Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of La Laguna, Spain.
Brain Cogn. 2013 Aug;82(3):236-42. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2013.04.010. Epub 2013 May 25.
The mu rhythms (8-13 Hz) and the beta rhythms (15 up to 30 Hz) of the EEG are observed in the central electrodes (C3, Cz and C4) in resting states, and become suppressed when participants perform a manual action or when they observe another's action. This has led researchers to consider that these rhythms are electrophysiological markers of the motor neuron activity in humans. This study tested whether the comprehension of action language, unlike abstract language, modulates mu and low beta rhythms (15-20 Hz) in a similar way as the observation of real actions. The log-ratios were calculated for each oscillatory band between each condition and baseline resting periods. The results indicated that both action language and action videos caused mu and beta suppression (negative log-ratios), whereas abstract language did not, confirming the hypothesis that understanding action language activates motor networks in the brain. In other words, the resonance of motor areas associated with action language is compatible with the embodiment approach to linguistic meaning.
在静息状态下，脑电图的 mu 节律（8-13 Hz）和 beta 节律（15 到 30 Hz）可以在中央电极（C3、Cz 和 C4）上观察到，而当参与者进行手动操作或观察他人的动作时，这些节律会受到抑制。这使得研究人员认为这些节律是人类运动神经元活动的电生理标志物。本研究测试了理解动作语言是否与观察真实动作一样，以类似的方式调节 mu 和低 beta 节律（15-20 Hz），而不是像抽象语言那样。为每个振荡带在每个条件和基线休息期间之间计算对数比。结果表明，动作语言和动作视频都导致 mu 和 beta 抑制（负对数比），而抽象语言则没有，这证实了理解动作语言会激活大脑运动网络的假设。换句话说，与动作语言相关的运动区域的共鸣与语言意义的体现方法是一致的。
