Abstract
The grounded cognition framework proposes that sensorimotor brain areas, which are typically involved in perception and action, also play a role in linguistic processing. We assessed oscillatory modulation during visual presentation of single verbs and localized cortical motor regions by means of isometric contraction of hand and foot muscles. Analogously to oscillatory activation patterns accompanying voluntary movements, we expected a somatotopically distributed suppression of beta and alpha frequencies in the motor cortex during processing of body-related action verbs. Magnetoencephalographic data were collected during presentation of verbs that express actions performed using the hands (H) or feet (F). Verbs denoting no bodily movement (N) were used as a control. Between 150 and 500 msec after visual word onset, beta rhythms were suppressed in H and F in comparison with N in the left hemisphere. Similarly, alpha oscillations showed left-lateralized power suppression in the H-N contrast, although at a later stage. The cortical oscillatory activity that typically occurs during voluntary movements is therefore found to somatotopically accompany the processing of body-related verbs. The combination of a localizer task with the oscillatory investigation applied to verb reading as in the present study provides further methodological possibilities of tracking language processing in the brain.
Highlights
Two main theories make assumptions on how the brain processes language and concepts
The somatotopic information derived by a localizer task and the application of a cluster-based nonparametric statistical approach allowed us to find significant oscillatory effects accompanying the processing of single verbs
We hypothesized that the processing of body-related verbs produces beta and alpha power suppression at around 200 msec post word onset in sensorimotor cortical areas that are engaged in the respective action execution
Summary
Two main theories make assumptions on how the brain processes language and concepts. The amodal approach proposes that all concepts are processed in an amodal unit, independently from their modality [1,2]. Grounded (or embodied) cognition theories postulate that perceptual-motor processes are crucial in concept representation [3,4,5]. In this context, it is assumed that body-related action words are handled by the same brain areas involved in the execution of the respective movements. It has been proposed that mirror neurons [6] and Hebbian association mechanisms [5,7,8] implement the functional overlap between action comprehension and execution. A middle ground between the embodied and disembodied cognition hypotheses has been suggested [9]
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