Cortex – Journal

When embodiment breaks down: Language deficits as novel avenues into movement disorders

Cortex - Journal

Published in: Cortex, Volume 100, March 2018, 1-7 Editorial Brief “If cognition is broadly shaped by an interplay of embodied mechanisms (Barsalou, 1999; Gallese & Lakoff, 2005; Gentsch, Weber, Synofzik, Vosgerau, & Schutz-Bosbach, 2016; Pulvermüller, 2005; Zwaan, 2014), then cognitive deficits could be profitably reinterpreted as disruptions of embodiment (Birba et al., 2017). Despite its simplicity and obviousness, […]

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What can autism teach us about the role of sensorimotor systems in higher cognition? New clues from studies on language, action semantics, and abstract emotional concept processing

Cortex - Journal

Published in: Cortex, Volume 100, March 2018, 149-190 Abstract “Within the neurocognitive literature there is much debate about the role of the motor system in language, social communication and conceptual processing. We suggest, here, that autism spectrum conditions (ASC) may afford an excellent test case for investigating and evaluating contemporary neurocognitive models, most notably a neurobiological theory of

What can autism teach us about the role of sensorimotor systems in higher cognition? New clues from studies on language, action semantics, and abstract emotional concept processing Read Post »

When syntax meets action: Brain potential evidence of overlapping between language and motor sequencing

Cortex - Journal

Published in: Cortex, Volume 100, March 2018, 40-51 Abstract “This study aims to extend the embodied cognition approach to syntactic processing. The hypothesis is that the brain resources to plan and perform motor sequences are also involved in syntactic processing. To test this hypothesis, Event-Related brain Potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants read sentences with embedded relative clauses,

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Abstract semantics in the motor system? – An event-related fMRI study on passive reading of semantic word categories carrying abstract emotional and mental meaning

Cortex - Journal

Published in: Cortex, Volume 100, March 2018, 52-70 Abstract “Previous research showed that modality-preferential sensorimotor areas are relevant for processing concrete words used to speak about actions. However, whether modality-preferential areas also play a role for abstract words is still under debate. Whereas recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies suggest an involvement of motor cortex in processing the meaning

Abstract semantics in the motor system? – An event-related fMRI study on passive reading of semantic word categories carrying abstract emotional and mental meaning Read Post »

From meaning to categorization: The hierarchical recruitment of brain circuits selective for action verbs

Cortex - Journal

Published in: Cortex, Volume 100, March 2018, 95-100 Abstract “Sensorimotor and affective brain systems are known to be involved in language processing. However, to date it is still debated whether this involvement is a crucial step of semantic processing or, on the contrary, it is dependent on the specific context or strategy adopted to solve a

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The neural exploitation hypothesis and its implications for an embodied approach to language and cognition: Insights from the study of action verbs processing and motor disorders in Parkinson’s disease

Cortex - Journal

Published in: Cortex, Volume 100, March 2018, 215-225 Abstract “As it is widely known, Parkinson’s disease is clinically characterized by motor disorders such as the loss of voluntary movement control, including resting tremor, postural instability, and bradykinesia (Bocanegra et al., 2015; Helmich, Hallett, Deuschl, Toni, & Bloem, 2012; Liu et al., 2006; Rosin, Topka, & Dichgans, 1997). In the last years, many empirical

The neural exploitation hypothesis and its implications for an embodied approach to language and cognition: Insights from the study of action verbs processing and motor disorders in Parkinson’s disease Read Post »

Is procedural memory enhanced in Tourette syndrome? Evidence from a sequence learning task

Cortex - Journal

Published in: Cortex, Volume 100, March 2018, 84-94 Abstract “Procedural memory, which is rooted in the basal ganglia, underlies the learning and processing of numerous automatized motor and cognitive skills, including in language. Not surprisingly, disorders with basal ganglia abnormalities have been found to show impairments of procedural memory. However, brain abnormalities could also lead to

Is procedural memory enhanced in Tourette syndrome? Evidence from a sequence learning task Read Post »

Production of verbs related to body movement in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s Disease (PD)

Cortex - Journal

Published in: Cortex, Volume 100, March 2018, 127-139 Abstract “Theories of grounded cognition propose that action verb knowledge relies in part on motor processing regions, including premotor cortex. Accordingly, impaired action verb knowledge in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is thought to be due to motor system degeneration. Upper motor neuron disease in ALS degrades the motor cortex and related pyramidal

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A systematic linguistic profile of spontaneous narrative speech in pre-symptomatic and early stage Huntington’s disease

Cortex - Journal

Published in: Cortex, Volume 100, March 2018, 71-83 Abstract “Cognitive decline accompanying the clinically more salient motor symptoms of Huntington’s disease (HD) has been widely noted and can precede motor symptoms onset. Less clear is how such decline bears on language functions in everyday life, though a small number of experimental studies have revealed difficulties with the application

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