Mechanisms of embodiment

The Relationship Between Brain Activation for Taking Others' Perspective and Interoceptive Abilities in Autism Spectrum Disorder: An fMRI Study

Objectives

In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we aimed to investigate the differences in brain activation between individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) individuals during perspective taking. We also examined the association between brain activation and empathic and interoceptive abilities.

Methods

During scanning, participants from the ASD (n=17) and TD (n=22) groups were shown pain stimuli and asked to rate the level of the observed pain from both self- and other-perspectives. Empathic abilities, including perspective taking, were measured using an empathic questionnaire, and three dimensions of interoception were assessed: interoceptive accuracy, interoceptive sensibility, and interoceptive trait prediction errors.

Results

During self-perspective taking, the ASD group exhibited greater activation in the left precuneus than the TD group. During other-perspective taking, relative hyperactivation extended to areas including the right precuneus, right superior frontal gyrus, left caudate nucleus, and left amygdala. Brain activation levels in the right superior frontal gyrus while taking other-perspective were negatively correlated with interoceptive accuracy, and those in the left caudate were negatively correlated with perspective taking ability in the ASD group.

Conclusion

Individuals with ASD show atypical brain activation during perspective taking. Notably, their brain regions associated with stress reactions and escape responses are overactivated when taking other-perspective. This overactivity is related to poor interoceptive accuracy, suggesting that individuals with ASD may experience difficulties with the self-other distinction or atypical embodiment when considering another person's perspective.

Does Body Memory Exist? A Review of Models, Approaches and Recent Findings Useful for Neurorehabilitation

Over the past twenty years, scientific research on body representations has grown significantly, with Body Memory (BM) emerging as a prominent area of interest in neurorehabilitation. Compared to other body representations, BM stands out as one of the most obscure due to the multifaceted nature of the concept of "memory" itself, which includes various aspects (such as implicit vs. explicit, conscious vs. unconscious). The concept of body memory originates from the field of phenomenology and has been developed by research groups studying embodied cognition. In this narrative review, we aim to present compelling evidence from recent studies that explore various definitions and explanatory models of BM. Additionally, we will provide a comprehensive overview of the empirical settings used to examine BM. The results can be categorized into two main areas: (i) how the body influences our memories, and (ii) how memories, in their broadest sense, could generate and/or influence metarepresentations-the ability to reflect on or make inferences about one's own cognitive representations or those of others. We present studies that emphasize the significance of BM in experimental settings involving patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders, ultimately analyzing these findings from an ontogenic perspective.

Explicit and implicit memory for the QWERTY keyboard: the role of motor simulation and deictic gestures

In three experiments, we investigated explicit and implicit knowledge about the location of letters on the QWERTY keyboard in young students, and the mechanisms involved. Participants completed a verbal report task in which they were asked to locate the 21 letters of the Italian alphabet on a blank QWERTY keyboard (explicit memory). Subsequently, they carried out a motor production task, i.e., typing letters on a blank keyboard (implicit memory). Consistent with previous studies and several theories emphasizing the importance of implicit knowledge in typing, results showed that explicit knowledge about the QWERTY keyboard is systematically worse than procedural knowledge (Experiment 1). These two types of knowledge, however, are related. Second, we showed that explicit memory for letter position was affected when participants were engaged in a secondary task that required hands/arms movements. Specifically, loading participants' sensorimotor resources led to a decrease in explicit memory performance when the secondary task required hand/arm movements (hand/arms tapping) compared to when it required legs-feet movements (control condition). This result suggests that explicit knowledge is modulated by sensorimotor simulation (Experiment 2). Third, compared to a purely verbal response, pointing to the key on the keyboard did not improve explicit memory accuracy (Experiment 3). Taken together, the results indicate that sensorimotor simulation, and not just gestures, modulates the accessibility to explicit mental representations of verbal/spatial material, like letters on a keyboard.

Transferring the approach avoidance task into virtual reality: a study in patients with alcohol use disorder versus healthy controls

Study aims were to (I) transfer the measurement of the approach bias (Apb) related to alcoholic stimuli via the Approach Avoidance Task (AAT) into Virtual Reality (VR), (II) check whether measuring Apb in VR leads to similar or different results compared to the classical PC-based version, (III) check the validity of VR versus PC-based bias scores in terms of relatedness to clinical variables. Different 'grasping-conditions' were tested and contrasted in VR concerning (Ia) feasibility (performance): (1) never grasp, (2) always grasp, (3) grasp when PULLing stimuli towards oneself. (Ib) Differences in the bias scores between patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and healthy controls (HC) were examined for each grasping-condition. (II) PC-based bias scores were computed and contrasted for AUD versus HC. (III) Correlations of the different VR- versus PC-based bias scores with AUD symptom severity and impulsivity were checked to evaluate validity. (Ia) Grasping-condition 1, followed by 3, showed acceptable (> 50%) and good (> 80%) rates of correct performances allowing for robust median estimation. (Ib) Significant differences in the resulting bias scores emerged between AUD and HC only for grasping-condition 1 (p = 0.034) and 3 at trend-level (p = 0.093). For grasping-condition 1 the Apb Median for AUD was different from zero at a non-significant trend-level (p = 0.064). (II) The PC-based bias scores did not discriminate between AUD versus HC groups. (III) Grasping-condition 1 and 3 VR-based bias scores correlated significantly with impulsivity. In sum, transferring the AAT into VR is feasible, valid, and best implemented without an additional grasping-component when using the VR-controller. This way of Apb assessment represents a viable, perhaps even superior, alternative to PC-based assessments. Trial registration The trial was pre-registered at AsPredicted #76854: 'Transferring the approach avoidance task into virtual reality', 10/13/2021; prior to any analyses being undertaken.

