University San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy.
Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Italy.
Brain Struct Funct. 2019 May;224(4):1385-1401. doi: 10.1007/s00429-019-01851-7. Epub 2019 Mar 4.
This paper addresses the debated issue of abstract language in the framework of embodiment. First, we discuss the notion of abstractness in the light of the Western philosophical thought, with a focus on the English empiricist tradition. Second, we review the most relevant psychological models and neuroscientific empirical findings on abstract language. It turns out that abstract words are not such, because their meaning is "far from experience", but, because of the high complexity of the attached experiential clusters. Finally, we spell out the consequences of this understanding of abstractness in relation to the neural mechanisms subserving abstract language processing. If abstract words, as compared to concrete ones, imply an increasing complexity of the associated experiential clusters, then the processing of abstract language relies on the recruitment of several neural substrates coding for those experiences. We forward that, at the neural level, this complexity is coded by means of three main mechanisms: (1) the recruitment of the motor representations of different biological effectors (abstract meaning as effector-unspecific); (2) the recruitment of different systems, including sensory, motor, and emotional ones (abstract meaning as multi-systemic); (3) the recruitment of neural substrates coding for social contexts and levels of self-relatedness (abstract meaning as dynamic). As compared to the current approaches in the literature on abstract language that combine embodiment with some a-modal aspects, our proposal is fully embodied and rules out additional aspects. Our proposal may spur future empirical research on abstract language in the embodied approach.
本文在体现论的框架内探讨了抽象语言的有争议问题。首先，我们根据西方哲学思想，特别是英语经验主义传统，讨论了抽象性的概念。其次，我们回顾了关于抽象语言的最相关的心理模型和神经科学实证发现。事实证明，抽象词并非如此，因为它们的意思不是“远离经验”，而是因为与之相关的经验集群的高度复杂性。最后，我们阐述了这种对抽象性的理解在与支持抽象语言处理的神经机制相关的后果。如果抽象词与具体词相比，意味着与之相关的经验集群的复杂性增加，那么抽象语言的处理就依赖于对这些经验进行编码的几个神经基质的招募。我们认为，在神经水平上，这种复杂性是通过三种主要机制来编码的：（1） 招募不同生物效应器的运动表现（抽象意义作为效应器非特异性）；（2） 招募不同的系统，包括感觉、运动和情感系统（抽象意义作为多系统）；（3） 招募编码社会背景和自我相关性水平的神经基质（抽象意义作为动态）。与文献中关于将体现论与某些非模态方面结合起来的抽象语言的当前方法相比，我们的建议是完全体现论的，排除了其他方面。我们的建议可能会激发未来关于体现论中的抽象语言的实证研究。
