 stimuli was presented. The duration of the experiment was 8 minutes. Source Reconstruction The likely generators of electrical activity measured on the scalp surface were reconstructed using a Boundary Element Model based on the Montreal Neurological Institute standard head. Brain activity was reconstructed from the generative model through Minimum Norm Estimatation (MNE). Cortical regions of interest (ROIs) were identified on the MNI cortex through FreeSurfer cortical parcellation according to the Desikan-Killany atlas. The time series of cortical ROIs were calculated using BrainStorm algorithms. Responding to one’s own name is a fundamental social function. Previous investigations demonstrated that there is a distinct brain electrical response to hearing one’s own name (Holeckova et al., 2006). The fMRI literature suggests that a specific network of areas is involved in processing social information about other people’s intentions, including other people calling one’s own name.This network includes the medial prefrontal, parietal and middle temporal cortical regions, and is called the Mirror Neuron System because it contains neurons that are active both when individuals perform actions and when they see another person performing actions (Kampe et al., 2003). The present study investigates the response to hearing one’s own name using high-density EEG recording. Event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) analysis was used to investigate the time course and topography of the response. Additionally, the high-density recording allows reconstruction of the cortical generators of the electrical signals measured on the surface of the scalp through standard generative head models (Michel et al., 2004). We reconstructed the time series of the electrical signal in cortical regions of interest (ROIs) of the human mirror neuron system. Linear coupling between these regions was compared between the own name and control name condition. I Event-related spectral perturbations (ERSP) II Cortical source reconstruction Mirror neuron system connectivity III • event-related spectral perturbations: • the response to hearing one’s own name is characterised by an early activation over right temporal and a later activation over left frontal channels. SON is processed preferentially in both early stages of cortical processing in the temporal lobe and later cognitive stages in the frontal lobe • source analysis: • source reconstruction localises the early response to the right middle temporal cortex and the late response to the left prefrontal cortex • cortical region of interest connectivity: • the linear coupling between cortical regions of the human mirror neuron system is increased in the subject’s own name condition compared to the control name condition → this is indicative of enhanced engagement of the mirror neuron system when hearing one’s own name References Kampe, Knut K W, Chris D Frith, and Uta Frith (2003): “‘Hey John’: Signals Conveying Communicative Intention Toward the Self Activate Brain Regions Associated with ‘Mentalizing,’ Regardless of Modality.” Journal of Neuroscience 23, no. 12: 5258–63. Holeckova, Irena, Catherine Fischer, Marie-Hélène Giard, Claude Delpuech, and Dominique Morlet (2006): “Brain Responses to a Subject’s Own Name Uttered by a Familiar Voice.” Brain Research 1082, no.1: 142–152 Michel, Christoph M, Micah M Murray, Göran Lantz, Sara Gonzalez, Laurent Spinelli, and Rolando Grave de Peralta (2004): “EEG Source Imaging.” Clinical Neurophysiology : Official Journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology 115, no. 10: 2195–222. Source activity 200ms after stimulus onset: Subject’s own name Control name Source activity 600ms after stimulus onset: Subject’s own name Control name The source reconstruction shows early temporal and later frontal activation in line with the results of the ERSP analysis. Further, other cortical areas that were not statistically different in the ERSP contrast of the condition show activations. These areas include regions of the parietal cortex. Activations are given in picoAmpère. The grey dots display the position of the EEG sensors. The sources were reconstructed through standard boundary element models with minimum norm estimation. The top row shows the correlation between the time series of all cortical regions of interest in the subject’s own name condition on the left and the control name condition on the right. The bottom left panel shows the p-value of the paired sample t-test between the correlation strength of all connection between the ROIs. The bottom right panel shows the effect size of the t-test expressed as values of r. The statistical comparison shows that the linear coupling between regions of the mirror neuron system is stronger in the own name condition compared the control name condition. Subject’s own name Control name p-values effect size Event-related spectral perturbations were estimated through Morlet wavelet decomposition. Statistical parametric mapping shows significant differences between the subject’s own name and the controls name condition in the alpha frequency range between 200 and 300ms post stimulus onset over temporal channels and between 600 and 800ms over frontal channels. Please note that edge effects in higher frequencies are artefacts of the Morlet decomposition, which is optimised for lower frequency bands. The right panel shows the topography of the response in transverse glass brain view. Subject’s own name Control name left frontal right temporal Abstract right right right left left right Subject’s own name vs Control name • calling someone’s name signals the intention to communicate • this activates areas of the mirror neuron system, but the timing of their activation is not known • using high-density EEG recording, this poster describes: i. the time course and topography of brain activity in response to hearing one’s own name compared to a control name ii. the cortical generators of the electrical activity iii. the network interaction between regions that are thought to play a role in mediating the response to one’s own name posterior anterior left right This research was founded by UCL Impact & Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity Subject’s own name vs Control name