dc.contributor.author
Kühn, Simone
dc.contributor.author
Brick, Timothy R.
dc.contributor.author
Müller, Barbara C. N.
dc.contributor.author
Gallinat, Jürgen
dc.date.accessioned
2018-06-08T03:38:52Z
dc.date.available
2015-02-06T07:51:26.570Z
dc.identifier.uri
https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/15637
dc.identifier.uri
http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-19824
dc.description.abstract
Anthropomorphism encompasses the attribution of human characteristics to non-
living objects. In particular the human tendency to see faces in cars has long
been noticed, yet its neural correlates are unknown. We set out to investigate
whether the fusiform face area (FFA) is associated with seeing human features
in car fronts, or whether, the higher-level theory of mind network (ToM),
namely temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) show
a link to anthropomorphism. Twenty participants underwent fMRI scanning during
a passive car-front viewing task. We extracted brain activity from FFA, TPJ
and MPFC. After the fMRI session participants were asked to spontaneously list
adjectives that characterize each car front. Five raters judged the degree to
which each adjective can be applied as a characteristic of human beings. By
means of linear mixed models we found that the implicit tendency to
anthropomorphize individual car fronts predicts FFA, but not TPJ or MPFC
activity. The results point to an important role of FFA in the phenomenon of
ascribing human attributes to non-living objects. Interestingly, brain regions
that have been associated with thinking about beliefs and mental states of
others (TPJ, MPFC) do not seem to be related to anthropomorphism of car
fronts.
en
dc.rights.uri
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject.ddc
600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit
dc.title
Is This Car Looking at You? How Anthropomorphism Predicts Fusiform Face Area
Activation when Seeing Cars
dc.type
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
dcterms.bibliographicCitation
PLoS ONE. - 9 (2014), 12, Artikel Nr. e113885
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.doi
10.1371/journal.pone.0113885
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.url
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0113885
refubium.affiliation
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
de
refubium.mycore.fudocsId
FUDOCS_document_000000021777
refubium.note.author
Der Artikel wurde in einer Open-Access-Zeitschrift publiziert.
refubium.resourceType.isindependentpub
no
refubium.mycore.derivateId
FUDOCS_derivate_000000004483
dcterms.accessRights.openaire
open access