Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
Published on: April 19, 2017
The body in language, the language beyond the body: embrainment and graded embodiment in the evolution and use of
Michael A Arbib1, Valentina Cuccio2
1Computer Science and Neuroscience, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Abstract:
We reject the notion that the assertion "language is embodied" has a yes/no answer and instead introduce an account of a gradient of embodiment that ranges from "strict embodiment" restricted to elements of language describing humans engaged in practical bodily interaction to fully abstract concepts. We show how concepts may blend strict embodiment and abstraction, and demonstrate that strictly embodied knowledge may ground linguistic meaning phylogenetically and ontogenetically. Much adult language use resides "high" in a tower of abstraction. However, movement away from strict embodiment need not imply movement only up the tower of abstraction. Embodied simulation combined with metaphor provides one mechanism for linking abstraction to embodiment. An account of biocultural evolution shows how changes primarily in brain structure (embrainment) made possible the linkage of practical action to pantomime in grounding protolanguages and how cultural evolution built on this to create a symbolic and physical environment that depends on the availability of grammar to create metaphors and new abstractions. Critiquing the claim that large language models mirror the human brain's language system we show how human embrainment links disembodied processing to processes that are strictly embodied.
Related Concept Videos
Components of Language
Language and Cognition
Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Language
Corballis and Suddendorf (2007) and Tomasello and Rakoczy (2003) highlight the role of language in...
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
Introduction to Language of Pathophysiology l

