Abstract
Observing actions and understanding sentences about actions activates corresponding motor processes in
the observer comprehender. In 5 experiments, the authors addressed 2 novel questions regarding
language-based motor resonance. The 1st question asks whether visual motion that is associated with an
action produces motor resonance in sentence comprehension. The 2nd question asks whether motor
resonance is modulated during sentence comprehension. The authors' experiments provide an affirmative
response to both questions. A rotating visual stimulus affects both actual manual rotation and the
comprehension of manual rotation sentences. Motor resonance is modulated by the linguistic input and
is a rather immediate and localized phenomenon. The results are discussed in the context of theories of
action observation and mental simulation.
Users
Please
log in to take part in the discussion (add own reviews or comments).