Departmental Papers (Psychology)
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
12-2005
Publication Source
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Volume
17
Issue
12
Start Page
1855
Last Page
1870
DOI
10.1162/089892905775008625
Abstract
Retrieval of conceptual information from action pictures causes greater activation than from object pictures bilaterally in human motion areas (MT/MST) and nearby temporal regions. By contrast, retrieval of conceptual information from action words causes greater activation in left middle and superior temporal gyri, anterior and dorsal to the MT/MST. We performed two fMRI experiments to replicate and extend these findings regarding action words. In the first experiment, subjects performed conceptual judgments of action and object words under conditions that stressed visual semantic information. Under these conditions, action words again activated posterior temporal regions close to, but not identical with, the MT/MST. In the second experiment, we included conceptual judgments of manipulable object words in addition to judgments of action and animal words. Both action and manipulable object judgments caused greater activity than animal judgments in the posterior middle temporal gyrus. Both of these experiments support the hypothesis that middle temporal gyrus activation is related to accessing conceptual information about motion attributes, rather than alternative accounts on the basis of lexical or grammatical factors. Furthermore, these experiments provide additional support for the notion of a concrete to abstract gradient of motion representations with the lateral occipitotemporal cortex, extending anterior and dorsal from the MT/MST towards the peri-sylvian cortex.
Copyright/Permission Statement
This article was originally published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (http://www.mitpressjournals.org/forthcoming/jocn). This version is made available under authorization of MIT Press.
Recommended Citation
Kable, J. W., Kan, I., Wilson, A., Thompson-Schill, S. L., & Chatterjee, A. (2005). Conceptual Representations of Action in the Lateral Temporal Cortex. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17 (12), 1855-1870. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/089892905775008625
Date Posted: 06 December 2017
This document has been peer reviewed.