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Updated: Dec 25, 2025

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation
Published on: December 31, 2013
Muscle activation in semantic processing: An electromyography approach
Germán Gálvez-García1, Nerea Aldunate2, Claudio Bascour-Sandoval3
1Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile; Département de Psychologie Cognitive & Neuropsychologie, Institut de Psychologie, Laboratoired'Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université Lyon 2, Lyon, France.
Abstract:
In this study, we focus on the spontaneous activity related to manual verbs to determine the extent to which semantic processing of manual verbs affects spontaneous arm muscle activity. For this purpose, we recorded the arm's electromyographic activity while participants read manual and non-manual verbs, focusing their attention on the semantic content or a specific letter. In addition, we manipulated the arm position (in front of the body or behind the back) to observe postural priming effects for spontaneous muscle activity. Our results show that when arms were placed forward and the attention was directed to the semantic content, there was an enhanced spontaneous activation. Our results suggest that spontaneous motor responses are related to the involvement of the motor system in action language comprehension as suggested by language embodiment theories.
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