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Brain mechanisms linking language and action

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 6, pages 576–582 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

For a long time the cortical systems for language and actions were believed to be independent modules. However, as these systems are reciprocally connected with each other, information about language and actions might interact in distributed neuronal assemblies. A critical case is that of action words that are semantically related to different parts of the body (for example, 'lick', 'pick' and 'kick'): does the comprehension of these words specifically, rapidly and automatically activate the motor system in a somatotopic manner, and does their comprehension rely on activity in the action system?

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Figure 1: Schematic illustration of the cortical systems for language and action.
Figure 2: Functional links between the superior temporal speech perception and inferior frontal motor systems.
Figure 3: Cortical activation during movement and during passive reading of action words.
Figure 4: Cortical activation dynamics elicited by face/arm- and leg-related words.
Figure 5: Effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation of cortical motor areas on action word processing.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Medical Research Council (UK) and by the European Community under the Information Society Technologies Programme. For discussions related to this work, I am grateful to R. Assadollahi, T. Bak, V. Gallese, R. Ilmoniemi, O. Hauk, M. Kiefer, A. Knoblauch, W. Marslen-Wilson, B. Mohr, B. Neininger, G. Palm, K. Patterson, G. Rizzolatti, Y. Shtyrov and S. Wermter.

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    Friedemann Pulvermüller

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Pulvermüller, F. Brain mechanisms linking language and action. Nat Rev Neurosci 6, 576–582 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1706

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