Abstract
In this Research Topic, we aimed to develop our understandingof cognition by considering the diverse and dynamic relationshipbetween the language we use, our bodily perceptions, and ouractions andinteractions inthebroaderenvironment. Wereceivedtwenty-six articles that take very different approaches to explor-ingthequestionofhowourbodiesandtheenvironmentinfluencecognition.Severalpapersexaminehowperceptualconceptsaredevelopedand accessed. Gainotti (2012) reviews evidence from cognitiveneuropsychology and proposes that different types of conceptsdifferentially rely on sensorimotor experience, with somatosen-sory and movement information playing a major role in artifactrepresentationsandvisualandotherperceptualinformationplay-ingamajorroleintherepresentationoflivingthings. Krauseetal.(2013)findaninterference effectbetween fingersandnumbersina numerosity comparison task and suggest that it emerges froman embodied representation of number based on a shared metricfor symbolic and tactile numerosities. Since perceptual stimula-tion sometimes interferes with and sometimes facilitates otherconceptual processing Connell and Lynott (2012), review recentfindings andproposethatthese differences arisedueto the atten-tional demands on modality-specific processing. Two groups useevent-related potentials to examine how perceptual informationis accessed in conceptual tasks. Hald et al. (2013) find evidencefor modality-specific grounded representations when processingnegated sentences, and demonstrate differential modulation ofthe N400 according to whether or not a true vs. false sentenceinvolves modality switching. Louwerse and Hutchinson (2012)show that different tasks rely on linguistic vs. perceptual infor-mation to different extents, with activation in linguistic corticalregions preceding activation in perceptual cortical regions whenboth types of processing were associated with the task.As well as perceptual information, motor information relat-ing to action concepts was also a central topic. In a review ofbehavioral and neuroimaging work on semantics across differ-ent domains (e.g., concrete/abstract words, numbers, and arith-metic), Hauk and Tschentscher (2013) argue that the specificfunction of sensorimotor areas in processing meaning remainsunclear, and suggest that only by employing a combination ofmethods cancausalunderpinningsbededuced.However,intheirreview, Tomasino and Rumiati (2013) contend that the strategy aparticipant employs in a task is more important than the natureofthestimulusindetermining whether motorsimulationswillbeactivated and support the view that the motor system is impli-cated in—but not necessary to—semantic processing. Locatelliet al. (2012) provide evidence for the role of motor experiencein motor semantics by demonstrating that action experience inthe form of manual dexterity training facilitated subsequent per-formance in judging sentence-picture pairs that were related tothe previously-learned actions. Motor semantics also depend onthetimeatwhichanactionisdescribedastakingplace.Andersonetal.(2013)foundthatchangingthegrammaticalaspectofactionverbs (e.g.,
Highlights
Gainotti (2012) reviews evidence from cognitive neuropsychology and proposes that different types of concepts differentially rely on sensorimotor experience, with somatosensory and movement information playing a major role in artifact representations and visual and other perceptual information playing a major role in the representation of living things
Louwerse and Hutchinson (2012) show that different tasks rely on linguistic vs. perceptual information to different extents, with activation in linguistic cortical regions preceding activation in perceptual cortical regions when both types of processing were associated with the task
Locatelli et al (2012) provide evidence for the role of motor experience in motor semantics by demonstrating that action experience in the form of manual dexterity training facilitated subsequent performance in judging sentence-picture pairs that were related to the previously-learned actions
Summary
Several papers examine how perceptual concepts are developed and accessed. Gainotti (2012) reviews evidence from cognitive neuropsychology and proposes that different types of concepts differentially rely on sensorimotor experience, with somatosensory and movement information playing a major role in artifact representations and visual and other perceptual information playing a major role in the representation of living things. Krause et al (2013) find an interference effect between fingers and numbers in a numerosity comparison task and suggest that it emerges from an embodied representation of number based on a shared metric for symbolic and tactile numerosities. Gainotti (2012) reviews evidence from cognitive neuropsychology and proposes that different types of concepts differentially rely on sensorimotor experience, with somatosensory and movement information playing a major role in artifact representations and visual and other perceptual information playing a major role in the representation of living things.
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