Correspondence effect driven by salient visual asymmetries in integral object stimuli.

The handle-to-hand correspondence effect consists of faster and more accurate responses when the responding hand is aligned with the handle side of an object tool, compared to when they lay on opposite sides. This effect has been attributed to the activation of affordances. Recent studies, however, claimed that it may depend on the spatial coding of the object on the basis of its visual asymmetry (location-coding account).

Action and object words are differentially anchored in the sensory motor system - A perspective on cognitive embodiment.

Embodied and grounded cognition theories have assumed that the sensorimotor system is causally involved in processing motor-related language content. Although a causal proof on a single-cell basis is ethically not possible today, the present fMRI study provides confirmation of this longstanding speculation, as far as it is possible with recent methods, employing a new computational approach. More specifically, we were looking for common activation of nouns and objects, and actions and verbs, representing the canonical and mirror neuron system, respectively.

The role of finger representations and saccades for number processing: an FMRI study in children.

A possible functional role of finger representations for the development of early numerical cognition has been the subject of recent debate; however, until now, only behavioral studies have directly supported this view. Working from recent models of number processing, we focused on the neural networks involved in numerical tasks and their relationship to the areas underlying finger representations and saccades in children aged 6-12 years. We were able to differentiate three parietal circuits that were related to distinct aspects of number processing.