The cross-linguistic comparison of perceptual strength norms for Korean, English and L2 English

This study aimed to establish perceptual strength norms for 1,000 words in the languages of Korean, English, and L2 English, in order to investigate the similarity and difference across languages as well as the influence of the environment on semantic processing. The perceptual strength norms, which are a collection of word profiles that summarize how a word is experienced through different sensory modalities including the five common senses and interoception, provide a valuable tool for testing embodiment cognition theory. The results of this study demonstrated that language users had parallel sensory experiences with concepts, and that L2 learners were also able to associate their sensory experiences with linguistic concepts. Additionally, the results highlighted the importance of incorporating interoception as a sensory modality in the development of perceptual strength norms, as it had a negative correlation with both vision and concreteness. This study was the first to establish norms for Korean and L2 English and directly compare languages using the identical and translation-equivalent word list.

Action and posture influence the retrieval of memory for objects

The embodied approach states that memory traces are retrieved, at least in part, through a sensorimotor simulation of the original events, i.e., during retrieval we use our body and its sensorimotor pathways to simulate what happened during encoding. Thus, body manipulations that are incongruent with the motor elements involved at encoding should modulate memory performance. To test this hypothesis, we devised two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants had to observe (observation task) or observe and also perform an action on (enactment task) a series of objects. At recognition, they recognised the enacted objects faster and more accurately than the observed ones. Crucially, in Experiment 2, we manipulated body posture during recognition: one group was asked to hold their hands/arms in front of them (non-interfering group), and the other group was asked to block their hands/arms behind their back (interfering group). The results on reaction times, but not those on accuracy, showed a critical interaction: while the noninterfering group recognised enacted objects faster than observed objects, this advantage disappeared for the interfering group. This suggests that adopting a posture inconsistent with action at encoding could influence the time needed to correctly recognise the objects, but not the accuracy of the recognition.

The role of gestures in autobiographical memory

Speakers employ co-speech gestures when thinking and speaking; however, gesture's role in autobiographical episodic representations is not known. Based on the gesture-for-conceptualization framework, we propose that gestures, particularly representational ones, support episodic event representations by activating existing episodic elements and causing new ones to be formed in the autobiographical recollections. These gestures may also undertake information-chunking roles to allow for further processing during remembering, such as a sense of recollective experience. Participants (N = 41) verbally narrated three events (a past autobiographical, a future autobiographical, and a non-autobiographical event) and then rated their phenomenological characteristics. We found that, even though gesture use was not different across the three event conditions, representational gestures were positively associated with the episodic event details as well as their recollective quality within the past autobiographical event narratives. These associations were not observed in future event narrations. These findings suggest that gestures are potentially instrumental in the retrieval of details in autobiographical memories.

The Current View on the Paradox of Pain in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, which affects 1 in 44 children and may cause severe disabilities. Besides socio-communicational difficulties and repetitive behaviors, ASD also presents as atypical sensorimotor function and pain reactivity. While chronic pain is a frequent co-morbidity in autism, pain management in this population is often insufficient because of difficulties in pain evaluation, worsening their prognosis and perhaps driving higher mortality rates. Previous observations have tended to oversimplify the experience of pain in autism as being insensitive to painful stimuli. Various findings in the past 15 years have challenged and complicated this dogma. However, a relatively small number of studies investigates the physiological correlates of pain reactivity in ASD. We explore the possibility that atypical pain perception in people with ASD is mediated by alterations in pain perception, transmission, expression and modulation, and through interactions between these processes. These complex interactions may account for the great variability and sometimes contradictory findings from the studies. A growing body of evidence is challenging the idea of alterations in pain processing in ASD due to a single factor, and calls for an integrative view. We propose a model of the pain cycle that includes the interplay between the molecular and neurophysiological pathways of pain processing and it conscious appraisal that may interfere with pain reactivity and coping in autism. The role of social factors in pain-induced response is also discussed. Pain assessment in clinical care is mostly based on subjective rather than objective measures. This review clarifies the strong need for a consistent methodology, and describes innovative tools to cope with the heterogeneity of pain expression in ASD, enabling individualized assessment. Multiple measures, including self-reporting, informant reporting, clinician-assessed, and purely physiological metrics may provide more consistent results. An integrative view on the regulation of the pain cycle offers a more robust framework to characterize the experience of pain in autism.

Is motor activity the key to the observation-inflation effect? The role of action simulation

Observing others performing an action can lead to false memories of self-performance - the observation-inflation effect. The action simulation hypothesis proposes that an action simulation caused by people's observation of an action is the key reason for this effect. Previous studies have inconsistent views of this hypothesis. In the present study, we re-examined the role of action simulation and discussed the key aspects of the mental processes associated with it. We examined the hypotheses that (a) the magnitude of the observation-inflation effect would decrease as the action simulation was impeded and (b) the magnitude of the observation-inflation effect would not be significantly different in conditions in which participants watched either a part of a video or a full video. The results are consistent with the hypotheses. This study provides strong evidence that action simulation influences the generation of observation-inflation effects and that the process is continuous and can refer to further action information.

