Clinical Research Directory

LAnguage-Motor Imagery Circuits to Improve Motor Learning and Language Comprehension

Sponsor: University Hospital, Grenoble

Summary

Recent evidence suggests that cognitive systems do not operate in isolation but interact within broader networks, thus opening new avenues for fundamental and clinical research. An illustrative example is the interaction between language comprehension and motor representations. For instance, motor training (e.g., sports, origami training) can facilitate action verb recognition, whereas motor deficits (e.g., upper limb immobilization) can hinder the processing of action language. Similarly, action language has been shown to affect motor performance. These effects are attributed to an implicit form of motor imagery, an automatic simulation of motor experience (without actual movement) evoked by action words. Interestingly, literature supports the idea that the motor simulations used for imagining an action are also engaged during the reading of action language, leading to similar neurophysiological and behavioral changes in both processes. However, questions remain about the similarity of the simulations generated by motor imagery and action language. This project, encompassing three experimental sequences, aims to address these questions to achieve significant scientific advancements in both theoretical and applied domains.

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