Simulated actions in the first and in the third person perspectives share common representations

Normal subjects simulated a grasping action with two levels of difficulty of the grasp. In one condition, they simulated the movement from their own, first person perspective (1P). In the other condition, they simulated the same movement made by a person facing them (third person perspective 3P). The time to complete the movement was found to be closely similar in the two conditions. Furthermore, the same difference in simulation time between easy and difficult grasps was retained in the two conditions. These results show that a self-generated and an observed action share the same representation. This representation can be used from different perspectives.