Abstract

Embodied cognition theories posit direct interactions between sensorimotor and mental processing. Various clinical observations have been interpreted in this controversial framework, amongst others, low verb generation in word production tasks performed by persons with Parkinson’s disease (PD). If this were the consequence of reduced motor simulation of prevalent action semantics in this word class, reduced PD pathophysiology should result in increased verb production and a general shift of lexical contents towards particular movement-related meanings. 17 persons with PD and bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subhtalamic nucleus (STN) and 17 healthy control persons engaged in a semantically unconstrained, phonemic verbal fluency task, the former in both DBS-off and DBS-on states. The analysis referred to the number of words produced, verb use, and the occurrence of different dimensions of movement-related semantics in the lexical output. Persons with PD produced fewer words than controls. In the DBS-off, but not in the DBS-on condition, the proportion of verbs within this reduced output was lower than in controls. Lowered verb production went in parallel with a semantic shift: in persons with PD in the DBS-off, but not the DBS-on condition, the relatedness of produced words to own body-movement was lower than in controls. In persons with PD, DBS induced-changes of the motor condition appear to go along with formal and semantic shifts in word production. The results are compatible with the idea of some impact of motor system states on lexical processing.

Details

Title
Tracing embodied word production in persons with Parkinson’s disease in distinct motor conditions
Author
Klostermann, Fabian 1 ; Wyrobnik, Michelle 2 ; Boll, Moritz 3 ; Ehlen, Felicitas 4 ; Tiedt, Hannes Ole 3 

 Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Neurology, Motor and Cognition Group, Berlin, Germany (GRID:grid.6363.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2218 4662); Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Berlin, Germany (GRID:grid.7468.d) (ISNI:0000 0001 2248 7639) 
 Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Neurology, Motor and Cognition Group, Berlin, Germany (GRID:grid.6363.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2218 4662); Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Berlin, Germany (GRID:grid.7468.d) (ISNI:0000 0001 2248 7639); Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Psychology, Berlin, Germany (GRID:grid.7468.d) (ISNI:0000 0001 2248 7639) 
 Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Neurology, Motor and Cognition Group, Berlin, Germany (GRID:grid.6363.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2218 4662) 
 Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Neurology, Motor and Cognition Group, Berlin, Germany (GRID:grid.6363.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2218 4662); Jüdisches Krankenhaus Berlin, Department of Psychiatry, Berlin, Germany (GRID:grid.492100.e) (ISNI:0000 0001 2298 2218) 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2721477111
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.