Although generally studied in isolation, language and action often co-occur everyday life. Here we investigated one particular form of simultaneous action, namely speech gestures that speakers use communication. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging study, identified the neural networks involved integration semantic information from gestures. Verbal and/or gestural content could be integrated easily or less with preceding part speech. Premotor areas observation (Brodmann area [BA] 6)...

During language comprehension, listeners use the global semantic representation from previous sentence or discourse context to immediately integrate meaning of each upcoming word into unfolding message-level representation. Here we investigate whether communicative gestures that often spontaneously co-occur with speech are processed in a similar fashion and integrated same way as lexical meaning. Event-related potentials were measured while subjects listened spoken sentences critical verb...

Impaired understanding of others' sensations and emotions as well abnormal experience their own is frequently reported in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).It hypothesized that these abnormalities are based on altered connectivity within ''shared'' neural networks involved emotional awareness self others.The insula considered a central brain region network underlying functions, being located at the transition information about bodily arousal physiological state body to...

The notion of prediction is studied in cognitive neuroscience with increasing intensity. We investigated the neural basis 2 distinct aspects word prediction, derived from information theory, during story comprehension. assessed effect entropy next-word probability distributions as well surprisal. A computational model determined and surprisal for each 3 literary stories. Twenty-four healthy participants listened to same stories while their brain activation was measured using fMRI. Reversed...

According to theories of embodied cognition, understanding a verb like throw involves unconsciously simulating the action throwing, using areas brain that support motor planning. If words mentally one’s own actions, then neurocognitive representation word meanings should differ for people with different kinds bodies, who perform actions in systematically ways. In test body-specificity hypothesis, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging compare premotor activity correlated right- and...

Does language comprehension depend, in part, on neural systems for action? In previous studies, motor areas of the brain were activated when people read or listened to action verbs, but it remains unclear whether such activation is functionally relevant comprehension. experiments reported here, we used off-line theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation investigate a causal relationship exists between activity premotor cortex and action-language understanding. Right-handed participants...

Abstract According to embodied theories of language, people understand a verb like throw, at least in part, by mentally simulating throwing. This implicit simulation is often assumed be similar or identical motor imagery. Here we used fMRI test whether simulations actions during language understanding involve the same cortical regions as explicit Healthy participants were presented with verbs related hand (e.g., throw) and nonmanual kneel). They either read these (lexical decision task)...

Do people use sensori-motor cortices to understand language? Here we review neurocognitive studies of language comprehension in healthy adults and evaluate their possible contributions theories the brain. We start by sketching minimal predictions that an embodied theory understanding makes for empirical research, then survey have been offered as evidence semantic representations. explore four debated issues: first, does activation during action imply semantics relies on mirror neurons?...

The left-hemisphere dominance for language is a core example of the functional specialization cerebral hemispheres. degree depends on hand preference: Whereas majority right-handers show left-hemispheric lateralization, this number reduced in left-handers. Here, we assessed whether handedness analogously has an influence upon lateralization visual system. Using magnetic resonance imaging, localized 4 more or less specialized extrastriate areas left- and right-handers, namely fusiform face...

Instrumental music and language are both syntactic systems, employing complex, hierarchically-structured sequences built using implicit structural norms. This organization allows listeners to understand the role of individual words or tones in context an unfolding sentence melody. Previous studies suggest that brain mechanisms processing may be partly shared between language. However, functional neuroimaging evidence for anatomical overlap activity involved linguistic musical has been...

The left and right sides of the human brain are specialized for different kinds information processing, much our cognition is lateralized to an extent towards one side or other. Handedness a reflection nervous system lateralization. Roughly ten percent people mixed- left-handed, they show elevated rate reductions reversals some cerebral functional asymmetries compared right-handers. Brain anatomical correlates left-handedness have also been suggested. However, relationships structure...

We investigate the effects of two types relationship between words a sentence or text – predictability and semantic similarity by reanalysing electroencephalography (EEG) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from studies in which participants comprehend naturalistic stimuli. Each content word's given previous is quantified probabilistic language model, to distributional semantics model. Brain activity time-locked each word regressed on model-derived measures. Results show that...

Personal pronouns have been shown to influence cognitive perspective taking during comprehension. Studies using single sentences found that 3rd person facilitate the construction of a mental model from an observer's perspective, whereas 2nd support actor's perspective. The direction effect for 1st seems depend on situational context. In present study, we investigated how personal discourse comprehension when people read fiction stories and if this has consequences affective components like...

Abstract Recent research indicates that language processing relies on brain areas dedicated to perception and action. For example, words denoting manipulable objects has been shown activate a fronto-parietal network involved in actual tool use. This is suggested reflect the knowledge subject about how are moved used. However, information use an object may be much more central conceptual representation of than move object. Therefore, there fine-grained distinctions between neural level,...

Understanding language always occurs within a situational context and, therefore, often implies combining streams of information from different domains and modalities. One such combination is that spoken visual information, which are perceived together in variety ways during everyday communication. Here we investigate whether how words pictures differ terms their neural correlates when they integrated into previously built-up sentence context. This assessed two experiments looking at the...

Recent years have seen a large amount of empirical studies related to "embodied cognition." While interesting and valuable, there is something dissatisfying with the current state affairs in this research domain. Hypotheses tend be underspecified, testing general terms for embodied versus disembodied processing. The lack specificity hypotheses can easily lead an erosion embodiment concept, result situation which essentially any effect taken as positive evidence. Such not helpful field does...

If motor imagery uses neural structures involved in action execution, then the correlates of imagining an should differ between individuals who tend to execute differently. Here we report fMRI data showing that is influenced by way people habitually perform actions with their particular bodies; is, 'body-specific' (Casasanto, 2009). During mental for complex hand actions, activation cortical areas planning and execution was left-lateralized right-handers but right-lateralized left-handers....