Parkinson’s disease disrupts both automatic and controlled processing of action verbs

Fernandino, Leonardo; Conant, Lisa L.; Binder, Jeffrey R.; Blindauer, Karen; Hiner, Bradley C.; Spangler, Katie; Desai, Rutvik H.

doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2012.07.008

Cited by 145 publications

(119 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), and patients with this pathology have significantly worse understanding of action verbs than object nouns (Bak & Hodges, 2004;Hillis et al, 2006;Grossman et al, 2008). Similarly, Parkinson's disease interferes, albeit indirectly, with the operations of the precentral motor cortices, and it has been argued that patients with this disorder have selectively impaired appreciation of action verbs (Boulenger et al, 2008a;Fernandino et al, 2013;Ibáñez et al, 2013).…”

Section: Functional Relevancementioning

confidence: 99%

Are the motor features of verb meanings represented in the precentral motor cortices? Yes, but within the context of a flexible, multilevel architecture for conceptual knowledge

Kemmerer

2015

Psychon Bull Rev

126

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One of the most controversial issues in the cognitive neuroscience literature on concepts is whether the motor features of verb meanings are represented in the precentral motor cortices. Much of this debate stems from the fact that the empirical data are mixed with regard to (1) whether action verbs engage the precentral motor cortices in the predicted ways, (2) whether that engagement is automatic, and (3) whether it is essential for comprehension. I argue that the available data can best be accommodated by theoretical models which assume that conceptual knowledge is underpinned by a flexible, multilevel architecture that includes not only low-level modality-specific systems for perception, action, and emotion, but also high-level cross-modal convergence/divergence zones, as well as the statistical cooccurrence patterns of word-forms across discourses. From the perspective of such pluralistic approaches, the motor features of verb meanings are indeed represented in the precentral motor cortices, but their retrieval is modulated by task and context and is not always necessary for word comprehension.

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Section: Functional Relevancementioning

confidence: 99%

Are the motor features of verb meanings represented in the precentral motor cortices? Yes, but within the context of a flexible, multilevel architecture for conceptual knowledge

Kemmerer

2015

Psychon Bull Rev

126

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“…verbs [34]. Finally, a study comparing motorlanguage coupling in early PD, neuromyelitis optica, and acute transverse myelitis, indicated that deficits in the integration of action verbs and manual actions result from atrophy of cortico-subcortical motor network system, and not from peripheral (musculoskeletal) motor system affectation [35].…”

Section: Action-language Impairments In Parkinson's Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, using the KDT, Ibáñez et al [48] found that early PD patients also exhibited impaired action-semantics in the absence of executive deficits. For their own part, Fernandino et al [34] showed that deficits in processing action-semantics, as compared showing the proposed frontotemporal basal ganglia-thalamocortical network (light yellow, blue, and green regions of interest, respectively). The arrows indicate the suggested principal flow of information involved in action-verb processing through two main overlap subcircuits.…”

Section: Action-language Impairments In Parkinson's Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

Words in motion: Motor-language coupling in Parkinson’s disease

García¹,

Ibáñez²

2014

Translational Neuroscience

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In recent years, the disruption of non-motor functions in motor disease has emerged as a promising topic for both basic and translational neuroscience. Impairments of movement and cognition were long regarded as separate phenomena [1]. However, a growing body of evidence indicates that neurodegenerative motor disorders also involve high-order cognitive dysfunctions, ranging from working memory, attention, and executive processing deficits [2][3][4], to impairments of language [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] and action knowledge [11]. Further data comes from studies showing that the same genes (e.g., C9orf72) are involved in diseases once perceived as purely motor or purely cognitive, such as motor neuron disease (MND) and frontotemporal dementia, respectively [12].A cognitive domain which seems to be specifically compromised in motor diseases is action language, that is, processing of linguistic stimuli denoting motor actions, including idioms (e.g., cut a rug) and action verbs Words in moTion: moTor-lAnguAge couPling in PArkinson's diseAse Abstract A growing body of evidence indicates that neurodegenerative motor disorders involved high-order cognitive dysfunctions. Crucially, evidence obtained in multiple behavioral, neuroimaging, and electrophysiological studies points to selective impairments of action language -that is, processing of linguistic stimuli denoting motor actions, including idioms (e.g., cut a rug) and action verbs (e.g., clap). Action-verb deficits (with relative preservation of noun processing) have been repeatedly documented in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, research on relevant biomarkers is still scant, and clinical implications of these findings have not yet been formally discussed. Relevant insights may be obtained through the assessment of motor-language coupling (i.e., the behavioral and neural integration of action-verb processing and ongoing motor actions). We propose that motorlanguage coupling deficits, as indexed by a cortical-subcortical network, may constitute an early neurocognitive marker of PD. Specifically, deficits in this domain at the prodromal stage may be detected through the actionsentence compatibility (ACE) paradigm, which induces a contextual coupling of ongoing motor actions and action-verb processing. Our translational proposal is supported and illustrated by recent studies demonstrating the sensitivity of the ACE technique as well as its potential to assist in differential diagnosis and interventionprogram design.

