Embodiment and the Neural Correlates of Gestures Andword Meanings: an Investigation Targeting Different Populations,languages and Study Techniques

Leading theories on how word types dissociate fromeach other include distinctions at the lexical level,correlations between featural properties, anddistinct sensorimotor representations. Recenttheories on embodied cognition have suggested thatprocessing such stimuli involves imagery of thedifferent body parts associated with a given concept,with activity in the sensorimotor areas along thecortex corresponding to those body parts. In mydissertation work, I implemented psycholinguistic andneuroimaging techniques to systematically test theseputative distinctions. Our results represent a firststep in the systematic testing of two major views onthe mental organization for meaning. With newbehavioral and imaging studies on the way targetingthese distinctions directly, we hope to reveal aclearer picture of semantic organization andbreakdown, bringing us one step forward in ourunderstanding of how the brain organizes meaning.