Motion verb sentences activate left posterior middle temporal cortex despite static context

Abstract

The left posterior middle temporal region, anterior to V5/MT, has been shown to be responsive both to images with implied motion, to simulated motion, and to motion verbs. In this study, we investigated whether sentence context alters the response of the left posterior middle temporal region. 'Fictive motion' sentences are sentences in which an inanimate subject noun, semantically incapable of self movement, is coupled with a motion verb, yielding an apparent semantic contradiction (e.g. 'The path comes into the garden.'). However, this context yields no less activation in the left posterior middle temporal region than sentences in which the motion can be applied to the subject noun. We speculate that the left posterior middle temporal region activity in fictive motion sentences reflects the fact that the hearer applies motion to the depicted scenario by scanning it egocentrically.

Independent Representations of Verbs and Actions in Left Lateral Temporal Cortex

“…This raises the possibility that verb selectivity in the left LTC may be driven primarily by semantic differences between action verbs and object nouns. Indeed, several studies have found that sentences referring to actions activate regions in LTC (Wallentin et al, 2011;Deen & McCarthy, 2010;Rueschemeyer, Glenberg, Kaschak, Mueller, & Friederici, 2010;Saygin, McCullough, Alac, & Emmorey, 2010;Hauk, Davis, Kherif, & Pulvermuller, 2008;Wallentin, Lund, Ostergaard, Ostergaard, & Roepstorff, 2005;Davis, Meunier, & Marslen-Wilson, 2004), including a verb-selective region in STS (Davis et al, 2004). However, a recent study investigating responses in functionally localized verb-selective LTC regions showed that these regions are not modulated by the amount of visual motion or motor activity associated with verbs, with equally selective responses to verbs such as to jump and to think (Bedny et al, 2008).…”

Neural correlates of partial lexical activation

“…Although experiments using a variety of behavioral paradigms have shown that syntactic, semantic, and nonlinguistic features of the words in the active competitor set are available before word recognition is complete (5-9), there is no neural evidence indicating whether semantic representations are involved in this competition. However, other behavioral tasks have shown interactions between perceptual processing and language processing (10-13), and recent neuroimaging evidence suggests that the concepts that are activated by written or spoken words are distributed across cortical regions intrinsically involved in perception and action (7,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22). Nevertheless, there is debate about whether the recruitment of these semantically induced activations in perceptual brain areas is automatic or strategic (23).…”

Cognitive Literary Studies: Current Themes and New Directions

“…In this context, the processing of verbs of motion can be understood as contributing to the overall effect of experienc ing a virtual self observing and acting in an imagined world. When we process motion verbs, we engage many of the same neural and cognitive resources that we use when actually executing the motions in question or when observing those motions being executed by others (Wallentin et al 2005; summary in Wheeler and Bergen 2010). Neural activation occurs also when action verbs are used with inanimate subjects in "fictive motion" contexts, when they de scribe static scenes in a way that traditionally would be considered metaphoric because something inanimate is represented as animate.…”

“…It has also been shown that fictive motion involves mental simulation of mo tion that is immediately integrated with eye movement and visual processing (Matlock 2004;Richardson and Matlock 2007), and that fictive motion sen tences yield no less activation in the left posterior middle temporal region than sentences with subjects to which action can be applied. The same area is implicated in processing images of motion and implied motion (Wallentin et al 2005).…”

“…The two stanzas constructed around "drops" and "bends" suggest forward motion as if a viewer is following a viewing pathway, but the somatic effect is strengthened almost wholly by lexical repe tition. One gets motion processing with images of motion, motion words, and sentences that allow literal or fictive motion interpretations (Wallentin et al 2005). To a certain degree, one can achieve the cognitive effects of mo tion processing without fulfilling even the frame requirements of the motion verb.…”