A dismantling study on imaginal retraining in overweight or obese women

Imaginal retraining is a variant of approach bias modification and transfers the method into one's own mind. As the technique contains multiple elements, this pilot study aimed to dismantle which of its components is most efficient in reducing craving for high-calorie food. A total of 113 women were randomly allocated to one out of six conditions containing a short intervention to mentally manipulate a picture displaying high-calorie foods. Four of the interventions involved different combinations of elements of the imaginal retraining technique, while the remaining two conditions comprised thought suppression or merely observing a picture. Participants rated their level of craving, as well as three pictures containing healthy and unhealthy foods regarding their pleasantness before and after the interventions took place. Within-group changes were assessed with paired t-tests (in case of non-normal data Wilcoxon paired t-tests) and between-group differences with one-way ANOVAs (non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis tests). A trend level reduction in craving was found in the imaginal retraining condition with and without a movement. A post hoc analysis of both conditions joint together showed a statistically significant reduction in craving. In addition, positive picture appraisal for unhealthy foods was significantly reduced in both imaginal retraining conditions (with and without movement) with medium to large effect sizes. This study demonstrated that imaginal retraining with an arm movement can reduce craving and picture appraisal for high-calorie foods significantly in a one-time application. It is a promising technique to reduce appraisal for unhealthy high-calorie foods. Future studies should repeat the experiment in situations of high craving and allow for a personalized selection of stimuli.

The Impact of Motor Imageries on Aesthetic Judgment of Chinese Calligraphy: An fMRI Study

Previous behavioral studies on aesthetics demonstrated that there was a close association between perceived action and aesthetic appreciation. However, few studies explored whether motor imagery would influence aesthetic experience and its neural substrates. In the current study, Chinese calligraphy was used as the stimuli to explore the relationship between the motor imagery and the aesthetic judgments of a participant using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The imaging results showed that, compared with the baseline, the activation of the brain regions [e.g., anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), putamen, and insula] involved in perceptual processing, cognitive judgments, aesthetic emotional, and reward processing was observed after the participants performed motor imagery tasks. The contrast analyses within aesthetic judgments showed that the kinesthetic imagery significantly activated the middle frontal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, ACC, and thalamus. Generally, these areas were considered to be closely related to positive aesthetic experience and suggested that motor imagery, especially kinesthetic imagery, might be specifically associated with the aesthetic appreciation of Chinese calligraphy.

Building Embodied Spaces for Spatial Memory Neurorehabilitation with Virtual Reality in Normal and Pathological Aging

Along with deficits in spatial cognition, a decline in body-related information is observed in aging and is thought to contribute to impairments in navigation, memory, and space perception. According to the embodied cognition theories, bodily and environmental information play a crucial role in defining cognitive representations. Thanks to the possibility to involve body-related information, manipulate environmental stimuli, and add multisensory cues, virtual reality is one of the best candidates for spatial memory rehabilitation in aging for its embodied potential. However, current virtual neurorehabilitation solutions for aging and neurodegenerative diseases are in their infancy. Here, we discuss three concepts that could be used to improve embodied representations of the space with virtual reality. The virtual bodily representation is the combination of idiothetic information involved during virtual navigation thanks to input/output devices; the spatial affordances are environmental or symbolic elements used by the individual to act in the virtual environment; finally, the virtual enactment effect is the enhancement on spatial memory provided by actively (cognitively and/or bodily) interacting with the virtual space and its elements. Theoretical and empirical findings will be presented to propose innovative rehabilitative solutions in aging for spatial memory and navigation.

Pupillometry as a measure of cognitive load in mental rotation tasks with abstract and embodied figures

We investigated sex differences in behavioral performance and cognitive load in chronometric mental rotation tasks with abstract and embodied figures. Eighty participants (44 females and 36 males) completed 126 items, which included cube figures, body postures, and human figures, which were all comparable in shape and color. Reaction time, accuracy, and cognitive load, measured by changes in pupil dilation, were analyzed. As a function of angular disparity, participants showed shorter reaction times and higher accuracy rates for embodied stimuli than cube figures. Changes in pupil dilation showed a similar pattern, indicating that mental rotation of embodied figures caused less cognitive load to solve the task. No sex differences appeared in any of the measurements.

The potential of outdoor contexts within community-based rehabilitation to empower people with disabilities in their rehabilitation

Purpose: The aim was to examine the potential of outdoor contexts within community-based rehabilitation to empower people with disabilities in their rehabilitation.Materials and methods: Interpretive description was applied as the methodology in a 5-month ethnographic fieldwork study, and guided by social practice theory. In total, 115 people with disabilities were included for participant observation, of which 15 participants were recruited for individual walking interviews.Results: Analysis revealed four overlapping themes. Firstly, "Revisiting the Outdoors" appeared to be an overarching theme, which created a basis for "Building Autonomy" among the participants. The varied outdoor experiences empowered the participants to take a more active role in their rehabilitation. These experiences afforded unique opportunities for "Connecting with Community" and, finally, "Embodied Learning" - that could be transferred to home and to other everyday contexts.Conclusion: Outdoor contexts within community-based rehabilitation appeared to hold strong potential for connecting people with disabilities to communities. Although barriers exist, we argue that revisiting the outdoors supports collective awareness and action with the capacity to influence community attitudes more broadly.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONOutdoor contexts within community-based rehabilitation for people with disabilities capitalise on the features of both indoor and outdoor environments with activities that meet shifting individual priorities and needs.Outdoor contexts within community-based rehabilitation offer people with disabilities empowering experiences that are part of the landscape of everyday life and transfer well to home and other environments.Community-based rehabilitation directly involving outdoor contexts and supported by professional skills provides a crucial bridge from individual rehabilitation to community belonging.

A dismantling study on imaginal retraining in smokers

Imaginal retraining is a noncomputerized variant of cognitive bias modification, an intervention aimed at reducing craving in substance use disorders and behavioral addictions. We conducted a dismantling study to elucidate which of its multiple components are effective and hence essential ingredients of the training and which are ineffective (and hence perhaps dispensable) in reducing craving. We randomized 187 smokers to one out of six conditions that instructed participants to perform a brief intervention. In four of these, participants were instructed to perform isolated components of the imaginal retraining protocol, and in the two other conditions participants either suppressed or simply observed (control condition) the image of a cigarette. Before and after the intervention, participants were asked to rate their level of craving and how pleasant they found three smoking-related images. We examined within-group changes by means of paired t-tests separately across conditions (trial registration: DRKS00021044). Mental distancing from cigarettes (without a corresponding actual physical movement; non-motor retraining) led to a significant decline in craving (paired t-test), which remained significant when compared to the control condition. The effects of other components of the retraining were less consistent. The present study shows that a single therapeutic "dose" of distinct components involved in imaginal retraining can reduce craving for cigarettes. Future trials should investigate the effectiveness of components of imaginal retraining not yet tested (e.g., mood induction) and whether combinations and repetition of single components strengthen or dilute efficacy.

Burke's "sensitive" sublime rooted in brain and body versus Kant's transcendental concept in the German Romantic discourse

During the 18th century, debates about what constituted the sublime flourished in Europe, and particularly in Germany. These debates were nourished by two different visions: The Kantian concept supposed that the sublime is supra-sensible and rooted in reason (Logos) rather than in the object, thus provoking a mental state of tension between nature and art; Edmund Burke's concept, on the other hand, conceived of the sublime as a bodily immersive experience, which we here define as "sensitive" sublime. In summary, Burke's view of the sublime is rooted in the senses and not in the power of reason, unlike Kant's. This was to disrupt the mainstream ideas of that time, unconsciously anticipating some of the recent neuroaesthetic acquisitions regarding the central role played by the sensory apparatus in the experience of beauty and of the sublime.

Can Alzheimer's Disease Be Prevented? First Evidence from Spinal Stimulation Efficacy on Executive Functions

BACKGROUND

Recently, a growing body of evidence has shown that, from the early stage of impairment, Alzheimer's patients (AD) present difficulties on a variety of tasks mostly relying on executive functions. These strongly impact their daily life activities causing a severe loss of independency and autonomy.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the efficacy of transpinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) combined with cognitive trainings for improving attentional and executive function abilities in a group of AD patients.

METHODS

In a randomized-double blind design, sixteen AD patients underwent different cognitive trainings combined with tsDCS. During the treatment, each subject received tsDCS (20 min, 2 mA) over the thoracic vertebrae (IX-X vertebrae) in two different conditions: 1) anodal, and 2) sham while performing three computerized tasks: alertness, selective attention, and executive functions. Each experimental condition was run in ten consecutive daily sessions over two weeks.

RESULTS

After anodal tsDCS, a greater improvement in executive functions compared to sham condition was found. More importantly, the follow-up testing revealed that these effects lasted over 1 month after the intervention and generalized to the different neuropsychological tests administered before, after the treatment and at one month after the end of the intervention. This generalization was present also in the attentional domain.

CONCLUSION

This evidence emphasizes, for the first time, that tsDCS combined with cognitive training results efficacious for AD patients. We hypothesize that enhancing activity into the spinal sensorimotor pathways through stimulation improved cognitive abilities which rely on premotor activity, such as attention and executive functions.

Nodding and shaking of the head as simulated approach and avoidance responses

Our recent study within the embodiment perspective showed that the evaluation of true and false information activates the simulation of vertical and horizontal head movements involved in nodding and shaking of the head (Moretti & Greco, 2018). This result was found in an explicit evaluation task where motion detection software was deployed to enable participants to assess a series of objectively true or false statements by moving them with the head vertically and horizontally on a computer screen, under conditions of compatibility and incompatibility between simulated and performed action. This study replicated that experiment, but with subjective statements about liked and disliked food, in both explicit and implicit evaluation tasks. Two experiments, plus one control experiment, were devised to test the presence of a motor-affective compatibility effect (vertical-liked; horizontal-disliked) and whether the motor-semantic compatibility found with objective statements (vertical-true; horizontal-false) could be a sub-effect of a more general and automatic association (vertical-accepted; horizontal-refused). As expected, response times were shorter when statements about liked foods and disliked foods were moved vertically and horizontally respectively by making head movements, even when participants were not explicitly required to evaluate them. In contrast, the truth compatibility effect only occurred in the explicit evaluation task. Overall results support the idea that head-nodding and shaking are simulated approach-avoidance responses. Different aspects of the meaning of these gestures and the practical implications of the study for cognitive and social research are discussed.

