How meaning unfolds in neural time: Embodied reactivations can precede multimodal semantic effects during language processing

García, Adolfo M.; Moguilner, Sebastián; Torquati, K.; García‐Marco, Enrique; Herrera, Eduar; Muñoz, Édinson; Castillo, Eduardo M.; Kleineschay, Tara; Sedeño, Lucas; Ibáñez, Agustín

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.05.002

Cited by 50 publications

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“…In particular, previous evidence indicates that embodied effects are varyingly sensitive to task‐related factors, with some studies revealing them to emerge exclusively, more durably or similarly (for a review see García & Ibáñez, ) in explicit relative to implicit semantic paradigms. However, previous writing studies in the embodied framework (García & Ibáñez, ; García‐Marco et al, ) have failed to consider both processing levels, thus casting doubts on the systematicity of such effects—which proves problematic, given that embodied effects may only be interpreted as primary if obtained via implicit tasks (García et al, ; Hauk et al, ; Kiefer et al, ; Mollo et al, ) and their thorough understanding calls for assessments contemplating both conditions (Fernandino et al, ). By addressing these questions, this study aims to further illuminate the embodied synergy between linguistic and motoric processes during an early learned, highly automatized activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Embodied Penman: Effector‐Specific Motor–Language Integration During Handwriting

et al. 2019

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Several studies have illuminated how processing manual action verbs (MaVs) affects the programming or execution of concurrent hand movements. Here, to circumvent key confounds in extant designs, we conducted the first assessment of motor–language integration during handwriting—a task in which linguistic and motoric processes are co‐substantiated. Participants copied MaVs, non‐manual action verbs, and non‐action verbs as we collected measures of motor programming and motor execution. Programming latencies were similar across conditions, but execution was faster for MaVs than for the other categories, regardless of whether word meanings were accessed implicitly or explicitly. In line with the Hand‐Action‐Network Dynamic Language Embodiment (HANDLE) model, such findings suggest that effector‐congruent verbs can prime manual movements even during highly automatized tasks in which motoric and verbal processes are naturally intertwined. Our paradigm opens new avenues for fine‐grained explorations of embodied language processes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Embodied Penman: Effector‐Specific Motor–Language Integration During Handwriting

et al. 2019

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“…2014 ; Shtyrov and Stroganova 2015 ; Mollo et al. 2016 , 2017 ; Pulvermüller 2018 ; García et al. 2019 ).…”

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“…Key experiments have focused on motor-network engagement by bodily action verbs, yielding inconsistent results: while several studies have reported rapid (<200 ms) modality-specific modulations ( Shtyrov et al . 2014 ; García et al . 2019 ), others have observed such effects only in postconceptual (>300 ms) stages ( Papeo et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Time to Face Language: Embodied Mechanisms Underpin the Inception of Face-Related Meanings in the Human Brain

et al. 2020

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In construing meaning, the brain recruits multimodal (conceptual) systems and embodied (modality-specific) mechanisms. Yet, no consensus exists on how crucial the latter are for the inception of semantic distinctions. To address this issue, we combined electroencephalographic (EEG) and intracranial EEG (iEEG) to examine when nouns denoting facial body parts (FBPs) and nonFBPs are discriminated in face-processing and multimodal networks. First, FBP words increased N170 amplitude (a hallmark of early facial processing). Second, they triggered fast (~100 ms) activity boosts within the face-processing network, alongside later (~275 ms) effects in multimodal circuits. Third, iEEG recordings from face-processing hubs allowed decoding ~80% of items before 200 ms, while classification based on multimodal-network activity only surpassed ~70% after 250 ms. Finally, EEG and iEEG connectivity between both networks proved greater in early (0–200 ms) than later (200–400 ms) windows. Collectively, our findings indicate that, at least for some lexico-semantic categories, meaning is construed through fast reenactments of modality-specific experience.

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“…The written word 'telephone' activates auditory cortex more than words that do not have auditory connotations 22 , 'red' activates the visual colour region V4 23 , 'kick' activates dorsal motor regions involved in moving the legs 24 and 'garlic' activates olfactory cortex 25 . These activity patterns occur early, within 50-150 ms of word onset, while they are still being read or heard 22,[26][27][28] . This implies that the increased involvement of sensory and motor regions is not simply a post-perceptual process, somehow separable from true 'language regions'.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reorganization of the neurobiology of language after sentence overlearning

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Brown

et al. 2020

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There is a widespread assumption that there are a static set of ‘language regions’ in the brain. Yet, people still regularly produce familiar ‘formulaic’ expressions when those regions are severely damaged. This suggests that the neurobiology of language varies with the extent of word sequence learning and might not be fixed. We test the hypothesis that perceiving sentences is mostly supported by sensorimotor regions involved in speech production and not ‘language regions’ after overlearning. Twelve participants underwent two sessions of behavioural testing and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), separated by 15 days. During this period, they repeated two sentences 30 times each, twice a day. In both fMRI sessions, participants ‘passively’ listened to those two sentences and novel sentences. Lastly, they spoke novel sentences. Behavioural results confirm that participants overlearned sentences. Correspondingly, there was an increase or recruitment of sensorimotor regions involved in sentence production and a reduction in activity or inactivity for overlearned sentences in regions involved in listening to novel sentences. The global network organization of the brain changed by ∼45%, mostly through lost connectivity. Thus, there was a profound reorganization of the neurobiology of speech perception after overlearning towards sensorimotor regions not considered in most contemporary models and away from the ‘language regions’ posited by those models. These same sensorimotor regions are generally preserved in aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease, perhaps explaining residual abilities with formulaic language. These and other results warrant reconsidering static neurobiological models of language.

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How meaning unfolds in neural time: Embodied reactivations can precede multimodal semantic effects during language processing

Cited by 50 publications

References 104 publications

The Embodied Penman: Effector‐Specific Motor–Language Integration During Handwriting

The Embodied Penman: Effector‐Specific Motor–Language Integration During Handwriting

Time to Face Language: Embodied Mechanisms Underpin the Inception of Face-Related Meanings in the Human Brain

Reorganization of the neurobiology of language after sentence overlearning

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