a Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
Cogn Neuropsychol. 2014;31(4):287-312. doi: 10.1080/02643294.2014.914022.
Embodied cognition offers an approach to word meaning firmly grounded in action and perception. A strong prediction of embodied cognition is that sensorimotor simulation is a necessary component of lexical-semantic representation. One semantic distinction where motor imagery is likely to play a key role involves the representation of manufactured artefacts. Many questions remain with respect to the scope of embodied cognition. One dominant unresolved issue is the extent to which motor enactment is necessary for representing and generating words with high motor salience. We investigated lesion correlates of manipulable relative to nonmanipulable name generation (e.g., name a school supply; name a mountain range) in patients with nonfluent aphasia (N = 14). Lesion volumes within motor (BA4, where BA = Brodmann area) and premotor (BA6) cortices were not predictive of category discrepancies. Lesion symptom mapping linked impairment for manipulable objects to polymodal convergence zones and to projections of the left, primary visual cortex specialized for motion perception (MT/V5+). Lesions to motor and premotor cortex were not predictive of manipulability impairment. This lesion correlation is incompatible with an embodied perspective premised on necessity of motor cortex for the enactment and subsequent production of motor-related words. These findings instead support a graded or "soft" approach to embodied cognition premised on an ancillary role of modality-specific cortical regions in enriching modality-neutral representations. We discuss a dynamic, hybrid approach to the neurobiology of semantic memory integrating both embodied and disembodied components.
具身认知为词汇意义提供了一种坚定地根植于行动和感知的方法。具身认知的一个强有力的预测是，感觉运动模拟是词汇语义表示的必要组成部分。运动意象可能发挥关键作用的语义区别之一涉及到制造物品的表示。具身认知的范围仍存在许多问题。一个未解决的主要问题是，对于具有高运动显著性的单词的表示和生成，运动实施在多大程度上是必要的。我们在非流利性失语症患者中（N = 14）调查了可操作性与不可操作性名称生成（例如，命名学校用品；命名山脉）的病变相关性。运动（BA4，其中 BA = Brodmann 区）和前运动（BA6）皮质内的病变体积与类别差异没有预测性。病变症状映射将可操作性对象的损伤与多模态会聚区以及左、主要用于运动感知的视觉皮层（MT/V5+）的投射联系起来。运动和前运动皮质的损伤不能预测可操作性损伤。这种病变相关性与基于运动皮层对于运动相关词汇的实施和随后产生的必要性的具身认知观点不一致。这些发现支持了一种分级或“软性”的具身认知观点，该观点基于特定于模态的皮质区域在丰富模态中立表示方面的辅助作用。我们讨论了一种动态、混合的语义记忆神经生物学方法，该方法结合了具身和非具身的成分。
