title: Concurrent word generation and motor performance: further evidence for language-motor interaction.
abstract: Embodied/modality-specific theories of semantic memory propose that sensorimotor representations play an important role in perception and action. A large body of evidence supports the notion that concepts involving human motor action (i.e., semantic-motor representations) are processed in both language and motor regions of the brain. However, most studies have focused on perceptual tasks, leaving unanswered questions about language-motor interaction during production tasks. Thus, we investigated the effects of shared semantic-motor representations on concurrent language and motor production tasks in healthy young adults, manipulating the semantic task (motor-related vs. nonmotor-related words) and the motor task (i.e., standing still and finger-tapping). In Experiment 1 (n = 20), we demonstrated that motor-related word generation was sufficient to affect postural control. In Experiment 2 (n = 40), we demonstrated that motor-related word generation was sufficient to facilitate word generation and finger tapping. We conclude that engaging semantic-motor representations can have a reciprocal influence on motor and language production. Our study provides additional support for functional language-motor interaction, as well as embodied/modality-specific theories.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America. amy.rodriguez@uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Amy D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: McCabe
authors.forename: Joe R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Nocera
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reilly
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult