1,721,073 research outputs found
Brief multisensory training enhances second language vocabulary acquisition in both high and low performers
No full textResearch in the field of vocabulary acquisition has demonstrated that enriching novel words with sensorimotor information enhances memory outcome compared to reading. However, it has been asserted that enrichment might exceed the cognitive load of low performers and therefore be detrimental to them. Here, in a brief training, thirty-two subjects learned thirty novel items of a foreign language according to three conditions: (1) reading, (2) reading and listening, (3) reading and listening and watching an actress performing a gesture semantically related to the words. Conditions (2) and (3) enriched the baseline (1) with multisensory information. Memory performance was assessed through written tests immediately after learning. Results indicate that both high and low performers benefit from sensorimotor learning. The significant interaction between group and method in one of the tests shows that low performers learn better through enrichment than by only reading the words. Implications for education are discusse
From virtual reality to interreality in the treatment of anxiety disorders
No full textA virtual reality system is a combination of technological devices that allows users to create, explore and interact with 3D environments. In recent years, virtual reality has been increasingly employed in the treatment of anxiety disorders, since it offers the opportunity to carry out exposure-based programs that bypass the limitations that occur during both in vivo exposure and imaginal exposure. The introduction of a new therapeutic approach called interreality has brought us one step further towards e-health. If virtual worlds are considered as ‘closed’ experiences, separated from thoughts and emotions experienced by the patient in the real life, interreality, conversely, is an advanced technological tool whose main novelty is the creation of a hybrid, closed-loop, empowering experience bridging both the physical and virtual worlds. This article will discuss the use of virtual reality and interreality for clinical purposes, and will present the outcomes of different clinical trials that applied these tools in the field of anxiety disorders
The use of Virtual Reality for language investigation and learning
No full textVirtual Reality (VR) is a technological tool traditionally used in psychology for clinical purposes or self-empowerment: a huge number of papers have documented the validity of treatments provided or supported by VR. Most of these have illustrated protocols for the treatment of anxiety disorders: from simple phobias (Krijn et al., 2007), to panic disorders (Botella et al., 2007), post-traumatic stress disorder (Gerardi et al., 2008), and generalized anxiety disorder (Repetto et al., 2009, 2013b; Repetto and Riva, 2011); recently, VR has also been effectively employed for stress management in a non-clinical population (Gaggioli et al., 2014)
THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND ACTION: THE CONTRIBUTION OF VIRTUAL REALITY IN THE DOMAIN OF EMBODIED COGNITION
No full textIl razionale di questo progetto affonda le sue radici nelle recenti teorie che considerano il linguaggio come fondato sull’azione, e quindi strettamente collegato al sistema motorio. Negli ultimi decenni, infatti, la scoperta dei neuroni specchio, prima nella scimmia e poi negli esseri umani, ha portato ad un filone di ricerca spesso denominato “embodied language”. Grazie alle metodiche messe a disposizione dalle neuroscienze, ad oggi sono stati raccolti molti dati sperimentali a favore del legame tra sistema motorio e linguaggio, anche se la natura di questo legame non è del tutto chiara. In questa prospettiva, in aggiunta ai tradizionali strumenti di indagine come la Risonanza Magnetica Funzionale (fMRI) o la Stimolazione Magnetica Transcranica (TMS), anche la Realtà Virtuale (RV), che consente di provare un’”esperienza incorporata”, sembra possa aiutare i ricercatori a far luce sulle questioni ancora aperte.
Il presente progetto, quindi, si compone di tre ricerche distinte, ciascuna delle quali pone ad oggetto di indagine una sfaccettatura diversa del complesso fenomeno dell’embodied language.
Il primo esperimento è finalizzato ad indagare il ruolo della corteccia motoria primaria nei compiti di comprensione, utilizzando la rTMS; nel secondo esperimento viene introdotta la realtà virtuale per valutare se e come un’azione virtuale, grazie a un processo di simulazione, modula la comprensione di verbi; il terzo studio, infine, usando lo stesso ambiente virtuale del secondo studio, si propone di indagare il ruolo dell’azione virtuale durante l’apprendimento di una lingua straniera.The rational of this project is rooted in the recent theories that consider language as grounded in action, and thus tightly tied to the motor system. In the last decades, the discovery of the mirror neurons in monkeys, and of the correspondent mirror neuron system in humans, led to a new research topic often called “embodied language”. Thanks to the methodics supplied by neuroscience, nowadays a great corpus of experimental data has been collected that support the link between language and motor system, even if the nature of this link is still not completely understood. In this perspective, beyond traditional tools such as Functional Magnetic Resonance (fMRI) or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), also Virtual reality (RV), which allows to create an embodied experience, seems suitable to shed light on the open questions.
The present project, thereby, is structured in three independent researches, each one aiming at investigating one specific facet of the complex phenomenon of embodied language.
