Recent studies suggest that action-verb processing is particularly affected in early stage Parkinson's disease (PD), highlighting the potential role of subcortical areas in language processing and in the semantic integration of actions. However, this disorder-related language impairment is frequently unrecognized by clinicians and often remains untreated. Early detection of action-language processing deficits could be critical for diagnosing and developing treatment strategies for PD. In this article, we review how action-verb processing is affected in PD and propose a model in which multiple and parallel frontotemporal circuits between the cortex and the basal ganglia provide the anatomic substrate for supporting action-language processing. We hypothesize that contextual coupling of action-language networks are partially dependent on cortical-subcortical integration, and not only on somatotopic motor cortical organization or in a mirror neuron system. This hypothesis is supported by both experimental and clinical evidence. Then, we identify further research steps that would help to determine the reliability of action-language impairments as an early marker of PD. Finally, theoretical implications for clinical assessment and for models of action-language interaction (action-perception cycle theories, mirror system models of language, and embodied cognition approaches to language) are discussed.

In two self-paced, sentence-by-sentence reading experiments we examined the difference in the processing of Spanish discourses with repeated names, overt pronouns, and null pronouns in emphatic and non-emphatic contexts. In Experiment 1, repeated names and overt pronouns caused a processing delay when they referred to salient antecedents in non-emphatic contexts. In Experiment 2, both processing delays were eliminated when an emphatic cleft-structure was used. The processing delay caused by overt pronouns referring to salient antecedents in non-emphatic contexts in Spanish contrasts with previous findings in Chinese, where null and overt pronouns elicited similar reading times. We explain both our Spanish findings and the Chinese findings in a unified framework based on the notion of balance between processing cost and discourse function in line with the Informational Load Hypothesis.Coherent discourse often includes repeated reference to a small number of concepts. Such repetition can be achieved by means of anaphors, that is, referential expressions that co-refer with an antecedent found earlier in the same discourse (Ducrot & Todorov, 2003). Anaphors can take many forms, including pronouns (e.g., he, she), definite expressions (e.g., the boy, those girls), and repeated names (e.g., Mary). Coreferentiality relations between anaphors and their antecedents serve an important role in establishing and maintaining coherence in discourse. The fact that the same expression, for example a proper name, can be used anaphorically or non-anaphorically precludes a taxonomic account of anaphoric devices that is based strictly on the form of the referential expressions. Indeed, the literature suggests that a complete explanation of anaphoric processing and use should consider, in addition to the form of the anaphoric expression, other factors including the syntactic configuration in which the anaphor appears (Chambers & Smith, 1998;Crawley, Stevenson & Kleinman, 1990;Frederiksen, 1981), the discourse pragmatics (Almor, 1999;Ariel, 1990;Prince 1978,) and the related memory processes (Almor, 1999;Gernsbacher, 1989;Sanford & Garrod, 1981).One theory that focuses on the role of memory in anaphoric processing is Gernsbacher's Structure Building framework (1989), which views anaphoric expressions as memory retrieval cues. The theory predicts that repeated names should be processed faster than pronouns because they provide more information that can more effectively activate appropriate memory representations. For example, once we have mentioned Evita, it may seem more efficient to refer to her again as Evita rather than she because the interpretation of the anaphoric pronoun she relies on a small number of properties such as gender, number and animacy that only provide a weak retrieval cue. By the same explanation, using non repetitive expressions such as the queen of the poor or the thief, which add new information by revealing the speaker's attitude toward this political figure, should be less effective as

Studies on bilingual word reading and translation have examined the effects of lexical variables (e.g., concreteness, cognate status) by comparing groups of non-translators with varying levels of L2 proficiency. However, little attention has been paid to another relevant factor: translation expertise (TI). To explore this issue, we administered word reading and translation tasks to two groups of non-translators possessing different levels of informal TI (Experiment 1), and to three groups of bilinguals possessing different levels of translation training (Experiment 2). Reaction-time recordings showed that in all groups reading was faster than translation and unaffected by concreteness and cognate effects. Conversely, in both experiments, all groups translated concrete and cognate words faster than abstract and non-cognate words, respectively. Notably, an advantage of backward over forward translation was observed only for low-proficiency non-translators (in Experiment 1). Also, in Experiment 2, the modifications induced by translation expertise were more marked in the early than in the late stages of training and practice. The results suggest that TI contributes to modulating inter-equivalent connections in bilingual memory.