Flexibility in Language Action Interaction: The Influence of Movement Type

Abstract

Recent neuropsychological studies in neurological patients and healthy subjects suggest a close functional relationship between the brain systems for language and action. Facilitation and inhibition effects of motor system activity on language processing have been demonstrated as well as causal effects in the reverse direction, from language processes on motor excitability or performance. However, as the documented effects between motor and language systems were sometimes facilitatory and sometimes inhibitory, the “sign” of these effects still remains to be explained. In a previous study, we reported a word-category-specific differential impairment of verbal working memory for concordant arm- and leg-related action words brought about by complex sequential movements of the hands and feet. In this article, we seek to determine whether the sign of the functional interaction between language and action systems of the human brain can be changed in a predictable manner by changing movement type. We here report that the sign of the effect of motor movement on action word memory can be reversed from interference to facilitation if, instead of complex movement sequences, simple repetitive movements are performed. Specifically, when engaged in finger tapping, subjects were able to remember relatively more arm-related action words (as compared to control conditions), thus documenting an enhancement of working memory brought about by simple hand movements. In contrast, when performing complex sequences of finger movements, an effector-specific degradation of action word memory was found. By manipulating the sign of the effect in accord with theory-driven predictions, these findings provide support for shared neural bases for motor movement and verbal working memory for action-related words and strengthen the argument that motor systems play a causal and functionally relevant role in language processing semantically related to action.

First and Second Language at Hand: A Chronometric Transcranial-Magnetic Stimulation Study on Semantic and Motor Resonance

“…Interestingly, the two studies showing an embodiment effect at a similar SOA −150 msec (Tomasino et al, 2008;Pulvermüller et al, 2005) used a subthreshold intensity of stimulation. The intensity of stimulation could then be another factor influencing the polarity of action-language interaction, especially keeping in mind that, according to Shebani and Pulvermüller (2018), single pulse TMS can be considered as a weak activation of the motor cortex, which should not interfere with, but is enough to prime the semantic system and therefore facilitate the RTs. Last but not least, the present experiment was designed around the contrast L1 versus L2, another factor that conditionally influences the analyses and their interpretations compared to other studies.…”

Language as a Predictor of Motor Recovery: The Case for a More Global Approach to Stroke Rehabilitation

“…53 Moreover motor system activity can have facilitatory and inhibitory effects on language processing of action related words. 54…”

Editorial: Manual Skills, Handedness, and the Organization of Language in the Brain

“…For example, changes in motor system functioning could flexibly influence comprehension and acquisition of words (cf. Shebani and Pülvermuller, 2018). An intriguing paper by Yasuda et al demonstrates that while peripheral body states influence action verb processing, in contrast to a strong embodiment view, constrained arm posture affected responses to both manual and non-manual action verbs.…”