Abstract The purpose of the paper is to study whether sentence comprehension modulates the motor system. Participants were presented with 24 pairs of nouns and verbs that could be referred to hand and mouth actions (e.g., to unwrap vs. to suck the sweet), in the first block, or, in the second block, to 24 hand and foot actions (e.g., to throw vs. kick the ball). An equal number of non sensible pairs were presented. Participants’ task consisted of deciding whether the combination made sense or not: 20 participants responded by saying yes loudly into a microphone, 20 by pressing a pedal. Results support embodied theories of language comprehension, as they suggest that sentence processing activates an action simulation. This simulation is quite detailed, as it is sensitive to the effector involved. Namely, it lead to a facilitation in responses to ‘mouth sentences’ and ‘foot sentences’ compared to ‘hand sentences’ in case of congruency between the effectors – mouth and foot – involved in the motor response and in the sentence.

Sentence comprehension and action: Effector specific modulation of the motor system / Scorolli, Claudia; Borghi, ANNA MARIA. - In: BRAIN RESEARCH. - ISSN 0006-8993. - 1130:(2007), pp. 119-124. [10.1016/j.brainres.2006.10.033]

Sentence comprehension and action: Effector specific modulation of the motor system

BORGHI, ANNA MARIA
2007

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of the paper is to study whether sentence comprehension modulates the motor system. Participants were presented with 24 pairs of nouns and verbs that could be referred to hand and mouth actions (e.g., to unwrap vs. to suck the sweet), in the first block, or, in the second block, to 24 hand and foot actions (e.g., to throw vs. kick the ball). An equal number of non sensible pairs were presented. Participants’ task consisted of deciding whether the combination made sense or not: 20 participants responded by saying yes loudly into a microphone, 20 by pressing a pedal. Results support embodied theories of language comprehension, as they suggest that sentence processing activates an action simulation. This simulation is quite detailed, as it is sensitive to the effector involved. Namely, it lead to a facilitation in responses to ‘mouth sentences’ and ‘foot sentences’ compared to ‘hand sentences’ in case of congruency between the effectors – mouth and foot – involved in the motor response and in the sentence.
2007
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Sentence comprehension and action: Effector specific modulation of the motor system / Scorolli, Claudia; Borghi, ANNA MARIA. - In: BRAIN RESEARCH. - ISSN 0006-8993. - 1130:(2007), pp. 119-124. [10.1016/j.brainres.2006.10.033]
File allegati a questo prodotto
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/929283
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 103
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 93
social impact