Brain basis of communicative actions in language

Abstract

Although language is a key tool for communication in social interaction, most studies in the neuroscience of language have focused on language structures such as words and sentences. Here, the neural correlates of speech acts, that is, the actions performed by using language, were investigated with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants were shown videos, in which the same critical utterances were used in different communicative contexts, to Name objects, or to Request them from communication partners. Understanding of critical utterances as Requests was accompanied by activation in bilateral premotor, left inferior frontal and temporo-parietal cortical areas known to support action-related and social interactive knowledge. Naming, however, activated the left angular gyrus implicated in linking information about word forms and related reference objects mentioned in critical utterances. These findings show that understanding of utterances as different communicative actions is reflected in distinct brain activation patterns, and thus suggest different neural substrates for different speech act types.

The Ontogenesis of Action Syntax

“…This may help to translate the broad knowledge about syntactical aspects of language to the domain of action, where our knowledge about syntax is still strongly limited. With the current overview and outlook, we suggest that future investigations are essential to comprehensively describe the language-action interrelation and for understanding how action is related to language in ontogeny (Egorova et al, 2016;Leshinskaya & Caramazza, 2016).…”

“…On the one hand, traditional accounts of cognition assume conceptual representations as amodal, thus independent from representations in the perceptual and motor systems of the brain (Repetto et al, 2012). On the other hand, recent accounts argue that representations of different formats such as language and action are not independent from each other but (highly) intertwined (Egorova, Shtyrov, & Pulvermüller, 2016). Accordingly, actions and bodily experiences are considered necessary for cognitive processing and their interplay is crucial, especially regarding the development of higher order capabilities (Engel, Maye, Kurthen, & König, 2013).…”

The role of the motor system in action understanding and communication: Evidence from human infants and non‐human primates

“…Using behavioral measures of motor activity (e.g., grip force and posture changes), listening to action‐related verbs in sentences induces motor activity (da Silva, Labrecque, Caromano, Higgins, & Frak, ; Shiller et al, ), and however, this may be modulated by semantic context (Aravena et al, ). Studies using fMRI, TMS, MEG, and the EEG mu rhythm have found activation of the motor system when adults process (hear or read) verbs or phrases about actions (Di Cesare, Errante, Marchi, & Cuccio, ; Egorova, Shtyrov, & Pulvermüller, ; Hauk, Johnsurde, & Pulvermüller, ; Moreno et al, ; Moreno, de Vega, & León, ) or while decoding degraded speech sounds (d'Ausilio, Bufalari, Salmas, & Fadiga, ). Indeed, there is evidence that the motor system is functionally linked to representing action‐related language (Vukovic, Feurra, Shpektor, Myachykov, & Shtyrov, ), and some studies have also found left‐hemisphere specificity for the action‐language link (e.g., Pulvermüller, Hauk, Nikulin, & Ilmoniemi, ).…”

The Brain Behind the Response: Insights Into Turn-taking in Conversation From Neuroimaging

“…In addition to the timing of action recognition, brain areas and circuits activated in this process have also been explored in some fMRI studies, mainly using overhearer paradigms (Bašnáková, van Berkum, Weber, & Hagoort, 2015;Bašnáková, Weber, Petersson, Van Berkum, & Hagoort, 2014;Egorova, Shtyrov, & Pulvermüller, 2016;van Ackeren, Casasanto, Bekkering, Hagoort, & Rueschemeyer, 2012). These studies contrasted direct and indirect actions and found that interpreting indirect actions activated theory of mind areas in the brain (related to thinking about other's intentions) more than direct actions.…”