The first experiment is designed to investigate the role of the primary motor cortex during language comprehension, using rTMS; in the second one, the virtual reality is introduced, in order to test if and how a virtual action, thanks to simulation, modulates verbs comprehension; the third study, finally, using the same virtual environment, aims at examining the role of the virtual action during foreign language learning
Brain Signatures of Embodied Semantics and Language: A Consensus Paper
Full text linkAccording to embodied theories (including embodied, embedded, extended, enacted, situated, and grounded approaches to cognition), language representation is intrinsically linked to our interactions with the world around us, which is reflected in specific brain signatures during language processing and learning. Moving on from the original rivalry of embodied vs. amodal theories, this consensus paper addresses a series of carefully selected questions that aim at determining when and how rather than whether motor and perceptual processes are involved in language processes. We cover a wide range of research areas, from the neurophysiological signatures of embodied semantics, e.g., event-related potentials and fields as well as neural oscillations, to semantic processing and semantic priming effects on concrete and abstract words, to first and second language learning and, finally, the use of virtual reality for examining embodied semantics. Our common aim is to better understand the role of motor and perceptual processes in language representation as indexed by language comprehension and learning. We come to the consensus that, based on seminal research conducted in the field, future directions now call for enhancing the external validity of findings by acknowledging the multimodality, multidimensionality, flexibility and idiosyncrasy of embodied and situated language and semantic processes
Why Your Body Can Jog Your Mind
Full text linkPhilosophical tradition influences the way we think about body and mind (Rogers, 1936). We have a body to move around and a mind to think and to learn (Descartes, 1637). At school, we sit, listen, and read, but we are not allowed to move. However, cognitive science has shown that our body is tightly linked to the mind (Wilson, 2002; Pecher and Zwaan, 2005; Gärtner, 2013). In this paper, we provide evidence that better learning is achieved if the body supports the mind. We review studies showing how physical movement impacts brain functions and structures, and why physical movement is beneficial to learning. Thereafter, we explain how the body supports the mind in difficult cognitive tasks. Finally, we discuss how the body can be employed as a tool in second language learning and mathematics
The effects of ageing and Alzheimer's disease on semantic and gender priming
No full textNormal ageing as well as age-associated pathological conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease, are associated with modifications of language processing. In particular, an impaired performance in semantic tasks, associated with relatively spared syntactic processing, has been suggested to be the hallmark of the language disorder of Alzheimer's disease. The present experiment tests semantic and syntactic aspects of language processing at the same time, using an on-line paradigm, in patients with Alzheimer's disease, compared with elderly and young controls. Normal ageing was associated with a profile of performance, which was slowed but qualitatively comparable with that of young controls. Both gender agreement and congruent sentential semantics resulted in facilitation relative to baseline in young and elderly controls, with no significant interference effects of incongruent grammatical and semantic information. In contrast, Alzheimer's disease patients presented both facilitation and interference effects. These findings suggest that interference effects are amplified by dementia, and may result from defective inhibitory processes due to Alzheimer's disease pathology
Is Motor Simulation Involved During Foreign Language Learning? A Virtual Reality Experiment
No full textThis article presents a study performed to investigate the role of simulation in second language learning while using a virtual environment. Participants were asked to explore a virtual park while learning 15 new Czech verbs (action verbs that describe movements performed with either the hand or the foot, and abstract verbs). This learning condition was compared with a baseline condition, where movements (either virtual or real) were not allowed. The goal was to investigate whether the virtual action (performed with the feet) would promote or interfere with the learning of verbs describing actions that were performed with the same or a different effector. The number of verbs correctly remembered in a free recall task was computed, along with reaction times and number of errors during a recognition task. Results show that the simulation per se has no effect in verbal learning, but the features of the virtual experience mediate it
OVER-LON: Overview Virtual Effect for Relieving LONeliness
No full textIn recent years, loneliness has emerged as a pressing global concern, not merely as a social phenomenon but as a complex, multidimensional condition with profound psychological and physiological consequences. Despite the proliferation of digital communication technologies, individuals continue to report elevated levels of perceived social isolation, underscoring a critical discrepancy between connectivity and connectedness. Loneliness has been implicated in the etiology and maintenance of various psychopathologies, including depression, anxiety, and, notably, eating disorders.1 Within this context, emerging evidence suggests that immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences may offer novel, experientially
rich pathways to reframe internal representations of isolation and foster a deeper sense of social embeddedness.
This article presents the OVER-LON project, which aims to investigate the potential of a VR simulation of the Overview Effect, a cognitive and affective shift experienced by astronauts when viewing Earth from space, to alleviate loneliness and enhance perceived social connectedness. Drawing from research on awe and embodied cognition and enriched by insights from conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) and psychological flexibility, we propose a model in which immersive, metaphorically grounded interventions may offer a transformative medium for cognitive–affective reframing
The effects of rTMS over the primary motor cortex: the link between action and language
No full textIs the primary motor cortex (M1) necessary for language comprehension? The present study investigates the role of the primary motor cortex during verbs comprehension, within the framework of the embodied theories of language. We applied rTMS over the right and left hand portion of M1 and tested the effects of the stimulation toward the processing of hand-related action verbs versus abstract verbs. Results underlined a specific inhibition effect following left stimulation, only with hand-related action verbs. These findings seem to corroborate the hypothesis of a functional role of M1 in action verbs comprehension
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