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“…Boulenger et al (2008) found priming effects for action verbs in PD varied as a function of Levodopa uptake (medication improving motor impairment in PD). Fernandino et al (2013a) removed the grammatical confound in noun-verb comparisons by comparing PD patients and healthy controls on action verb and abstract verb processing. Compared to healthy controls, patients performed worse with action verbs than abstract verbs, reflecting impairment in processing action language rather than the grammatical category of verbs.…”

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confidence: 99%

Impaired Comprehension of Speed Verbs in Parkinson’s Disease

Speed

Dam

Hirath

et al. 2017

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

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Objective: A wealth of studies provide evidence for action simulation during language comprehension. Recent research suggests such action simulations might be sensitive to finegrained information, such as speed. Here we present a crucial test for action simulation of speed in language by assessing speed comprehension in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Based on the patients' motor deficits, we hypothesized that the speed of motion described in language would modulate their performance in semantic tasks. Specifically, they would have more difficulty processing language about relatively fast speed than language about slow speed. Method:We conducted a semantic similarity judgment task on fast and slow action verbs in patients with PD and age-matched healthy controls. Participants had to decide which of two verbs most closely matched a target word. Results: Compared to controls, PD patients were slower making judgments about fast action verbs, but not for judgments about slow action verbs, suggesting impairment in processing language about fast action. Moreover, this impairment was specific to verbs describing fast action performed with the hand. Conclusions:Problems moving quickly lead to difficulties comprehending language about moving quickly.This study provides evidence that speed is an important part of action representations.Keywords: embodiment; Parkinson's disease; action semantics; speed Speed -Speed Verbs in Parkinson's Disease 3 The view that meaning in language is represented in modality-specific brain regions (e.g., Binder & Desai, 2011) contrasts with proposals that meaning is stored in abstract, amodal systems (e.g., Landau & Dumais, 1997). There now exist a large number of studies demonstrating action simulation during language comprehension (for review see Fischer & Zwaan, 2008). A critical question, however, is the level of abstraction of action simulations; to what extent do they mirror real-world action? Embodied theories are underspecified in terms of how much information is contained in a simulation (Sanford, 2008), or at what grain information is represented.Action simulations include the specific effector used in the action (Hauk, Johnsrude, & Pulvermüller, 2004), or the specificity of the action . Recent research suggests even fine-grained temporal information is represented in action simulations: whether the action is fast or slow (Speed & Vigliocco, 2014;Speed & Vigliocco, 2015; van Dam, Speed, Lai, Vigliocco, & Desai, in press). Speed & Vigliocco (2014) showed online simulations are sensitive to speed: when listening to sentences describing fast and slow actions (e.g. The lion dashed to the balloon vs. The lion ambled to the balloon) looking time towards a concurrent visual scene was longer for slow actions compared to fast actions. Related, mental simulation is also sensitive to the degree of effort implied in a sentence (e.g., pushing the piano vs. pushing the chair) (Moody & Gennari, 2010).Studies of patients with motor deficits can provide strong tests of causali...

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Parkinson’s disease disrupts both automatic and controlled processing of action verbs

Cited by 145 publications

References 86 publications

Are the motor features of verb meanings represented in the precentral motor cortices? Yes, but within the context of a flexible, multilevel architecture for conceptual knowledge

Are the motor features of verb meanings represented in the precentral motor cortices? Yes, but within the context of a flexible, multilevel architecture for conceptual knowledge

Words in motion: Motor-language coupling in Parkinson’s disease

Impaired Comprehension of Speed Verbs in Parkinson’s Disease

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