Embodied Cognition of Manipulative Actions: Subliminal Grasping Semantics Enhance Using-Action Recognition

Background: Grasping actions, owing to their manipulated nature, play a central role in research on embodied action language. However, their foundational contribution to the cognition of using actions remains debated. This study examined the relationship between grasping and using actions from the perspective of subthreshold semantic processing. Methods: Participants engaged with objects affording both action types while behavioral responses and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Semantic congruency between subliminally presented grasping verbs and the actions of target objects was systematically manipulated. Results: Subthreshold processing of grasping verbs facilitated the recognition of using actions, as reflected in faster response times and modulations of ERP components. Spatiotemporal analyses revealed a processing pathway from occipital to parietal and frontal regions, with the posterior parietal cortex serving as a critical hub for integrating object function semantics with action information. Conclusions: These findings provide novel evidence that grasping action semantics support the recognition of using actions even below conscious awareness, elucidating the neural dynamics of embodied cognition and refining the temporal characterization of manipulative action processing pathways proposed by the two-action system theory.