What "Tears" Remind Us of: An Investigation of Embodied Cognition and Schizotypal Personality Trait Using Pencil and Teardrop Glasses

Facial expressions influence our experience and perception of emotions—they not only tell other people what we are feeling but also might tell us what to feel via sensory feedback. We conducted three experiments to investigate the interaction between facial feedback phenomena and different environmental stimuli, by asking participants to remember emotional autobiographical memories. Moreover, we examined how people with schizotypal traits would be affected by their experience of emotional facial simulations. We found that using a directed approach (gripping a pencil with teeth/lips) while remembering a specific autobiographical memory could successfully evoke participants’ positive (e.g., happy and excited)/negative (e.g., angry and sad) emotions (i.e., Experiment 1). When using indirective environmental stimuli (e.g., teardrop glasses), the results of our experiments (i.e., Experiments 2 and 3) investigating facial feedback and the effect of teardrop glasses showed that participants who scored low in schizotypy reported little effect from wearing teardrop glasses, while those with high schizotypy reported a much greater effect in both between- and within-subject conditions. The results are discussed from the perspective of sense of ownership, which people with schizophrenia are believed to have deficits in.

The Race Between Cognitive and Artificial Intelligence

Research on human-robot interaction (HRI) is growing; however, focus on the congruent socio-behavioral HRI research fields of social cognition, socio-behavioral intentions, and code of ethics is lacking. Humans possess an inherent ability of integrating perception, cognition, and action; while robots may have limitations as they may not recognize an object or a being, navigate a terrain, and/or comprehend written or verbal language and instructions. This HRI research focuses on issues and challenges for both humans and robots from social, behavioral, technical, and ethical perspectives. The human ability to anthropomorphize robots and adoption of ‘intentional mindset' toward robots through xenocentrism have added new dimensions to HRI. Robotic anthropomorphism plays a significant role in how humans can be successful companions of robots. This research explores social cognitive intelligence versus artificial intelligence with a focus on privacy protections and ethical implications of HRI while designing robots that are ethical, cognitively and artificially intelligent, and social human-like agents.

Processing of Action and Sound Verbs in Context: An FMRI Study

Recent theories propose a flexible recruitment of sensory and motor brain regions during conceptual processing depending on context and task. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging study investigated the influence of context and task on conceptual processing of action and sound verbs. Participants first performed an explicit semantic context decision task, in which action and sound verbs were presented together with a context noun. The same verbs were repeatedly presented in a subsequent implicit lexical decision task together with new action and sound verbs. Thereafter, motor and acoustic localizer tasks were administered to identify brain regions involved in perception and action. During the explicit task, we found differential activations to action and sound verbs near corresponding sensorimotor brain regions. During the implicit lexical decision task, differences between action and sound verbs were absent. However, feature-specific repetition effects were observed near corresponding sensorimotor brain regions. The present results suggest flexible conceptual representations depending on context and task. Feature-specific effects were observed only near, but not within corresponding sensorimotor brain regions, as defined by the localizer tasks. Our results therefore only provide limited evidence in favor of grounded cognition theories assuming a close link between the conceptual and the sensorimotor systems.

Embodied Learning: Why at School the Mind Needs the Body

Despite all methodological efforts made in the last three decades, Western instruction grounds on traditional principles. Most educational programs follow theories that are mentalistic, i.e., they separate the mind from the body. At school, learners sit, watch, listen, and write. The aim of this paper is to present embodied learning as an alternative to mentalistic education. Similarly, this paper wants to describe embodied learning from a neuroscientific perspective. After a brief historical overview, I will review studies highlighting the behavioral effectiveness of embodied instruction in second language learning, mathematics and spatial thinking. On this base, I will discuss some of the brain mechanisms driving embodied learning and describe its advantages, clearly pleading in favor of instructional practice that reunites body and mind.

Situation model updating in young and older adults

Over the past decade or so, developments in language comprehension research in the domain of cognitive aging have converged on support for resilience in older adults with regard to situation model updating when reading texts. Several studies have shown that even though age-related declines in language comprehension appear at the level of the surface form and text base of the text, these age differences do not apply to the creation and updating of situation models. In fact, older adults seem more sensitive to certain manipulations of situation model updating. This article presents a review of theories on situation model updating as well how they match with research on situation model updating in younger and older adults. Factors that may be responsible for the resilience of language comprehension in older age will be discussed as well as avenues for future research.

"Does It Improve the Mind's Eye?": Sensorimotor Simulation in Episodic Event Construction

Memories are not frozen in the past. Instead, they can be dynamically combined to allow individuals to adapt to the present or even imagine the future. This recombination, called event construction, also means that it might be possible to improve memory through specific interventions such as episodic specificity induction (ESI). ESI provides brief training in recollecting the details of a past event that boosts the retrieval of specific details in subsequent tasks if these tasks involve the recombination of memories. However, very little is known about how event construction is accomplished, and this is essential if we are (1) to understand how episodic memory might work and (2) to promote a specific mechanism that will help people remember the past better. The present study assesses the sensorimotor simulation hypothesis, which has been proposed within the embodied approaches to cognition. According to these approaches, access to and the recombination of memories occur through the simulation of the sensory and motor propreties of our past experiences. This hypothesis was tested using a sensory interference paradigm. In a first phase, the participants watched videos and then received a specificity or a control induction. In a second phase, they described their memories of the videos while simultaneously viewing an interfering stimulus (dynamic visual noise; DVN) or a gray control screen. In line with a sensorimotor simulation account, the presentation of a DVN during the description of the videos led to a decrease in the number of internal details (details specific to the event) only after the specificity induction rather than the control induction. The findings provide evidence that the specificity induction targets and facilitates the sensorimotor simulation mechanism, thus confirming the crucial involvement of a mechanism of this sort in the constructive functioning of memory.

