Abstract
The neural correlates of action language processing are still debated within embodied cognition research and little is known about the flexible involvement of modality-specific pre-motor system and multimodal high-level temporo-parietal regions as a function of explicit and implicit tasks. A systematic review and the Activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analyses on functional neuroimaging studies were performed to identify neural correlates of action language processing activated during explicit and implicit tasks. The contrast ALE meta-analysis revealed activation of modality-specific premotor area and inferior frontal areas during explicit action language tasks while a greater activation of posterior temporo-occipital areas emerged for implicit tasks. The conjunction analysis revealed overlap in the temporo-parietal multimodal high-level regions for both types of tasks. Functional specialization of the middle temporal gyrus was found where the more posterior-occipital part resulted activated during implicit action language tasks whereas the antero-lateral part was involved in explicit tasks. Our findings were discussed within a conceptual flexibility perspective about the involvement of both the modality-specific and multimodal brain system during action language processing depending on different types of tasks.
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References
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Appendix
Supplementary material 1
Peak coordinates and their effect size for each selected whole-brain and ROI-based study (n = 65) included in the systematic review and meta-analysis (DOCX 235 kb)
Supplementary material 2
Systematic review findings for 1. All studies (n = 26); 2. Studies using only Explicit tasks (n = 14); 3. Studies using only Implicit tasks (n = 13) (DOCX 14 kb)
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Giacobbe, C., Raimo, S., Cropano, M. et al. Neural correlates of embodied action language processing: a systematic review and meta-analytic study. Brain Imaging and Behavior 16, 2353–2374 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-022-00680-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-022-00680-3