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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 17, 2025

An Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Ageing on Sentence Processing

An Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Ageing on Sentence Processing

Published on: October 25, 2019

The link between language and action in aging.

Christel Bidet-Ildei¹, Sophie-Anne Beauprez², Geoffroy Boucard¹

¹Département des Sciences du sport, Université de Poitiers, Université de Tours, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage (UMR 7295), Poitiers, France.

Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics

|June 23, 2020

Summary

The link between action verbs and real actions weakens with age. Older adults did not show the same action-perception benefits as younger adults in a visual task.

Keywords:

action observation action verb processing aging embodiment motor simulation

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Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach

Published on: February 14, 2014

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Psycholinguistics
Human Aging Research

Background:

Established link between processing action verbs and real-world actions.
Limited understanding of how this action-language link changes across the lifespan, particularly in older adults.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate age-related changes in the relationship between action verb processing and action representation.
To compare the performance of younger and older adults on an action verb priming task.

Main Methods:

Participants (younger and older adults) completed a priming task.
Task involved judging image content (human presence) after hearing an action verb.
Congruence between action verb and image depicted was manipulated.

Main Results:

Younger adults showed faster human detection in congruent conditions (verb-image match).
This facilitation effect, observed in younger adults, was absent in older adults.
Performance differences highlight age-related alterations in action-language integration.

Conclusions:

The findings suggest a diminished link between action and language processing in older age.
This age-related decline may impact embodied cognition.
Further research is needed to explore the neural underpinnings of these age-related changes.