Virtual Enactment Effect on Memory in Young and Aged Populations: a Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Spatial cognition is a critical aspect of episodic memory, as it provides the scaffold for events and enables successful retrieval. Virtual enactment (sensorimotor and cognitive interaction) by means of input devices within virtual environments provides an excellent opportunity to enhance encoding and to support memory retrieval with useful traces in the brain compared to passive observation.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines concerning the virtual enactment effect on spatial and episodic memory in young and aged populations. We aim at giving guidelines for virtual enactment studies, especially in the context of aging, where spatial and episodic memory decline.

RESULTS

Our findings reveal a positive effect on spatial and episodic memory in the young population and promising outcomes in aging. Several cognitive factors (e.g., executive function, decision-making, and visual components) mediate memory performances. Findings should be taken into account for future interventions in aging.

CONCLUSIONS

The present review sheds light on the key role of the sensorimotor and cognitive systems for memory rehabilitation by means of a more ecological tool such as virtual reality and stresses the importance of the body for cognition, endorsing the view of an embodied mind.

Mnemonic effects of action simulation from pictures and phrases

Several theoretical approaches suggest that language comprehension and action observation rely on similar mental simulations. Granted that these two simulations partially overlap, we assumed that simulations stemming from action observations are more direct than those stemming from action phrases. The implied prediction was that simulation from action observation should prevail on simulation from action phrases when their effects are contrasted. The results of three experiments confirmed that, when at encoding the phrases were paired with pictures of actions whose kinematics was incongruent with the implied kinematics of the actions described in the phrases, memory for action phrases was impaired (Experiment 1). However, the reverse was not true: when the pictures were paired with phrases representing actions whose kinematics were incongruent with the kinematics of the actions portrayed in the pictures, memory for pictures portraying actions was not impaired (Experiment 2). Also, in line with evidence that simulations from action phrases and those from action observation partially overlap, when their effects were not contrasted their products were misrecognized. In our experiments, when action phrases only presented at recognition described actions depicted in pictures seen at encoding, they were misrecognized as had already been read at encoding (Experiment 1); further, when pictures only presented at recognition portrayed actions described in phrases presented at encoding, they were misrecognized as seen at encoding (Experiment 2). A third experiment excluded the possibility that the pattern of findings was simply a consequence of better memory for pictures of actions as opposed to memory for action phrases (Experiment 3). The implications of our results in relation to the literature on simulation in language comprehension and action observation are discussed.

Action perception and motor imagery: Mental practice of action

Motor cognition is related to the planning and generation of actions as well as to the recognition and imagination of motor acts. Recently, there is evidence that the motor system participates not only in overt actions but also in mental processes supporting covert actions. Within this framework, we have investigated the cortical areas engaged in execution, observation, and imagination of the same action, by the use of the high resolution quantitative ¹⁴C-deoxyglucose method in monkeys and by fMRI in humans, throughout the entire primate brain. Our data demonstrated that observing or imagining an action excites virtually the same sensory-motor cortical network which supports execution of that same action. In general agreement with the results of five relevant meta-analyses that we discuss extensively, our results imply mental practice, i.e. internal rehearsal of the action including movements and their sensory effects. We suggest that we actively perceive and imagine actions by selecting and running off-line restored sensory-motor memories, by mentally simulating the actions. We provide empirical evidence that mental simulation of actions underlies motor cognition, and conceptual representations are grounded in sensory-motor codes. Motor cognition may, therefore, be embodied and modal. Finally, we consider questions regarding agency attribution and the possible causal or epiphenomenal role the involved sensory-motor network could play in motor cognition.

Guided Embodiment and Potential Applications of Tutor Systems in Language Instruction and Rehabilitation

Intelligent tutor systems (ITSs) in mobile devices take us through learning tasks and make learning ubiquitous, autonomous, and at low cost (Nye, 2015). In this paper, we describe guided embodiment as an ITS essential feature for second language learning (L2) and aphasia rehabilitation (ARe) that enhances efficiency in the learning process. In embodiment, cognitive processes, here specifically language (re)learning are grounded in actions and gestures (Pecher and Zwaan, 2005; Fischer and Zwaan, 2008; Dijkstra and Post, 2015). In order to guide users through embodiment, ITSs must track action and gesture, and give corrective feed-back to achieve the users' goals. Therefore, sensor systems are essential to guided embodiment. In the next sections, we describe sensor systems that can be implemented in ITS for guided embodiment.

