title: Self, others, objects: how this triadic interaction modulates our behavior.
abstract: Two experiments investigated whether the triadic interaction between objects, ourselves and other persons modulates motor system activation during language comprehension. Participants were faced with sentences formed by a descriptive part referring to a positive or negative emotively connoted object and an action part composed of an imperative verb implying a motion toward the self or toward other persons (e.g., "The object is attractive/ugly. Bring it toward you/Give it to another person/Give it to a friend"). Participants judged whether each sentence was sensible or not by moving the mouse toward or away from their body. Findings showed that the simulation of a social context influenced both (1) the motor system and (2) the coding of stimulus valence. Implications of the results for theories of embodied and social cognition are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Discipline della Comunicazione, University of Bologna, Via Azzo Gardino 23, 40122, Bologna, Italy. l.lugli@unibo.it
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lugli
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baroni
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gianelli
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Borghi
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nicoletti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult