A Neuroanatomical Examination of Embodied Cognition: Semantic Generation to Action-Related Stimuli
The theory of embodied cognition postulates that the brain represents semantic knowledge as a function of the interaction between the body and the environment. The goal of our research was to provide a neuroanatomical examination of embodied cognition using action-related pictures and words. We used...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2012-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00084/full |
| _version_ | 1818874471137673216 |
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| author | Carrie eEsopenko Layla eGould Jacqueline eCummine Gordon eSarty Naila eKuhlmann Ron eBorowsky |
| author_facet | Carrie eEsopenko Layla eGould Jacqueline eCummine Gordon eSarty Naila eKuhlmann Ron eBorowsky |
| author_sort | Carrie eEsopenko |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The theory of embodied cognition postulates that the brain represents semantic knowledge as a function of the interaction between the body and the environment. The goal of our research was to provide a neuroanatomical examination of embodied cognition using action-related pictures and words. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine whether there were shared and/or unique regions of activation between an ecologically valid semantic generation task and a motor task in the parietal-frontocentral network (PFN), as a function of stimulus format (pictures versus words) for two stimulus types (hand and foot). Unlike other methods for neuroimaging analyses involving subtractive logic or conjoint analyses, this method first isolates shared and unique regions of activation within-participants before generating an averaged map. The results demonstrated shared activation between the semantic generation and motor tasks, which was organized somatotopically in the PFN, as well as unique activation for the semantic generation tasks in proximity to the hand or foot motor cortex. We also found unique and shared regions of activation in the PFN as a function of stimulus format (pictures versus words). These results further elucidate embodied cognition in that they show that brain regions activated during actual motor movements were also activated when an individual verbally generates action-related semantic information. Disembodied cognition theories and limitations are also discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T13:11:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-31140dcc78aa4720a59c6ebe53b7f1aa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T13:11:07Z |
| publishDate | 2012-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-31140dcc78aa4720a59c6ebe53b7f1aa2022-12-21T20:19:55ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612012-04-01610.3389/fnhum.2012.0008420269A Neuroanatomical Examination of Embodied Cognition: Semantic Generation to Action-Related StimuliCarrie eEsopenko0Layla eGould1Jacqueline eCummine2Gordon eSarty3Naila eKuhlmann4Ron eBorowsky5Rotman Research Institute (Univ. of Toronto)University of SaskatchewanUniversity of AlbertaUniversity of SaskatchewanUniversity of SaskatchewanUniversity of SaskatchewanThe theory of embodied cognition postulates that the brain represents semantic knowledge as a function of the interaction between the body and the environment. The goal of our research was to provide a neuroanatomical examination of embodied cognition using action-related pictures and words. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine whether there were shared and/or unique regions of activation between an ecologically valid semantic generation task and a motor task in the parietal-frontocentral network (PFN), as a function of stimulus format (pictures versus words) for two stimulus types (hand and foot). Unlike other methods for neuroimaging analyses involving subtractive logic or conjoint analyses, this method first isolates shared and unique regions of activation within-participants before generating an averaged map. The results demonstrated shared activation between the semantic generation and motor tasks, which was organized somatotopically in the PFN, as well as unique activation for the semantic generation tasks in proximity to the hand or foot motor cortex. We also found unique and shared regions of activation in the PFN as a function of stimulus format (pictures versus words). These results further elucidate embodied cognition in that they show that brain regions activated during actual motor movements were also activated when an individual verbally generates action-related semantic information. Disembodied cognition theories and limitations are also discussed.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00084/fullfMRIEmbodied CognitionAction-RelatedPicturesSemantic Generationwords |
| spellingShingle | Carrie eEsopenko Layla eGould Jacqueline eCummine Gordon eSarty Naila eKuhlmann Ron eBorowsky A Neuroanatomical Examination of Embodied Cognition: Semantic Generation to Action-Related Stimuli Frontiers in Human Neuroscience fMRI Embodied Cognition Action-Related Pictures Semantic Generation words |
| title | A Neuroanatomical Examination of Embodied Cognition: Semantic Generation to Action-Related Stimuli |
| title_full | A Neuroanatomical Examination of Embodied Cognition: Semantic Generation to Action-Related Stimuli |
| title_fullStr | A Neuroanatomical Examination of Embodied Cognition: Semantic Generation to Action-Related Stimuli |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Neuroanatomical Examination of Embodied Cognition: Semantic Generation to Action-Related Stimuli |
| title_short | A Neuroanatomical Examination of Embodied Cognition: Semantic Generation to Action-Related Stimuli |
| title_sort | neuroanatomical examination of embodied cognition semantic generation to action related stimuli |
| topic | fMRI Embodied Cognition Action-Related Pictures Semantic Generation words |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00084/full |
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