Flexibility in Language Action Interaction: The Influence of Movement Type

Recent neuropsychological studies in neurological patients and healthy subjects suggest a close functional relationship between the brain systems for language and action. Facilitation and inhibition effects of motor system activity on language processing have been demonstrated as well as causal effects in the reverse direction, from language processes on motor excitability or performance. However, as the documented effects between motor and language systems were sometimes facilitatory and sometimes inhibitory, the “sign” of these effects still remains to be explained. In a previous study, we reported a word-category-specific differential impairment of verbal working memory for concordant arm- and leg-related action words brought about by complex sequential movements of the hands and feet. In this article, we seek to determine whether the sign of the functional interaction between language and action systems of the human brain can be changed in a predictable manner by changing movement type. We here report that the sign of the effect of motor movement on action word memory can be reversed from interference to facilitation if, instead of complex movement sequences, simple repetitive movements are performed. Specifically, when engaged in finger tapping, subjects were able to remember relatively more arm-related action words (as compared to control conditions), thus documenting an enhancement of working memory brought about by simple hand movements. In contrast, when performing complex sequences of finger movements, an effector-specific degradation of action word memory was found. By manipulating the sign of the effect in accord with theory-driven predictions, these findings provide support for shared neural bases for motor movement and verbal working memory for action-related words and strengthen the argument that motor systems play a causal and functionally relevant role in language processing semantically related to action.

Truth is in the head. A nod and shake compatibility effect

Studies from the embodiment perspective on language processing have shown facilitation or interference effects depending on the compatibility between verbal contents, concrete or abstract, and the motion of various parts of the body. The aim of the present study was to test whether such compatibility effects can be found when a higher cognitive process like truth evaluation is accomplished with head movements. Since nodding is a vertical head gesture typically performed with positive and affirmative responses, and shaking is a horizontal head gesture associated with negative and dissenting contents, faster response times can be expected when true information is evaluated by making a vertical head movement and false information by making a horizontal head movement. Three experiments were designed in order to test this motor compatibility effect. In the first experiment a series of very simple sentences were asked to be evaluated as true or false by dragging them vertically and horizontally with the head. It resulted that truth-value was assessed faster when it was compatible with the direction of the head movement, compared to when it was incompatible. In the second experiment participants were asked to evaluate the same sentences as the first experiment but by moving them with the mouse. In the third experiment, a non-evaluative classification task was given, where sentences concerning animals or objects were to be dragged by vertical and horizontal head movements. In the second and third experiment no compatibility effect was observed. Overall results support the hypothesis of an embodiment effect between the abstract processing of truth evaluation and the direction of the two head movements of nodding and shaking. Cultural aspects, cognitive implications, and the limits of these findings are discussed.

Linguistic and motor representations of everyday complex actions: an fNIRS investigation

The present work aimed at exploring functional correlates of motor and linguistic representations of everyday actions, with a specific interest in potential sensorimotor activation effects induced by the use of related action sentences. While it is indeed known that observing simple motor acts (e.g., precision grasping) and listening to the sound of specific actions (e.g., walking) activate sensorimotor structures, less is known when we move to more complex behaviors and more abstract linguistic representations (e.g., verbal descriptions). Again, the potential of linguistic representations to facilitate the activation of specific sensorimotor structures during action execution or observation is yet unexplored. We then aimed at investigating hemodynamic activation patterns (via functional near-infrared spectroscopy, fNIRS) within the sensorimotor network during different tasks based on everyday activities. Twenty volunteers were asked to execute (EXE), observe (OBS), or listen (LIS) to brief verbal descriptions of transitive actions, to observe them while listening to their description (OBS-LIS), or to execute them while listening to their description (EXE-LIS). Analyses highlighted that, in the left hemisphere, hemodynamic responses were the lowest during observation of complex actions and observation coupled with listening, greater during simple listening to verbal description of actions, and maximal when participants actually executed complex actions or executed them while listening to their verbal descriptions. The present results suggest that processing verbal descriptions of actions might keep the sensorimotor network more active than simply observing them. Such first pieces of evidence hint at potential implications for novel procedures for rehabilitation of movement and action deficits.

Relevance of the listener's motor system in recalling phrases enacted by the speaker

Memory for series of action phrases improves in listeners when speakers accompany each phrase with congruent gestures compared to when speakers stay still. Studies reveal that the listeners' motor system, at encoding, plays a crucial role in this enactment effect. We present two experiments on gesture observation, which explored the role of the listeners' motor system at recall. The participants listened to the phrases uttered by a speaker in two conditions in each experiment. In the gesture condition, the speaker uttered the phrases with accompanying congruent gestures, and in the no-gesture condition, the speaker stayed still while uttering the phrases. The participants were then invited, in both conditions of the experiments, to perform a motor task while recalling the phrases proffered by the speaker. The results revealed that the advantage of observing gestures on memory disappears if the listeners move at recall arms and hands (same motor effectors moved by the speaker, Experiment 1a), but not when the listeners move legs and feet (different motor effectors from those moved by the speaker, Experiment 1b). The results suggest that the listeners' motor system is involved not only during the encoding of action phrases uttered by a speaker but also when recalling these phrases during retrieval.

