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论文类型：期刊论文

发表时间：2020-02-01

发表刊物：BRAIN AND LANGUAGE

收录刊物：PubMed、SCIE

卷号：201

页面范围：104714

ISSN号：0093-934X

关键字：Embodied cognition; Gradation; Linguistic abstraction; Metaphorical language; First/second language; fMRI

摘要：The framework of embodied cognition has challenged the modular view of a language-cognition divide by suggesting that meaning-retrieval critically involves the sensory-motor system. Despite extensive research into the neural mechanisms underlying language-motor coupling, it remains unclear how the motor system might be differentially engaged by different levels of linguistic abstraction and language proficiency. To address this issue, we used fMRI to quantify neural activations in brain regions underlying motor and language processing in Chinese-English speakers' processing of literal, metaphorical, and abstract language in their L1 and L2. Results overall revealed a response in motor ROIs gradually attenuating in intensity from literal to abstract via metaphorical language in both L1 and L2. Furthermore, contrast analyses between L1 and L2 showed overall greater activations of motor ROIs in the L2. We conclude that motor involvement in language processing is graded rather than all-or-none and that the motor system has a dual-functional role.