PMID- 25517511
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20150930
LR  - 20190223
IS  - 1932-6203 (Electronic)
IS  - 1932-6203 (Linking)
VI  - 9
IP  - 12
DP  - 2014
TI  - Is this car looking at you? How anthropomorphism predicts fusiform face area 
      activation when seeing cars.
PG  - e113885
LID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0113885 [doi]
LID - e113885
AB  - 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.
FAU - Kuhn, Simone
AU  - Kuhn S
AD  - Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 
      Lentzeallee 94, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
FAU - Brick, Timothy R
AU  - Brick TR
AD  - Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 
      Lentzeallee 94, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
FAU - Muller, Barbara C N
AU  - Muller BC
AD  - Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University of Nijmegen, P. O. Box 9104, 
      6500 HE, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilian 
      University, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802, Munchen, Germany.
FAU - Gallinat, Jurgen
AU  - Gallinat J
AD  - Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charite University Medicine, St. 
      Hedwig-Krankenhaus, Grosse Hamburger Strasse 5-11, 10115, Berlin, Germany; Clinic 
      and Policlinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Clinic 
      Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20141217
PL  - United States
TA  - PLoS One
JT  - PloS one
JID - 101285081
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - *Automobiles
MH  - Brain/physiology
MH  - Brain Mapping
MH  - *Face
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
MH  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MH  - Male
MH  - Theory of Mind/physiology
MH  - Visual Perception/*physiology
MH  - Young Adult
PMC - PMC4269424
COIS- Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
EDAT- 2014/12/18 06:00
MHDA- 2015/10/01 06:00
PMCR- 2014/12/17
CRDT- 2014/12/18 06:00
PHST- 2014/05/01 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2014/10/31 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2014/12/18 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2014/12/18 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2015/10/01 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2014/12/17 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - PONE-D-14-19625 [pii]
AID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0113885 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - PLoS One. 2014 Dec 17;9(12):e113885. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113885. 
      eCollection 2014.