Social targets improve body-based and environment-based strategies during spatial navigation

Encoding the position of another person in space is vital for everyday life. Nevertheless, little is known about the specific navigational strategies associated with encoding the position of another person in the wider spatial environment. We asked two groups of participants to learn the location of a target (person or object) during active navigation, while optic flow information, a landmark, or both optic flow information and a landmark were available in a virtual environment. Whereas optic flow information is used for body-based encoding, such as the simulation of motor movements, landmarks are used to form an abstract, disembodied representation of the environment. During testing, we passively moved participants through virtual space, and compared their abilities to correctly decide whether the non-visible target was before or behind them. Using psychometric functions and the Bayes Theorem, we show that both groups assigned similar weights to body-based and environment-based cues in the condition, where both cue types were available. However, the group who was provided with a person as target showed generally reduced position errors compared to the group who was provided with an object as target. We replicated this effect in a second study with novel participants. This indicates a social advantage in spatial encoding, with facilitated processing of both body-based and environment-based cues during spatial navigation when the position of a person is encoded. This may underlie our critical ability to make accurate distance judgments during social interactions, for example, during fight or flight responses.

Feature-Specific Event-Related Potential Effects to Action- and Sound-Related Verbs during Visual Word Recognition

Grounded cognition theories suggest that conceptual representations essentially depend on modality-specific sensory and motor systems. Feature-specific brain activation across different feature types such as action or audition has been intensively investigated in nouns, while feature-specific conceptual category differences in verbs mainly focused on body part specific effects. The present work aimed at assessing whether feature-specific event-related potential (ERP) differences between action and sound concepts, as previously observed in nouns, can also be found within the word class of verbs. In Experiment 1, participants were visually presented with carefully matched sound and action verbs within a lexical decision task, which provides implicit access to word meaning and minimizes strategic access to semantic word features. Experiment 2 tested whether pre-activating the verb concept in a context phase, in which the verb is presented with a related context noun, modulates subsequent feature-specific action vs. sound verb processing within the lexical decision task. In Experiment 1, ERP analyses revealed a differential ERP polarity pattern for action and sound verbs at parietal and central electrodes similar to previous results in nouns. Pre-activation of the meaning of verbs in the preceding context phase in Experiment 2 resulted in a polarity-reversal of feature-specific ERP effects in the lexical decision task compared with Experiment 1. This parallels analogous earlier findings for primed action and sound related nouns. In line with grounded cognitions theories, our ERP study provides evidence for a differential processing of action and sound verbs similar to earlier observation for concrete nouns. Although the localizational value of ERPs must be viewed with caution, our results indicate that the meaning of verbs is linked to different neural circuits depending on conceptual feature relevance.

The language used in describing autobiographical memories prompted by life period visually presented verbal cues, event-specific visually presented verbal cues and short musical clips of popular music

Here, we examined linguistic differences in the reports of memories produced by three cueing methods. Two groups of young adults were cued visually either by words representing events or popular cultural phenomena that took place when they were 5, 10, or 16 years of age, or by words referencing a general lifetime period word cue directing them to that period in their life. A third group heard 30-second long musical clips of songs popular during the same three time periods. In each condition, participants typed a specific event memory evoked by the cue and these typed memories were subjected to analysis by the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program. Differences in the reports produced indicated that listening to music evoked memories embodied in motor-perceptual systems more so than memories evoked by our word-cueing conditions. Additionally, relative to music cues, lifetime period word cues produced memories with reliably more uses of personal pronouns, past tense terms, and negative emotions. The findings provide evidence for the embodiment of autobiographical memories, and how those differ when the cues emphasise different aspects of the encoded events.

Sources of mu activity and their functional connectivity in perceiving complexities in reciprocal social interactive motion: An exploratory study using the 'Namaste' task

Cognitive processes underlying reciprocal social interactions are understood by the mechanism of embodiment, which is closely related to the mirror neuron system. Electroencephalographic (EEG) mu activity is a neural marker of the mirror neuron system. This study investigated the mu activity, localization of its sources and functional connectivity, which was induced while watching reciprocal social interactive motion across various degrees of complexity. Eighteen healthy participants underwent high-resolution EEG recording using 256-channels while they watched a specifically designed, culture specific, video task that showed two persons interacting socially using body gestures. Task complexity was determined by (1) whether there was an identical gestural response or a non-identical one; (2) whether the participant watched two persons interacting or was virtually involved in the interaction. Source localization and functional connectivity analysis was conducted for mu activity across various tasks. We also correlated mu activity and functional connectivity measures with serum BDNF. We found that spectral densities in various brain sources of mu activity and their increased functional connectivity distinguished identical and non-identical reciprocal expression observations, while mu suppression alone did not discriminate various degrees of complexities. These findings might have important implications in the understanding of mechanisms underlying mirror neuron dysfunction in various psychiatric disorders.

Exploring the Neural Representation of Novel Words Learned through Enactment in a Word Recognition Task

Vocabulary learning in a second language is enhanced if learners enrich the learning experience with self-performed iconic gestures. This learning strategy is called enactment. Here we explore how enacted words are functionally represented in the brain and which brain regions contribute to enhance retention. After an enactment training lasting 4 days, participants performed a word recognition task in the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scanner. Data analysis suggests the participation of different and partially intertwined networks that are engaged in higher cognitive processes, i.e., enhanced attention and word recognition. Also, an experience-related network seems to map word representation. Besides core language regions, this latter network includes sensory and motor cortices, the basal ganglia, and the cerebellum. On the basis of its complexity and the involvement of the motor system, this sensorimotor network might explain superior retention for enactment.