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De Marco D, De Stefani E, Vecchiato G. Embodying Language through Gestures: Residuals of Motor Memories Modulate Motor Cortex Excitability during Abstract Words Comprehension. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 22:7734. [PMID: 36298083 PMCID: PMC9610064 DOI: 10.3390/s22207734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
There is a debate about whether abstract semantics could be represented in a motor domain as concrete language. A contextual association with a motor schema (action or gesture) seems crucial to highlighting the motor system involvement. The present study with transcranial magnetic stimulation aimed to assess motor cortex excitability changes during abstract word comprehension after conditioning word reading to a gesture execution with congruent or incongruent meaning. Twelve healthy volunteers were engaged in a lexical-decision task responding to abstract words or meaningless verbal stimuli. Motor cortex (M1) excitability was measured at different after-stimulus intervals (100, 250, or 500 ms) before and after an associative-learning training where the execution of the gesture followed word processing. Results showed a significant post-training decrease in hand motor evoked potentials at an early processing stage (100 ms) in correspondence to words congruent with the gestures presented during the training. We hypothesized that traces of individual semantic memory, combined with training effects, induced M1 inhibition due to the redundancy of evoked motor representation. No modulation of cortical excitability was found for meaningless or incongruent words. We discuss data considering the possible implications in research to understand the neural basis of language development and language rehabilitation protocols.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doriana De Marco
- Istituto di Neuroscienze, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 43125 Parma, Italy
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy
| | - Elisa De Stefani
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry-NPIA District of Scandiano, AUSL of Reggio Emilia, 42019 Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | - Giovanni Vecchiato
- Istituto di Neuroscienze, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 43125 Parma, Italy
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy
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Language is the missing link in action-perception coupling: an EEG study. Sci Rep 2020; 10:14587. [PMID: 32884072 PMCID: PMC7471270 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-71575-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The paper reports an electrophysiological (EEG) study investigating how language is involved in perception–action relations in musically trained and untrained participants. Using an original backward priming paradigm, participants were exposed to muted point-light videos of violinists performing piano or forte nuances followed by a congruent vs. incongruent word. After the video presentation, participants were asked to decide whether the musician was playing a piano or forte musical nuance. EEG results showed a greater P200 event-related potential for trained participants at the occipital site, and a greater N400 effect for untrained participants at the central site. Musically untrained participants were more accurate when the word was semantically congruent with the gesture than when it was incongruent. Overall, language seems to influence the performance of untrained participants, for which perception–action couplings are less automatized.
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De Stefani E, De Marco D. Language, Gesture, and Emotional Communication: An Embodied View of Social Interaction. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2063. [PMID: 31607974 PMCID: PMC6769117 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Spoken language is an innate ability of the human being and represents the most widespread mode of social communication. The ability to share concepts, intentions and feelings, and also to respond to what others are feeling/saying is crucial during social interactions. A growing body of evidence suggests that language evolved from manual gestures, gradually incorporating motor acts with vocal elements. In this evolutionary context, the human mirror mechanism (MM) would permit the passage from “doing something” to “communicating it to someone else.” In this perspective, the MM would mediate semantic processes being involved in both the execution and in the understanding of messages expressed by words or gestures. Thus, the recognition of action related words would activate somatosensory regions, reflecting the semantic grounding of these symbols in action information. Here, the role of the sensorimotor cortex and in general of the human MM on both language perception and understanding is addressed, focusing on recent studies on the integration between symbolic gestures and speech. We conclude documenting some evidence about MM in coding also the emotional aspects conveyed by manual, facial and body signals during communication, and how they act in concert with language to modulate other’s message comprehension and behavior, in line with an “embodied” and integrated view of social interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Doriana De Marco
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Neuroscienze, Parma, Italy
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Children with facial paralysis due to Moebius syndrome exhibit reduced autonomic modulation during emotion processing. J Neurodev Disord 2019; 11:12. [PMID: 31291910 PMCID: PMC6617955 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-019-9272-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2018] [Accepted: 06/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Facial mimicry is crucial in the recognition of others' emotional state. Thus, the observation of others' facial expressions activates the same neural representation of that affective state in the observer, along with related autonomic and somatic responses. What happens, therefore, when someone cannot mimic others' facial expressions? METHODS We investigated whether psychophysiological emotional responses to others' facial expressions were impaired in 13 children (9 years) with Moebius syndrome (MBS), an extremely rare neurological disorder (1/250,000 live births) characterized by congenital facial paralysis. We inspected autonomic responses and vagal regulation through facial cutaneous thermal variations and by the computation of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). These parameters provide measures of emotional arousal and show the autonomic adaptation to others' social cues. Physiological responses in children with MBS were recorded during dynamic facial expression observation and were compared to those of a control group (16 non-affected children, 9 years). RESULTS There were significant group effects on thermal patterns and RSA, with lower values in children with MBS. We also observed a mild deficit in emotion recognition in these patients. CONCLUSION Results support "embodied" theory, whereby the congenital inability to produce facial expressions induces alterations in the processing of facial expression of emotions. Such alterations may constitute a risk for emotion dysregulation.
