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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 22, 2026

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

Published on: May 3, 2018

Action word understanding and overt motor behavior.

Riccardo Dalla Volta¹, Claudia Gianelli, Giovanna Cristina Campione

¹Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università di Parma, Via Volturno 39, 43100, Parma, Italy.

Experimental Brain Research

|June 2, 2009

Summary

The motor system is involved in language processing. Action verbs fully activate related motor programs, suggesting this activation is crucial for understanding the meaning of action words.

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Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Published on: December 31, 2013

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Linguistics
Motor Control

Background:

The precise role of the motor system in language processing remains debated.
Understanding action words may involve simulating the actions described.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether the motor system is activated during the processing of action-related language.
To determine if this activation is necessary for comprehending action word meaning.

Main Methods:

Three behavioral experiments using go-no-go and choice paradigms.
Semantic decision task with early go signal during language processing.
Stimuli included Italian verbs for hand actions, foot actions, and abstract concepts.

Main Results:

Processing hand action verbs slowed action kinematics compared to foot action verbs.
Compatible hand/foot responses to verbs were faster initially but slower kinematically.
Incompatible responses showed different kinematic patterns.

Conclusions:

Findings suggest complete activation of verb-related motor programs during language comprehension.
This motor activation is hypothesized to be necessary for understanding the goal and consequences of actions.
Supports the embodied cognition theory of language processing.