Finding the Body in the Brain. From Simulation Theory to Embodied Simulation. From: Goldman and His Critics, First Edition. Edited by Brian McLaughlin and Hilary K. Kornblith. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. In press. (original) (raw)
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Brain and language, 2010
The embodied cognition approach to the study of the mind proposes that higher order mental processessuch as concept formation and language are essentially based on perceptual and motor processes. Contrary to the classical approach in cognitive science, in which concepts are viewed as amodal, arbitrary symbols, embodied semantics argues that concepts must be ‘‘grounded” in sensorimotor experiencesin order to have meaning. In line with this view, neuroimaging studies have shown aroughly somatotopicpattern of activation along cortical motor areas (broadly construed) for the observation of actions involving different body parts, as well as for action-related language comprehension. These findings have beeninterpreted in terms of a mirror-neuron system, which automatically matches observed and executed actions. However, the somatotopic pattern of activation found in these studies is very coarse, with significant overlap between body parts, and sometimes with multiple representations for the same body part. Furthermore, the localization of the respective activations varies considerably across studies. Based on recent work on the motor cortex in monkeys, we suggest that these discrepancies result from the organization of the primate motor cortex, which probably includes maps of the coordinated actions making up the individual’s motor repertoire, rather than a single, continuous mapof the body. We review neurophysiological and neuroimaging data supporting this hypothesis and discuss ways in which this framework can be used to further test the links between neural mirroring and linguistic processing.
Motor cognition–motor semantics
2015
A new perspective on cognition views cortical cell assemblies linking together knowledge about actions and perceptions not only as the vehicles of integrated action and perception processing but, furthermore, as a brain basis for a wide range of higher cortical functions, including attention, meaning and concepts, sequences, goals and intentions, and even communicative social interaction. This article explains mechanisms relevant to mechanistic action perception theory, points to concrete neuronal circuits in brains along with artificial neuronal network simulations, and summarizes recent brain imaging and other experimental data documenting the role of action perception circuits in cognition, language and communication.
At the root of embodied cognition: cognitive science meets neurophysiology
Brain and cognition, 2004
Recent experimental research in the field of neurophysiology has led to the discovery of two classes of visuomotor neurons: canonical neurons and mirror neurons. In light of these studies, we propose here an overview of two classical themes in the cognitive science panorama: James Gibson's theory of affordances and Eleanor Rosch's principles of categorization. We discuss how theoretical perspectives and neuroscientific evidence are converging towards the current paradigm of embodied cognition. From this perspective, we discuss the role of action and simulation in cognitive processes, which lead to the perceptual recognition of objects, and actions and to their conceptual categorization.
At the mercy of strategies: the role of motor representations in language understanding.
Classical cognitive theories hold that word representations in the brain are abstract and amodal, and are independent of the objects' sensorimotor properties they refer to. An alternative hypothesis emphasizes the importance of bodily processes in cognition: the representation of a concept appears to be crucially dependent upon perceptual-motor processes that relate to it. Thus, understanding action-related words would rely upon the same motor structures that also support the execution of the same actions. In this context, motor simulation represents a key component. Our approach is to draw parallels between the literature on mental rotation and the literature on action verb/sentence processing. Here we will discuss recent studies on mental imagery, mental rotation, and language that clearly demonstrate how motor simulation is neither automatic nor necessary to language understanding. These studies have shown that motor representations can or cannot be activated depending on the type of strategy the participants adopt to perform tasks involving motor phrases. On the one hand, participants may imagine the movement with the body parts used to carry out the actions described by the verbs (i.e., motor strategy); on the other, individuals may solve the task without simulating the corresponding movements (i.e., visual strategy). While it is not surprising that the motor strategy is at work when participants process action-related verbs, it is however striking that sensorimotor activation has been reported also for imageable concrete words with no motor content, for "non-words" with regular phonology, for pseudo-verb stimuli, and also for negations. Based on the extant literature, we will argue that implicit motor imagery is not uniquely used when a body-related stimulus is encountered, and that it is not the type of stimulus that automatically triggers the motor simulation but the type of strategy. Finally, we will also comment on the view that sensorimotor activations are subjected to a top-down modulation.
Section of Cognitive Neuroscience (editor Stefano Cappa). Elsevier Embodiment theories
2020
Embodied cognition (EC) views propose that cognition is shaped by the kind of body organisms possess. We overview recent literature on EC, highlighting the differences between stronger and weaker versions of the theory. We also illustrate the debates on the notions of simulation, of representation, and on the role of the motor system for cognition, and we address some of the most important research topics. Future challenges concern the understanding of how abstract concepts and words are represented, and the relationship between EC and other promising approaches, the distributional views of meaning and the extended mind views. Definition of Embodied Cognition Embodied cognition theory (EC) is intended as a response to the increasing dominance of the classic representational and computational theories of mind (RCTM) in cognitive science. Despite many versions of embodied theories, there are however at least two commonalities between all EC approaches. The first is the view that cogni...
Language and Cognition, 2014
Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract\_S1866980814000362 How to cite this article: DAVID KEMMERER Does the motor system contribute to the perception and understanding of actions? Reflections on Gregory Hickok's The myth of mirror neurons: the real neuroscience of communication and cognition. Language and Cognition, a b s t r a c t It has been said that mirror neurons are "the most hyped concept in neuroscience" (Jarrett, 2012 ). In his book The myth of mirror neurons: the real neuroscience of communication and cognition , Gregory Hickok does the fi eld a great service by cutting through this hype and showing that, contrary to the views of many laypeople as well as some experts, mirror neurons are not the fundamental 'basis' of action understanding. I argue here, however, that he takes his critique too far by eff ectively denying that the motor system plays any signifi cant role at all in the perception and interpretation of actions. In fact, a large literature strongly supports the hypothesis that motor regions in the frontal and parietal lobes not only subserve the execution of actions, but also contribute to the comprehension of actions, regardless of whether they are directly observed or linguistically represented. In addition, recent research suggests that although the articulatory system is involved primarily in speech production, it enhances speech perception too, even when the auditory stimuli are not explicitly attended.