The neural and social correlates of automatic behaviours

The research in this thesis will focus primarily on the role motor cortex excitability has on social and non-social action behaviours, and in particular behaviours relating to; echophenomena, motor action, contagious behaviours, impulsivity, and action imitation. Inhibition and facilitation, specifi...

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Main Author: Brown, Beverley Jane
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55830/
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author Brown, Beverley Jane
author_facet Brown, Beverley Jane
author_sort Brown, Beverley Jane
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The research in this thesis will focus primarily on the role motor cortex excitability has on social and non-social action behaviours, and in particular behaviours relating to; echophenomena, motor action, contagious behaviours, impulsivity, and action imitation. Inhibition and facilitation, specifically in relation to contagious behaviours, imitation, and impulsivity, will be explored to a greater extent in order to further understanding on how these might be altered in neurodevelopmental conditions. Initial studies chapter 3 to 5 investigated contagious yawning, a form of imitative behaviour related to echophenomena, in typically developed controls (TDC). Echophenomena is related to early social cognition and is altered in some neurodevelopmental conditions such as Autism spectrum disorders and Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome. The first study was a within subjects’ design that utilised both physiological (TMS) measures of cortical activity alongside behavioural measures of contagious yawning. Subsequent studies were both within and between subjects’ designs and sought to modulate motor cortex excitability during both automatic social and non-social behaviours. These same neurophysiological techniques were then used to explore the relationship between corticospinal excitability and impulsive behaviours. Measures of impulsivity were assessed using modified ‘traffic light’ behavioural paradigms.
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format Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
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spelling nottingham-558302025-02-28T14:21:08Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55830/ The neural and social correlates of automatic behaviours Brown, Beverley Jane The research in this thesis will focus primarily on the role motor cortex excitability has on social and non-social action behaviours, and in particular behaviours relating to; echophenomena, motor action, contagious behaviours, impulsivity, and action imitation. Inhibition and facilitation, specifically in relation to contagious behaviours, imitation, and impulsivity, will be explored to a greater extent in order to further understanding on how these might be altered in neurodevelopmental conditions. Initial studies chapter 3 to 5 investigated contagious yawning, a form of imitative behaviour related to echophenomena, in typically developed controls (TDC). Echophenomena is related to early social cognition and is altered in some neurodevelopmental conditions such as Autism spectrum disorders and Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome. The first study was a within subjects’ design that utilised both physiological (TMS) measures of cortical activity alongside behavioural measures of contagious yawning. Subsequent studies were both within and between subjects’ designs and sought to modulate motor cortex excitability during both automatic social and non-social behaviours. These same neurophysiological techniques were then used to explore the relationship between corticospinal excitability and impulsive behaviours. Measures of impulsivity were assessed using modified ‘traffic light’ behavioural paradigms. 2019-07-17 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55830/1/Thesis%20Final%20040119_BBrown.pdf Brown, Beverley Jane (2019) The neural and social correlates of automatic behaviours. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. motor cortex; automatic behaviour; yawning
spellingShingle motor cortex; automatic behaviour; yawning
Brown, Beverley Jane
The neural and social correlates of automatic behaviours
title The neural and social correlates of automatic behaviours
title_full The neural and social correlates of automatic behaviours
title_fullStr The neural and social correlates of automatic behaviours
title_full_unstemmed The neural and social correlates of automatic behaviours
title_short The neural and social correlates of automatic behaviours
title_sort neural and social correlates of automatic behaviours
topic motor cortex; automatic behaviour; yawning
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55830/