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De Stefani E, Nicolini Y, Belluardo M, Ferrari PF. Congenital facial palsy and emotion processing: The case of Moebius syndrome. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2019; 18:e12548. [PMID: 30604920 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2018] [Revised: 11/16/2018] [Accepted: 12/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
According to the Darwinian perspective, facial expressions of emotions evolved to quickly communicate emotional states and would serve adaptive functions that promote social interactions. Embodied cognition theories suggest that we understand others' emotions by reproducing the perceived expression in our own facial musculature (facial mimicry) and the mere observation of a facial expression can evoke the corresponding emotion in the perceivers. Consequently, the inability to form facial expressions would affect the experience of emotional understanding. In this review, we aimed at providing account on the link between the lack of emotion production and the mechanisms of emotion processing. We address this issue by taking into account Moebius syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that primarily affects the muscles controlling facial expressions. Individuals with Moebius syndrome are born with facial paralysis and inability to form facial expressions. This makes them the ideal population to study whether facial mimicry is necessary for emotion understanding. Here, we discuss behavioral ambiguous/mixed results on emotion recognition deficits in Moebius syndrome suggesting the need to investigate further aspects of emotional processing such as the physiological responses associated with the emotional experience during developmental age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa De Stefani
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Ylenia Nicolini
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Mauro Belluardo
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Pier Francesco Ferrari
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.,Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
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Hayek D, Flöel A, Antonenko D. Role of Sensorimotor Cortex in Gestural-Verbal Integration. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:482. [PMID: 30574078 PMCID: PMC6291781 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Action comprehension that is related to language or gestural integration has been shown to engage the motor system in the brain, thus providing preliminary evidence for the gestural-verbal embodiment concept. Based on the involvement of the sensorimotor cortex (M1) in language processing, we aimed to further explore its role in the cognitive embodiment necessary for gestural-verbal integration. As such, we applied anodal (excitatory) and sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left M1 (with reference electrode over the contralateral supraorbital region) during a gestural-verbal integration task where subjects had to make a decision about the semantic congruency of the gesture (prime) and the word (target). We used a cross-over within-subject design in young subjects. Attentional load and simple reaction time (RT) tasks served as control conditions, applied during stimulation (order of three tasks was counterbalanced). Our results showed that anodal (atDCS) compared to sham tDCS (stDCS) reduced RTs in the gestural-verbal integration task, specifically for incongruent pairs of gestures and verbal expressions, with no effect on control task performance. Our findings provide evidence for the involvement of the sensorimotor system in gestural-verbal integration performance. Further, our results suggest that functional modulation induced by sensorimotor tDCS may be specific to gestural-verbal integration. Future studies should now evaluate the modulatory effect of tDCS on semantic congruency by using tDCS over additional brain regions and include assessments of neural connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dayana Hayek
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Neurology, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Neurology, Universitätsmedizin Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Agnes Flöel
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Neurology, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Neurology, Universitätsmedizin Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Daria Antonenko
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Neurology, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Neurology, Universitätsmedizin Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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De Marco D, De Stefani E, Bernini D, Gentilucci M. The effect of motor context on semantic processing: A TMS study. Neuropsychologia 2018; 114:243-250. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2017] [Revised: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 05/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Tramacere A, Ferrari PF, Gentilucci M, Giuffrida V, De Marco D. The Emotional Modulation of Facial Mimicry: A Kinematic Study. Front Psychol 2018; 8:2339. [PMID: 29403408 PMCID: PMC5778471 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well-established that the observation of emotional facial expression induces facial mimicry responses in the observers. However, how the interaction between emotional and motor components of facial expressions can modulate the motor behavior of the perceiver is still unknown. We have developed a kinematic experiment to evaluate the effect of different oro-facial expressions on perceiver's face movements. Participants were asked to perform two movements, i.e., lip stretching and lip protrusion, in response to the observation of four meaningful (i.e., smile, angry-mouth, kiss, and spit) and two meaningless mouth gestures. All the stimuli were characterized by different motor patterns (mouth aperture or mouth closure). Response Times and kinematics parameters of the movements (amplitude, duration, and mean velocity) were recorded and analyzed. Results evidenced a dissociated effect on reaction times and movement kinematics. We found shorter reaction time when a mouth movement was preceded by the observation of a meaningful and motorically congruent oro-facial gesture, in line with facial mimicry effect. On the contrary, during execution, the perception of smile was associated with the facilitation, in terms of shorter duration and higher velocity of the incongruent movement, i.e., lip protrusion. The same effect resulted in response to kiss and spit that significantly facilitated the execution of lip stretching. We called this phenomenon facial mimicry reversal effect, intended as the overturning of the effect normally observed during facial mimicry. In general, the findings show that both motor features and types of emotional oro-facial gestures (conveying positive or negative valence) affect the kinematics of subsequent mouth movements at different levels: while congruent motor features facilitate a general motor response, motor execution could be speeded by gestures that are motorically incongruent with the observed one. Moreover, valence effect depends on the specific movement required. Results are discussed in relation to the Basic Emotion Theory and embodied cognition framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonella Tramacere
- Lichtenberg-Kolleg - The Göttingen Institute for Advanced Study, The German Primate Center Cognitive Ethology Lab, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Pier F Ferrari
- Unità di Neuroscienze, Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Maurizio Gentilucci
- Unità di Neuroscienze, Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italy.,Istituto di Neuroscienze-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Sede di Parma), Rome, Italy
| | - Valeria Giuffrida
- Unità di Neuroscienze, Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Doriana De Marco
- Istituto di Neuroscienze-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Sede di Parma), Rome, Italy
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