And Rhythm on a 7-point scale using a laptop in a soundproof room.fMRI data analysisfMRI data were preprocessed and analyzed using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM8) software (Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, London, UK) implemented in MATLAB R2013b (MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA). As a preprocessing procedure, correction for head motion, slice timing, spatial normalization using the EPI-MNI template and smoothing using a Gaussian kernel with a full-width at half maximum of 6 mm were conducted. A conventional two-level Luminespib web approach for the multi-subject fMRI dataset was adopted. As a first-level withinsubject (fixed effects) analysis for parameter estimation, a voxel-by-voxel multiple regression analysis of the expected signal changes was applied to the preprocessed images of each subject. This analysis employed event-related convolution RG7800 biological activity models using the hemodynamic response function provided by SPM8 (Statistical Parametric Mapping, University College London). Two canonical regressors were constructed for each condition (i.e. observation and imitation). The onset and duration of these models were matched to the onset and duration of the movie clip, and therefore, the duration of the predicted blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal for each conditionS. Hanawa et al.|Fig. 2. fMRI design. The fMRI design used in this study included two phases within a block: the observation phase and the imitation phase. The participants were instructed to observe an action (observation phase) and then imitate that action (imitation phase) during the fMRI scan. The movie clip that was presented in each phase was the same. Each phase began with a short rest (10.5 s) followed by the instructions (2 s) and then the presentation of the action (10 s). There was a 12.5-s rest break and instruction period between the observation and the imitation phases. One block lasted a total of 45 s. The movie clips were presented in a pseudorandom order, and the experimental session lasted a total of 18 min and 24 s.was 10 s. Mistakes made during the observation condition, such as hand movements made by a participant, or during the imitation condition, such as incorrect imitation of the action by a participant, were assigned to a failure block, which was modeled separately and not analyzed further. Since the neural activations exhibiting amplitudes that were parametrically modulated by action-specific parameters (i.e. Urge and other confounding factors) were of particular interest, parametric modulation analyses were implemented in SPM8, which implements not only canonical regressors to the model mean response for each phase, but also parametric regressors to model modulation during the responses that correlated with parameter. Four parametric modulation models corresponding to the four parameters used to investigate modulatory effects were constructed, and therefore, the five regressors were set up in a design matrix (Observation-canonical, Observationparametric, Imitation-canonical, Imitation-parametric and Failure-canonical) for each parameter. To remove the artifacts generated by head motions during imaging, estimated motion parameters of six columns were entered in the first level. The statistical inference of parameter estimates in the parametrically modulated model was performed with a second-level between-participants (random effects) model using a onesample t-test. Brain regions in which the degree of activation was positively correlated (i.e. positive p.And Rhythm on a 7-point scale using a laptop in a soundproof room.fMRI data analysisfMRI data were preprocessed and analyzed using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM8) software (Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, London, UK) implemented in MATLAB R2013b (MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA). As a preprocessing procedure, correction for head motion, slice timing, spatial normalization using the EPI-MNI template and smoothing using a Gaussian kernel with a full-width at half maximum of 6 mm were conducted. A conventional two-level approach for the multi-subject fMRI dataset was adopted. As a first-level withinsubject (fixed effects) analysis for parameter estimation, a voxel-by-voxel multiple regression analysis of the expected signal changes was applied to the preprocessed images of each subject. This analysis employed event-related convolution models using the hemodynamic response function provided by SPM8 (Statistical Parametric Mapping, University College London). Two canonical regressors were constructed for each condition (i.e. observation and imitation). The onset and duration of these models were matched to the onset and duration of the movie clip, and therefore, the duration of the predicted blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal for each conditionS. Hanawa et al.|Fig. 2. fMRI design. The fMRI design used in this study included two phases within a block: the observation phase and the imitation phase. The participants were instructed to observe an action (observation phase) and then imitate that action (imitation phase) during the fMRI scan. The movie clip that was presented in each phase was the same. Each phase began with a short rest (10.5 s) followed by the instructions (2 s) and then the presentation of the action (10 s). There was a 12.5-s rest break and instruction period between the observation and the imitation phases. One block lasted a total of 45 s. The movie clips were presented in a pseudorandom order, and the experimental session lasted a total of 18 min and 24 s.was 10 s. Mistakes made during the observation condition, such as hand movements made by a participant, or during the imitation condition, such as incorrect imitation of the action by a participant, were assigned to a failure block, which was modeled separately and not analyzed further. Since the neural activations exhibiting amplitudes that were parametrically modulated by action-specific parameters (i.e. Urge and other confounding factors) were of particular interest, parametric modulation analyses were implemented in SPM8, which implements not only canonical regressors to the model mean response for each phase, but also parametric regressors to model modulation during the responses that correlated with parameter. Four parametric modulation models corresponding to the four parameters used to investigate modulatory effects were constructed, and therefore, the five regressors were set up in a design matrix (Observation-canonical, Observationparametric, Imitation-canonical, Imitation-parametric and Failure-canonical) for each parameter. To remove the artifacts generated by head motions during imaging, estimated motion parameters of six columns were entered in the first level. The statistical inference of parameter estimates in the parametrically modulated model was performed with a second-level between-participants (random effects) model using a onesample t-test. Brain regions in which the degree of activation was positively correlated (i.e. positive p.