TY - JOUR
T1 - N400 ERPs for actions
T2 - Building meaning in context
AU - Amoruso, Lucia
AU - Gelormini, Carlos
AU - Aboitiz, Francisco
AU - Alvarez González, Miguel
AU - Manes, Facundo
AU - Cardona, Juan
AU - Ibanez, Agustin
PY - 2013/2/12
Y1 - 2013/2/12
N2 - Converging neuroscientific evidence suggests the existence of close links between language and sensorimotor cognition. Accordingly, during the comprehension of meaningful actions, our brain would recruit semantic-related operations similar to those associated with the processing of language information. Consistent with this view, electrophysiological findings show that the N400 component, traditionally linked to the semantic processing of linguistic material, can also be elicited by action-related material. This review outlines recent data from N400 studies that examine the understanding of action events. We focus on three specific domains, including everyday action comprehension, co-speech gesture integration, and the semantics involved in motor planning and execution. Based on the reviewed findings, we suggest that both negativities (the N400 and the action-N400) reflect a common neurocognitive mechanism involved in the construction of meaning through the expectancies created by previous experiences and current contextual information. To shed light on how this process is instantiated in the brain, a testable contextual fronto-temporo-parietal model is proposed.
AB - Converging neuroscientific evidence suggests the existence of close links between language and sensorimotor cognition. Accordingly, during the comprehension of meaningful actions, our brain would recruit semantic-related operations similar to those associated with the processing of language information. Consistent with this view, electrophysiological findings show that the N400 component, traditionally linked to the semantic processing of linguistic material, can also be elicited by action-related material. This review outlines recent data from N400 studies that examine the understanding of action events. We focus on three specific domains, including everyday action comprehension, co-speech gesture integration, and the semantics involved in motor planning and execution. Based on the reviewed findings, we suggest that both negativities (the N400 and the action-N400) reflect a common neurocognitive mechanism involved in the construction of meaning through the expectancies created by previous experiences and current contextual information. To shed light on how this process is instantiated in the brain, a testable contextual fronto-temporo-parietal model is proposed.
KW - Action comprehension
KW - Action meaning
KW - Contextual integration
KW - Fronto-temporo-parietal network
KW - Language
KW - N400
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84933670624&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00057
DO - 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00057
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84933670624
SN - 1662-5161
JO - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
IS - FEB
ER -